thank you
hello everyone and welcome back to my channel where I talk about vampires werewolves and other
supernatural creatures I seen some comments saying I don't cover enough werewolves so today we have
our second werewolf based video in a row before we looked at the top 5 strongest werewolves and today
we're gonna look at the best Transformations the change into a Lycan is always a terrifying moment
when one loses control over their own body just like vampires werewolf movies have been evolving
for around a hundred years so we've gotten to see many different takes on the transformation
before we get into the first werewolf I want to tell you guys about the vampire world book
series humans are almost extinct the cities are empty and overgrown why it's been over a century
since the humans lost the battle against a vampire threat dangerous feral bloodthirsty
creatures that stop at nothing to feed the remaining humans only place of safety is an
Airship they live on it flies with the planet's rotation and always stays in the Sun for safety
more and more people on the ship want to reclaim Earth but they have no idea how dangerous it is
if you're interested in reading or listening to the vampire world book series they're available
on Audible and Amazon Kindle the series is also part of audible premium and Kindle unlimited so
if you have those Services then you can get the book for free vampire world has been such
a great sponsor on the channel and I thought they'd be a perfect fit given the topic of
the book one of the authors of the book reached out personally to sponsor some videos because he
enjoyed the channel and I really have been listening to these books and enjoying them
so if you've been considering it definitely check out the books in the description below
the First Transformation I want to talk about is Hemlock Grove these werewolves
were created by witchcraft we know they've existed for centuries and
possibly much longer there are three ways to become a werewolf in this series you
must either be born a werewolf get bitten by a werewolf or drink water taken from a
werewolf's footprint on the full moon that's a new one their transformation
is a terrifying one the transformation starts with bones breaking in the body jerking around
the creators of the show said they wanted it to kind of be like a seizure or muscle spasms next
he starts bleeding from his eyes before his eyes actually fall out I thought he was gonna look up
with no eyes but they've actually already been replaced by a different set the eyes of the wolf
the paws of the wolf then begin to come out of the hand with the claws piercing through
the middle of the fingers the skin on his back begins to split showing the wolf fur underneath
so the wolf is quite literally breaking out of his body next some sharp teeth grow and some of his
other teeth begin to fall out the little things like showing the teeth hitting the ground is a
nice touch then perhaps the most terrifying part the wolf head begins to break out from his face
splitting it apart and you can see him wincing and closing his eyes in pain as this happens you
can also see some of the teeth still falling out and then some new ones re-growing in their place
it cuts right from the scene of its face changing to him being fully transformed so they hit fast
forward a little bit the transformation still takes a long time though the shots are long
and lingering but it works so well here because you almost want to look away the final form of
the werewolf is basically a large wolf sometimes they look more real and other times more CGI the
CG wolves have more humanoid front arms and Paws more like a bear than a wolf we see these ones
later on in the seasons after he fully turns into a werewolf he begins eating his own flesh off the
ground jeez It's Like the Wolf is inside the person and it breaks out similarly when they
turn back the human breaks out from inside the wolf with the wolf fur and skin falling away
in one scene what the wolf's head had already manifested he could still reach his human hand
out of the wolf's mouth kind of signifying that they are actually still inside the wolf these
werewolves can take their werewolf form at any time they want but they usually only do so on
a full Moon it doesn't matter if it's night or day as long as it's a full moon full moon
cycles usually last a few days of the month their werewolf form is directly impacted by the moon
if the moon is full-er then their werewolf form will be bigger so if they can transform whenever
they want why don't they well this is because if a werewolf turns when it's not a full moon they risk
becoming insane and their transformation will be unstable this condition is called Vargulf anyone
who suffers from this condition has white fur in their wolf form and if they can take a human form
their hair will also be white some say it's due to the stress of their condition I think
this transformation is great and I enjoyed the use of CGI but still having all these practical
elements to help sell it even parts of the mouth and the Wolf hand were practical I've seen other
people say this around the internet but I wish the final wolf form was a little bit more impressive
than just a wolf but like I said before some of them are more unique in appearance I'm not saying
wolves don't look cool I'm just saying after such a unique transformation I was expecting an equally
unique werewolf but it still awesome that's why it's in the video even if the effects are great
I think the actor really needs to take it over the top to make it believable I couldn't find anything
confirming this but I think the Hemlock Grove must have been at least partially inspired by the movie
company of wolves from 1984. the transformation and Company of wolves is a great example of
practical effects the transformation is depicted as a painful and violent experience with the
characters screaming and rising in agony before the wolf had almost explode from his head through
the mouth this is very similar to Hemlock Grove but it could definitely just be a coincidence
the next like in transformation I want to look at is Velkan Valerius from Van
housing he is turned by a werewolf that him and his sister Anna were trying to capture
one night he returns to warn his sister about something but he doesn't get a chance to before
the full Moon shows itself again Velkan starts grunting in anger and pain flipping the table
nearby with insane strength he then backs up to the wall and then starts climbing up the
