DVD Doppelgängers: New Moon Vs. Neowolf

It's time for another edition of America's Favorite New Game, DVD Doppelgangers, in which I call out art directors who deliberately copy DVD covers and posters of popular movies, hoping to fool the public into buying their knock-off version.

Tonight we have the 2010 movie Neowolf. It's the story of a struggling musician who has to choose between his career and his girlfriend. He ends up joining a band full of werewolves. Or something like that.

I know absolutely nothing about this movie, but according to IMDB the director was Alan Smithee. That tells me all I need to know and more. Mr. Smithee has had quite a career over the years, directing literally thousands of horrible movies.

• Did You Know? Alan Smithee is the fictitious name that studios list as the director when a movie turns out so badly that the real director refuses to attach his name to the project. Any time you see "directed by Alan Smithee" in the opening credits, you'd be well advised to exit the theater in an orderly manner or turn off the television and back slowly but steadily away from it.

Now let's look at the theatrical poster for New Moon, which also just happens to feature teen werewolves. The Neowolf studio did an outstanding job of reproducing virtually ever facet of it.

• Sepia toned color scheme? Check!
• Three sexy teens with sultry stares, all dressed in black? Check!
• Spooky forest setting? Check!
• Yellow moon in the night sky above? Check!
• The word "Neo" even means "new," for poop's sake! So really the title is New Wolf, which is miles away from New Moon.

Note that the Neowolf cover appears to either be a painting, or a heavily Photoshop-filtered photo. I have no idea why they tried that route.

Credit to the New Moon designer for at least knowing that werewolves prefer a full moon. The Neowolf werewolves have to settle for a paltry crescent moon.