Horror Shorts 2: Lycanthrophobia (1998)

Here's a fact. In Werewolf of London, Universal's first werewolf picture, the term 'lycanthropy' is never used. They instead use the term 'lycanthrophobia.' I'm betting that's where these guys got the word. But they use it for a very good reason: this is a film about homophobia and violence.

A bald man with a goatee talks to himself at the bar about what's under the skin. A timid man with an eyepatch comes in and tries to get a drink, but is accosted by the bald fellow, who decides to confide in eyepatch that he, baldy, is a werewolf. But he's a good werewolf who uses his silver bullets to hunt other werewolves, like the two guys playing darts on the other end of the bar.

This is one of the best horror shorts I've seen. It's witty, clever, incredibly well-shot, concise, and disturbing. I found myself laughing at loud quite a bit at the clever humour and made uneasy by the threat of homophobic violence. The subtext is obviously about violence and homophobia as a result of repressed homosexual desires. A motif is built up out of the notion of what's inside and under the skin (like blood or, heh, werewolf fur) as well as what's kept inside psychologically. There's even an amusing joke about werewolves tearing apart families--this is just what conservatives like to claim allowing homosexual marriages will do. But of course, everyone accused of being a werewolf here is a homophobe. "Make no mistake about it, they are monsters."

4/4

Dir: Harry Victor
Writer: Matt Pelfrey
Runtime: 15 min.

Where to watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIle9-nJ0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OipyN10--7Q