How full does the Moon have to be?

[someoldguy]

The classic werewolf transforms during the full moon. Now the Moon is only completely full, the entire visible face completely lit, for a split instant so it is clearly not a matter of being completely full that does it. A werewolf presumably remains transformed for the entire night. Is a werewolf only a werewolf for that one night? Or does it include perhaps the night before and after. I recall from somewhere (story, movie, EC comic?) the notion that lycanthropy strikes on three consecutive nights.

How is this handled in the various movies? I am sure that I have seen multiple consecutive nights being presented but I am at a loss to name specific examples.

[Marcus]

The ones I can remember off the top of my head are:

American Werewolf in London - night of the full moon
Dog Soldiers - night of the full moon
Howling - not tied to moon, instead tied to emotional state
Ginger Snaps - slowly transforms during month until full werewolf on full moon
Wolfman - 3 nights of the full moon when the wolfbane blooms
13hr - night of the full moon

Some films state the full moon is over 3 nights, others just for the 1 night.

[someoldguy]

Thanks much, Marcus!

I did recall that in AWIP it was one night, because I remembered the almost full moon in the Eiffel Tower scene.

And yes, my three night impression came from The Wolfman (1941), which I saw in 1957! (Ou sont le neiges...) Anybody remember or even heard of Shock Theater?

[Marcus]

Nope, don't remember that. Guessing it was before my time.

[someoldguy]

About Shock Theater…

By the mid 1950’s the drawing power of theatrical re-re-re-releases of old movies was fast fading. At the same time the popularity of TV was rapidly rising. The two were not unrelated. Universal Studios saw which way the wind was blowing and bundled up 52 of their old horror movies for TV, calling the package Shock! The ABC network, one of the Big Three with affiliates all over the US, purchased the TV rights and created the Shock Theater program in October 1957. One movie was broadcast each week with multiple late night showings.

To build up a good audience, the first movies shown were among the best: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Werewolf of London, The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, The Black Cat. In New York City where I grew up, the program was shown late at night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The opening broadcast was Thursday Oct 10. Being only 10 at the time, I normally saw the Friday night showing. But Halloween was a Thursday that year and since I was Catholic I has no school the next day, All Saints Day. The movie that week was The Werewolf of London and due to the circumstances I saw it on Thursday night. Halloween!

My previous exposure to werewolves was only in the old ‘horror’ comics I grubbed off of older kids. They had been driven off the market years before by the infamous Comic Book Code. Werewolves were usually depicted there as much more wolf-like – think The Howling – and were mostly just bloodthirsty mindless animals. In this movie, the werewolf still retains some human like qualities, even disguising himself with cloak and hat to pass in the street. For weeks afterward I had nightmares about that kind of half human monster cleverly stalking me.

[Noel]

Fascinating!

I think the idea of spreading the lycanthropy out over three nights is generally done to help with the narrative, so that the story does not have to wait a whole month for the werewolf to change again. Of course, some movies deal with this problem superbly, such as Ginger Snaps building up the tension over that intervening month.

Also in movies like Wolf and Ginger Snaps, the change into a wolf is permanent after the first full moon.

Then of course you have your werewolves who can change at will (Bad Moon), change every night (Ladyhawke), change through the power of science (The Werewolf, 1956) or change when they get emotionally worked up over something - The Incredible Hulk style! (Teen Wolf, The Curse of the Werewolf)

[someoldguy]

The Ginger Snaps trilogy was first class. Some people did not like Unleashed because it did not have Ginger, although it had plenty of werewolfery. But I loved it. Emily Perkins did the perfect lycanthropic angst, a veritable female Lon Chaney Jr.

[darkwolfavenged]

I love An American Werewolf in London but it has always bugged me that he changes on two consecutive nights when it is clearly stated he will change on the night of the full moon. Just a line of dialogue to say he'll change, say, on the night of and the night after the full moon would have sufficed (along with a small Guinness ). My fave explanation of full moon based transformations is in Buffy when Giles tells the gang that a werewolf changes from moonrise to moonset during the three nights of the full moon i.e. the night before, the night of, the night after. Clear rules and allows for better narrative function.

[someoldguy]

Buffy! Yes, that is where I heard about the three nights. Not only does that allow more action packed together; it also meets the traditional Rule of Three.

[Marcus]

hmm, rule of three . . . that adds an extra depth to the Being Human show, as it's three supernaturals, representing 3 key races (vampire, werewolf, ghost) all living together. hadn't thought of that before.

[someoldguy]

For anyone who does not know what the Rule of Three is...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(writing)