WOLFEN

Wolfen (1981)

Directed by Michael Wadleigh

Rating: 3 out of 4 Pentagrams

Reviewed by: Jeff Deth 

1981 was a breakout year for the werewolf genre. Two of the best werewolf films of all-time came out that year, The Howling and An American Werewolf in London. There was also a significant third film I had never heard of until recently called Wolfen. It may be that despite the cover art, Wolfen is in some ways hard to categorize as a werewolf film at all. There are certainly killer wolves on the prowl but there is absolutely no shapeshifting whatsoever. In that regard, Wolfen can in no way compare with the two previously mentioned films, which have in my mind the best transformation sequences ever.

What Wolfen does have going for it are a-rate actors in a moody, violent and unique story. Albert Finny plays detective Dewey Wilson who investigates a bizarre Manhattan murder of a mega-rich industrialist, his wife and their limo driver. From the onset it is believed that the murders where politically motivated and possibly connected to environmental extremists groups. A coroner played by Gregory Hines helps to make a connection to another murder in the South Bronx by way of animal hairs. All the while the viewer is aware that it is indeed a wolf of some kind who is responsible.

What unfolds is horror story with a morality twist, painting the greedy industrialists as evil monsters that destroy nature and wildlife land.  It’s also a revenge story from the point of view of a group of local Native Americans who seem to be fully aware of and are in some form of contact with the Wolfen species. (Telepathic?)

I really appreciated the scenic value of the utterly dilapidated Bronx which looks so much like a war zone it’s hard to believe it wasn’t staged. But it was in fact that run down in the early 80’s. This hellhole of an urban jungle serves as the home base for the Wolfen.

There was a lot of tension for me watching the film hoping I was going to see a huge werewolf. I was somewhat disappointed when it’s revealed that it’s actually a pack of real wolves doing the killing. Or were they supernatural wolves? That wasn’t totally clear to me. That being said, wolves can still fuck your shit up bad.

The kills provide a fair amount of gore but you never get to see a wolf actually tearing into anybody. You just see a POV of the wolf as it views it’s victims.

The filmmakers decided to utilize a thermographic effect to demonstrate the wolf’s viewpoint. At the time it may have been groundbreaking but it appears horribly dated seeing it today.

Obviously there are a few things that I’d have like to seen treated differently, such as when the old crusty Detective Wilson implausibly bangs his attractive female partner out of nowhere.

Overall, the atmosphere was properly handled by a guy who’s only other film credit is directing Woodstock the documentary. The story was suspenseful and the actors played off each other really well to make this a film to check out. But beware that this is not a horror film in the traditional sense and defiantly not a werewolf film.