wall backwards this is where the actor really put in work selling it I have to
say the sound design of the voice becoming distorted is also pretty well done hello
while still Defying Gravity he begins rolling around on the wall growing in
size and pulling his human skin off to reveal the fur underneath and I think this was one
of the first Transformations that did the whole tearing the skin off to reveal the fur
the final form of the wolf is a large humanoid creature covered in fur with a wolf head standing
roughly 8 to 10 feet tall this movie uses much more of a CGI approach to the werewolves but I
don't think it took away from it they did their own unique thing and weren't trying to copy anyone
the Turn Back To Human is a little faster but is basically the reverse transformation pulling the
wolf skin off to reveal the human ILM did the CGI werewolves in this movie and considering
the age they are honestly extremely impressive the movements are very natural and they stick
around on screen for just the right amount of time Gabriel's transformation later on
in the movie is much faster but the werewolves themselves are some of my favorite when I went
to re-watch the Hemlock Grove transformation on YouTube one of the top comments said I wish
the werewolves looked more like the ones from Van housing which I thought was kind of funny
the Big Bad Wolf next on the list for best Transformations is Being Human UK the television
show I actually just recently made a video about this show if you're interested these
werewolves have one of the best Transformations I've seen on television and possibly one of the
best transformations in general and they're mostly practical which I like one thing I've
noticed with werewolves in TV is that they usually have one really good transformation that's better
than the rest but being human actually has a few good Transformations although there are
multiple werewolves George's Transformations are by far the best because he really sells
them these werewolves turn once a month on the full moon and usually at the same time of day
this allows George to plan his Transformations and advance and prepare so that he doesn't hurt
anyone one of Georgia's first Transformations we see is one of the best examples on the show
later on in the show though we do get to see some other elements of the transformation that
we don't see during the first ones as soon as the time strikes George will instantly start feeling
excruciating pain as he has a heart attack and his organs begin to shut down then his
bones begin to break and re-heal the screams he lets out during the transformation are
almost comical but they're so real it actually made me slightly uncomfortable the first time
watching it's that true scream that you let out when you have no control over it
when he stops screaming it's not because the pain is gone it's because his throat
and vocal cords are tearing and re-healing eyes sharp teeth and Nails seem to be the
first physical changes that we can see then his shoulders begin to move and his spine
pops out the head begins to morph from normal into a freaky looking half transformation and
then the snow extends further and he grows hair everywhere the head changed a little
more in the final scene to give us this werewolf reminiscent of Underworld or dog soldiers these
werewolves lose complete control of themselves after transforming and have no memory of the
horrible things they do the Practical effects they use look great and I especially like the
spine popping out that was cool the nails growing out of the end of the finger was
also a nice effect and it reminded me of another movie on this list foreign
what's happening to me George once sedated himself with sleep medication so that when
he turned into a werewolf he would just sleep and wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone
this didn't work though it led to him acting much more uncontrollable for the rest of the
month and having violent outbursts because as George says the wolf feels cheated he sedated
himself so the wolf never got to run free like a dog you keep inside too long it will
begin to get restless so if you don't let the wolf have its time in the light it will
almost begin to take over the Human Side they can only turn on a full moon but one werewolf
managed to do a half transformation to save someone but it led to them dying because in
order for werewolves healing abilities to kick in the transformation must fully complete and
like I said earlier these werewolves suffer from heart attacks and organ failure during
the transformation we never really see a transformation back into human form
though we usually just see that werewolves waking up already back in human form foreign
the next transformation I want to talk about is the howling I've talked about Rick Baker before
but when it comes to special makeup effects in Hollywood one name that stands Above the Rest is
Rick Baker Baker is a legendary special effects artist who has been responsible for some of the
most iconic makeup effects in movie history particularly when it comes to werewolves in
1981 he worked on a movie called The Howling unlike many other werewolf movies where the
transformation happens quickly the howling takes a much more gradual approach and begins with the
werewolf's eyes which start to Glow with an eerie light followed by their teeth which
grow and become more prominent the werewolf's fingers elongate and his nails turn into claws
while its skin Ripples and transforms into fur the transformation scenes were also done using
a variety of techniques including stop-motion animation puppetry and even air bladders to
simulate the werewolves changing features the howling remains one of the most influential
werewolf movies of all time but Rick Baker ended up only being a special makeup effects
consultant on the howling because he left the production of the howling to work on
another movie American Werewolf in London the werewolves in the howling were actually created
by effects artist Rob Barton who is responsible for the thing in Total Recall he came into the
production after the original artist Rick Baker left for American Werewolf in London
the werewolf transformation scene from An American Werewolf in London is considered one of the most
iconic and groundbreaking scenes in horror movie history directed by John Landis and released in
1981 the film follows two American tourists David Kessler and Jack Goodman who are attacked by a
