Villainess Review: Michelle (Werewolf)

I'm a fan of werewolves in TV and film, and have been since the age of 11. One of the many werewolf related shows I did learn about was, of course, Werewolf, which was one of the Fox Network's first programs. The series' central protagonist, Eric Cord, had been on the pursuit of Janos Skorzeny since the pilot, which saw Eric afflicted with the werewolf curse after being attacked by his longtime friend, Ted Nichols, who revealed his blood tie to Skorzeny before the attack--as well as Ted's demise at Eric's hand.

Eric's pursuit continued in "A Material Girl," and he appeared to be on the right track, as a werewolf had been killing homeless people in an area near an abandoned mall. Once Eric entered, he encountered a young homeless woman named Michelle, who revealed to Eric that she had been living in the mall, though she originally wasn't alone. She was once part of a group consisting of Janice, Peter, and Roger, though they had been killed one by one. Regarding Skorzeny, Michelle gave a veiled description of Eric's target, adding that the group had encountered him and received money and food from Skorzeny.

Eric and Michelle bonded in their brief time together, but that was interrupted by the former's continuous search. Michelle was ordered to stay put by Eric, though she left her spot and searched for Eric. Upon seeing the werewolf, Eric fired his last shot and missed, and afterwards, he took possession of a bow and arrow--lacing the arrow's tip with melted silver. After returning to the area and seeing what he believed was Michelle's body, Eric was nearly accosted by the werewolf, though Eric fired the bow and arrow at the beast, killing who Eric believed was Skorzeny.

Notice I said "believed." There's a reason for that. To Eric's shock, the werewolf he had killed was none other than Michelle, as she had been turned by Skorzeny and killed the others in her group, with Peter and Roger's murders taking place during the episode's opening. The body that Eric had seen was actually a mannequin, as Michelle had transformed again and went after Eric before being shot with the bow and arrow. Michelle's heel turn came as she was dying, as she was shown in her partial werewolf form calling out Eric's name with her final breath.

"A Material Girl" was the 23rd episode of Werewolf, and aired on February 14, 1988. The episode featured Lisanne Falk as surprise villainess Michelle, and regarding Michelle, she was introduced as a sweet-natured young woman whose demeanor masked her vicious persona as a werewolf. Originally, I had wondered if Michelle was truly "cursed" and couldn't help herself in her form, but the fact that she went after Eric showed that Michelle was quite a monstrous villainess who embraced being a werewolf and killing. Falk portrayed Michelle's sweetness very well, as well as her ability to mask her villainous demeanor and her animalistic secret. This was an amazing performance from Falk.

Lisanne Falk's villainous appearance in Werewolf came one year before she took on her most famous acting role as Heather McNamara (the nice Heather) in the cult classic film, Heathers. Following Heathers, Falk's acting career mainly consisted of appearances in TV movies and a short film before leaving acting behind in 2002.

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Click here for Michelle's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!