Why was Larry's coffin full of wolfbane flowers? Is this a stimulant or a repellent for werewolves? Who would have placed it there? I am thinking of the old gypsy proverb: "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright." This would indicate that wolfbane and the full moon causes the transformations.
shareI wondered that too, but I don't think it's ever explained in any of the films.
A lot of the werewolf mythology was made up pretty much on the fly. I wondered if wolfbane was meant to be like the werewolf equivalent of garlic with vampires, and so it was put in his coffin (by Maleva?) to stop Larry from waking up and turning wolf -- but Maleva's poem makes it sound like the wolfbane being in bloom actually stimulates the transformation. Or maybe the wolfbane was there for no better reason than to prompt the grave-robber to recite the poem and remind us of the "curse".
I think, in the end, Universal probably never really thought it through, and was content that it just sounded vaguely mystical.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
What I find funny is that they changed the poem a bit this movie. The original poem ended with, "And the Autumn moon is bright." but the makers of this film changed it to just, "When the moon is full and bright." Makes sense though as saying Autumn moon implies he only becomes a werewolf in fall and then isn't one any other time of the year.
1, 2 Freddy's coming for you. 3, 4 better lock your door.
Correct, in the original "Wolf Man" it was "autumn moon" and at least three cast members recited the entire poem at some time during the movie. Actually, there is a plant called "wolfbane" native to Europe, and the flowers bloom during Autumn. In "Dracula" wolfbane was used to repel the vampire. Apparently it has the opposite effect on werewolves. LOL
shareI'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a repellant.
Horror_Metal
I believe wolfsbane appears in some of the werewolf legends from which the current concept of lycanthropes derives. Its name would imply that it was antithetical to werewolves.
As for the original poem, I don't believe the mention necessarily implies that it causes the transformation. It simply blooms at the same time as the autumn moon shines. (More or less).
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In the Markets of Tyre
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This is an interesting question. Somehow I don't think the wolfsbane would have been placed in the coffin to keep him there. Larry had wanted to die to get rid of the curse. So perhaps it was a funereal floral tribute. I suspect the wolfsbane didn't actually cause his transformations. But it's blooming merely coincided with them.
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