werewolf while backpacking in England the movie is considered by most to have the quintessential
werewolf transformation good actor good direction and the best special effects David has turned into
a werewolf when him and his friend are attacked one night hiking through England Jack is killed
and David becomes infected with the werewolf curse the transformation starts extremely quick
one second he's peacefully reading a book and then suddenly he begins suffering excruciating
pain he grabs onto his head and says that he's burning up which explains why he takes
his clothes off the transformation must cause a rapid rise in body temperature he looks at his
hand and it grows and stretches while we hear cracking and other noises I can't even describe
the way that he shakes and the look on David's face says a thousand words his teeth begin to
change and hair grows all over his body he drops to the ground and his spine and back
begin to move and reform he rolls over and rise in pain as his torso grows and stretches in length
I usually don't like when people look at the camera but this part where David looks at the
camera is like he's begging the audience for help like he knows you're watching
him go through this his face grows into a wolf looking snout and he shakes or almost
vibrates as this happens making it look more violent we then get a final shot of
his full body changed but we don't actually get to see the face of the creature until
later which is a really unique design that hasn't really been replicated since foreign
effects to use in the movie is the animatronic head that was created for David's final werewolf
form the head was operated by several puppeteers and the resulting movement and expressions were
incredibly lifelike and convincing another key element of the transformation scene is the use
of Prosthetics and makeup Baker used a combination of foam latex air bladders and other materials to
create the illusion of David's body changing shape in real time the makeup was applied in layers with
each stage of the transformation requiring a whole new set of Prosthetics I mentioned this
in my video about American Werewolf in London but I love the choice of music for this scene it's
kind of off-putting in a way to have this nice calm music juxtaposed against one of the most
horrific Transformations ever the lack of Epic or stereotypical creepy music adds to the realness of
the scene the effects and acting of David Naughton were so good that they spoke for themselves
I had to re-watch the transformation scene on YouTube while making this video and when
I did I went down to read the comments and this was the top one fun fact the
scene was improvised he actually turned into a werewolf and the director loved it so much
he decided to keep it in that's a great comment overall the werewolf transformation scene in An
American Werewolf in London is a master class and practical special effects the combination
of Prosthetics animatronics makeup and lighting create a visceral and Unforgettable depiction
of a man becoming a monster even today over 40 years after the film's release the scene
remains a testament to the power of practical effects it's not about how gory or how over
the top it is it's about how visceral and real it is can you imagine that happening to you American
Werewolf in London is definitely what I would consider the best werewolf transformation but
there is a couple honorable mentions that I would also like to talk about foreign
the 1985 horror comedy film Fright Night features a unique and memorable change into
a wolf we don't actually get to see Ed turn into the wolf he just exits a room and he's
already turned into a full wolf form something I found interesting about this transformation
was that turning into the wolf form was very quick Ed enters a bedroom and then exits the
room looking like a real wolf with red eyes it's actually his transformation back into a
human that is long and excruciating he tries to jump at Peter but ends up getting impaled
in the heart area by a piece of wood when Peter goes downstairs he Witnesses Ed's foot reverting
back to a humanoid form then his hands as well we see Ed stuck in some kind of horrific half
transformation wheezing in pain the acting and sound design during this part are perfect
even though what you're seeing is horrifying you can't help but feel bad for Ed when he
reaches out for Peter Vinson he is just a kid in high school after all after this wolf-like
form we see him in a mostly human form other than his head before he is fully human again
how does a vampire have one of the best wolf d-transformations like I said before I think it's
cool they focused more on the transforming back into a human rather than into a wolf Peter having
tears in his eyes and not knowing what to do as Ed suffers is a great scene the TV star forced to
become a real vampire Hunter Stephen Geoffreys who played evil Ed managed to convey a range
of emotions from confusion to fear to intense pain even through the prosthetics thank you
one last honorable mention is Ginger Snaps it's a horror film that tells the story of
two teenage sisters Ginger and Bridget who are fascinated with death and the Macabre when Ginger
is bitten by a werewolf her transformation into a creature of the night becomes the
focus of the film The transformation is a slow one that takes place throughout
the movie that is until the final part of the transformation this part is much more violent
with the person taking on a quadrupedal wolf form with ratty almost patchy looking fur this movie
definitely feels inspired by older films and the effects look great in this dark environment
so what do you guys think is the best werewolf transformation in my opinion American Werewolf
in London still holds the title for the best the combination of Rick Baker's amazing work
and David Naughton's acting were a perfect match would you guys agree or do you think
another liken deserves the top spot let me know in the comments I'm also curious if you
guys know of any awesome Transformations that I haven't seen or didn't include in this list
if there's some really good ones out there that I don't know about maybe I'll have to
make another video like this if there's any movies TV shows or video games you want me to
cover let me know if you enjoyed leave a like and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't
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your support means a lot thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video