Werewolves In the Movies

Movies are interesting to me, especially anything to do with werewolves. 

They can be used for many different things. For example they can be used to get across certain points, facts, or myths. I recently watched the movie Blood and Chocolate. Finally, a movie set in Romania that does not involve Dracula or any vampires at all. This movie is set in Bucharest, Romania. The best-known myth in this city is that of the werewolf. Intriguing, isn't it, that Dracula’s biggest enemy originates from somewhere so close to him?

 Werewolves were not always the feared creatures of myth that they are today. I personally blame the movies like Ginger Snaps for that reputation. The original werewolf myth, the myth of the Loup Garou, is extremely different from the modern-day, Hollywood werewolf myth. For example, a person is either born Loup Garou or not, there is not a chance of becoming one. 


There is no bite that can infect someone and transform them into a werewolf. For the modern werewolf, shifting forms from human to wolf or wolf to human is extremely painful. For the Loup Garou it is effortless to shift forms and completely painless. The full moon does not force them to transform either; they can transform whenever they choose. Silver does still affect Loup Garou, as it says in all werewolf myths. It is also said that if someone is able to hurt a Loup Garou, they will catch a glimpse of the animal inside. It is all in the eyes.

Now back to the idea of the reputation that the werewolf has. Many movies have really made a shambles of how werewolves are seen. The Loup Garou were revered by people. There are rumours that they were descended from royalty in Bucharest and the surrounding region. There was a time where they ruled cities and countries. 

They were not the feared creatures that most people know werewolves as, similar to how the Romans saw them as. Don’t get me wrong, they were very much respected and people gave them space if the Loup Garou was known to be a Loup Garou. And they were not romanticized like they are in Twilight. They were not all muscular like in Twilight either. Another part about the werewolf myth from Twilight that is opposite from the Loup Garou myth is that there was an equal chance of the wolf being male or female was equal.

After watching Blood and Chocolate, I was interested in learning more about the Loup Garou. I wanted to confirm the information that was given in the movie, see if the writer, director and producers got their facts straight. Turns out that they did do their research. 

I also found out some more interesting things. For example, people in Romania don’t really know the myth of Dracula the vampire. They just know the historical story of Vlad the Impaler, who was a prince of Wallachia which was a part of the Kingdom of Romania from the unification of two principalities. Both myths have a connection to royal lines and were mortal enemies. Makes me wonder if these two royal families were competing for power in Romania. Another thing is that Romanians may not have known about Dracula as a vampire, but they sure knew about the Loup Garou. They even had churches decorated with images of the Loup Garou.