A Hidden Gem: 1987’s Horror Series “Werewolf” Claws Its Way Out of Obscurity

https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3648076/hidden-gem-1987s-horror-series-werewolf-claws-way-obscurity/

The path to success was not a smooth one for Fox. In 1987, the Fox Broadcasting Company was still new to the TV market, and most of its original shows didn’t last beyond one season, if even that. Yet among the network’s inaugural weekend programming was a brooding horror series like nothing else on the air. The eighties, a banner decade for all things werewolves, saw a resurgence in these hirsute holdovers from the Universal Classic Monsters era. People’s desire to see these horrific manifestations of the human id didn’t stop at the big screen; “lyco fever” had spread to television, as well.

Frank Lupo’s cult series Werewolf started out as a feature-length pilot before settling into its Saturday-night timeslot along with other Fox obscurities like The New Adventures of Beans Baxter and a TV version of the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Lasting a further twenty-eight half-hour episodes, the show chronicled Eric Cord’s (John J. York) endless search for his ancestral sire after he’s cursed to become a fearsome creature of the night. York, who was cast as the lead only two weeks before the pilot was filmed, was initially hesitant to do a horror series; he later told Fangoria in 1989, “Most of the [horror movies] I’ve seen have scared me to death, but my attitude has changed now that I’ve been on the show awhile.” With Werewolf being a soft anthology with just one central character, it was important to have an actor who could carry the show on his shoulders and keep audiences coming back.

Fox wasn’t shy about using York’s handsome mug for publicity — a vintage network commercial, centered around the ‘87 slogan of “Don’t Let Fox Weekend Pass You By,” has York being comically fondled by a woman proclaiming “I do believe in werewolves, I do, I do!” — but people also tuned in to see his character’s hairy alter-ego in action. Bringing these renowned monsters to life with realism and credibility intact is no easy feat. So, after getting the go-ahead from Fox, Lupo and producer John Ashley secured the talents of effects and make-up artists Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) and Greg Cannom (The Howling). These practical-effects wizards are a large reason why Werewolf became so considerable, not to mention memorable, for viewers back then.

Baker’s design, a hunchbacked and ursine specimen with gorilla-like arms and handmade, imported fur, was impressive for the budget, medium, and time period. It wasn’t like Baker’s Oscar Award-winning London werewolf seeing as this creature was obviously a stunt actor walking around upright in a suit. Even so, the show’s smoky and dark atmosphere, along with ample fast cutting, provided some guise. Cannom, who admits he wasn’t a fan of television’s pacing and unpredictable schedule, found that the makeup of Eric’s archenemy Janos Skorzeny (Chuck Connors) was the most difficult to pull off. Quite unlike Eric’s comparably docile werewolf, Skorzeny’s was more gruesome and bestial; he literally peeled his face off to reveal a lycan facade underneath. To keep costs down, stock footage was usually implemented for the transformations, but a few more unique effects and sequences here and there broke up the routine.

The series protagonist’s arduous journey begins one fateful night when his best friend as well as his girlfriend’s brother Ted (Raphael Sbarge) confesses that he’s a murderous werewolf. Eric is understandably skeptical, but he promises to stay by Ted’s side all night in a bid to prove him wrong and to prevent him from hurting himself as he had originally planned to do. This lingering dialogue between two men, sitting in the dark with only one another’s company and candor, not only offers vital exposition, it’s a glimpse into Eric’s possible future. This scene also depicts Eric’s stalwart nature and the lengths he’ll go to for those he cares about; he initially refuses to shoot his friend in the event he does become a werewolf, but Ted assures Eric he will because he loves him. When the worst finally happens, Eric is left no choice but to kill Ted.

Unlike in other werewolf stories, someone’s transformation in the show can happen without the presence of a full moon. Another sizable change to the basic mythology is the inclusion of a cure — if your bloodline’s originator dies, the curse is broken — that motivates Eric to find Skorzeny, the man who destroyed his opportunity for a normal life. For Eric, he struggles to maintain control so that he doesn’t devolve into a wanton predator like Ted, but his innate goodness affords him some comfort. Even in beast form, Eric can discern good from bad, and he refrains from harming innocent bystanders. However, as the series progresses, Eric’s willpower gradually weakens and he has to fight harder once the blood starts to pour from the portentous pentagram etched into his palm.