silver bullets, can it be done?

[AlexB]

If I remember correctly, Varney the Vampire is one the earliest, if not the earliest appearances of the theme in English literature, so the writer had the myth all to himself. When now you do vampire or werewolf fiction, there is such a huge load of received wisdom on the subject, you have to thread carefully if you want a plot device that works

As for the silver armour of Brother Ragnarok, ten out of ten for style, but minus several million for practical thinking. If I had a werewolf problem, I'd ask my friendly armourer to provide me with lots of silver 9mm rounds, and let the Uzi do the talking.

[Derf]

AlexB wrote:

> If I remember correctly, Varney the Vampire is one the
> earliest, if not the earliest appearances of the theme in
> English literature, so the writer had the myth all to himself.
> When now you do vampire or werewolf fiction, there is such a
> huge load of received wisdom on the subject, you have to thread
> carefully if you want a plot device that works

I agree that we are so steeped in "facts" about vampires today that we could never go back to a Varney-style vampire, but this is a shame; a vampire that is not limited by any of the usual conventions (darkness, garlic, etc.) seems to me to be a much more frightening creature.

[Master Blaster]

"When now you do vampire or werewolf fiction, there is such a huge load of received wisdom on the subject, you have to thread carefully if you want a plot device that works"

Some writers are ballsy enough to toss out the rulebook when it comes to vampires and warewolves. I've read Clive Barker stories where they've appeared completely outside of their conventional form. The Theif of Always is one, and the other was a short story in Cabal. I cant remember the name.

Also there's a movie I saw called the Hunger where vampires were treated more like drug addicts than supernatural creatures.

[Derf]

Master Blaster wrote:

> Also there's a movie I saw called the Hunger where vampires
> were treated more like drug addicts than supernatural
> creatures.

The Breed does something similar. I can appreciate those who break the mold (although Clive Barker has just never done much for me; I've never read his stories, but his movies--apart from Nightbreed--don't work for me). However, I can't think of any of those movies that drop the conventions that also have done well in the box office. Are there any?

Attribute it to a lack of imagination or an unwillingness to change ideas, but audiences seem to demand that filmmakers stick to the well-known conventions for well-known monster types.

[Brother Ragnarok]

Did I say I was going for practical?  Sheesh.  Literalists. ;)

[Master Blaster]

Done well at the box office? Nah, not really. Maybe An American Warewolf in London.

Clive Barker is better in print by the way if you ever get your druthers. I'll admit most of his movies suck.

[Eirik]

"To try and say there is some kind of "correct" mythology is just arrogant - on the assumption that all these creatures are fictional. "

Arrogant?  Yikes!  I hope you didn't take my posts as serious.

[Master Blaster]

These are important issues. We've all weighed the pros and cons of our various zombie survival plans time and time again. Unfortunately we've not so adequetly prepared for possible warewolf attacks. And jeez we still have UFO invasion, vampire infestation, giant monster attack, and homocidal robot situations to plan for. We're so unprepared I fear for everyones lives if a Night of the Lepus type situation was to arise. "Giant Rabbits! What's the contigency plan for giant rabbits? I cant remember. Was it stop drop and roll? Damn!" CHOMP

[trekgeezer]

I read a werewolf book once that stated if you know who the werewolf  is and speak their name, they will temporarily revert to human form.  I guess if you say the wrong name and don't run you're chow.

[odinn7]

"Arrogant? Yikes! I hope you didn't take my posts as serious."

Dammit Eirik! This is no place for joking around...this happens to be a serious topic!

Seriously, I liked your comment about the iron industry. Quite amusing.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Well I know if I every encounter a werewolf or became one (and wanted to end it) I give him/myself a Coors light because we all know thats a "sliver bullet". :)

 
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You can’t give it, you can't buy it, and you just don't get it!-Aeon Flux

[JohnL]

>I'd like to see him splatter all over the place and then, just when you thought it
>was over, and the good guy is hugging the girl and all, suddenly the background
>music turns ominous and all the gory chunks start to slide tward eachother slowly
>reconstructing the monster.

They did that to the werewolf in The Monster Squad.

[Jack Corbett]

Oh, damn...

There goes my idea for the ending of Creature...

[Mr. Hockstatter]

I don't see any problem with shooting a silver bullet.  As far as engaging the rifling in the barrel, I guess it wouldn't matter much - most werewolves are shot at point blank range anyway.  I suppose there's a possibility of damaging the barrel with the harder metal, but it shouldn't become a problem unless you're shooting several werewolves a day for a week or two.  

You could look into how they make armor piercing ammo for machine guns if it's really a priority ;)

[AlexB]

Master Blaster wrote:

"Giant Rabbits! What's the contigency plan for giant
> rabbits? I cant remember. Was it stop drop and roll? Damn!"
> CHOMP

You go to drive in movie theatre and commandeer all the cars. Then,  with all those headlights, you herd the rabbits onto a stretch of railroad track you've previously put under high voltage. Piece of pie, really. Didn't you ever watch Night of the Lepus?