BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

gavin6942 A New York cop (Albert Finney) investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks. Tom Noonan and his beard guest star in a key role.The film is known for its early use of an in-camera effect to portray the subjective point of view of a wolf. Similar to thermography, the technique was later adopted by other horror films such as the "Predator" film series.Although considered a modern werewolf classic, Roger Ebert asserted Wolfen "is not about werewolves but is about the possibility that Indians and wolves can exchange souls." Well, yeah, that is true... but it is still werewolves, even if not in the traditional sense.Where is the proper release? This is what people want to know. Apparently the director has a preferred cut, but instead all we get is a bare bones Blu-ray with nothing more than a trailer. Surely there is much more that could be done.

Bonehead-XL 1981 is regarded by horror fans as the Year of the Werewolf. Three high profile films came along to revive the moribund sub-genre, pushing it to new extremes with cutting edge creature effects. "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Howling," both being masterpieces of varying degrees, get all the attention. However, "Wolfen," the third killer wolf movie of the year, shouldn't be overlooked. It's very different from the other two but valuable in its own right.Based off the debut novel of Whitley Strieber, back before the author lost his mind, the film follows police detective Dewey Wilson. A local millionaire and real estate developer, along with his wife and body guard, are mysteriously murdered. Paired up with police psychologist Rebecca, and with help from an eccentric zoologist and forensic mortician, Dewey further investigates the crime. The hairs of an unknown subspecies of wolves are found on the quickly piling up bodies. Dewey and Rebecca's paranoia begins to grow, both feeling stalked by wolf-like spirits. The local American Indian population calls them the Wolfen, beings halfway between wolves and gods. By why are they killing?"Wolfen" is ultimately structured like a detective story. We are presented with murders. Wilson and his pals investigate leads and clues. There are false starts, like the millionaire's activist niece or a militant Indian activist recently released from prison. As the clues slowly start to mount, the rational protagonists are forced to confront the impossible. Just when things are starting not to make sense, a character wanders in to provide some mystical exposition, setting up the last act where the murderer is revealed.The audience knows they're watching a horror movie, however. We know something unusual is happening. So the first hour of this two hour movie drags a bit. "Wolfen" attempts to build atmosphere by featuring mysterious POV shots, roaming first-person perspective with odd coloration. This effect is overused though, boring the audience. When unimportant characters are getting bumped off, it becomes clear that "Wolfen" is starting to spin its wheels. A stalking scene in an abandoned church really seems to go on. The first half at least takes the time to develop the relation between its protagonists, Albert Finney and Diane Venora developing a realistic romantic chemistry.Luckily, the second half of "Wolfen" really picks up the pace, building to an excellent conclusion. An attack in a zoo uses the unseen very well, tension mounting nicely. The case begins to affect Dewey and Rebecca's peace of mind. The film shows this fantastically, especially in a moment where Wilson sits in his car, catching a glimpse of a wolf pack briefly. Though the POV shots are overused, they wind up disguising the titular creatures. When they are first revealed, during a nighttime shot in the same abandoned church, it's truly startling.The film's climax is fantastic, the primary characters surrounded in a public place by the monsters. The tension rises each time a new wolf enters the scene. "Wolfen" has a wolf-aided decapitation that rivals a similarly excellent moment in "American Werewolf." As the chase moves into an apartment building, some intense thrills are generated. A shot cutting between the detective's eyes and the alpha wolf's eyes really stands out. The conclusion nicely balances ambiguity and answers, keeping the entities mysterious while still providing a satisfying ending.Finney breathes some new life into the wash-up detective character type. He conveys a real weariness. The movie's excellent supporting cast helps too. Tom Noonan and Gregory Hines are both highly likable as the eccentric zoologist and pragmatic forensic specialist. The characters are likable enough that, when they start die, it really effects us. "Wolfen" might not be on the level of 1981's other wolf classics but it's a worthy horror-thriller in its own right, an effectively orchestrated fusion of mystery, horror, and atmosphere.

thesar-2 I'm a huge werewolf movie fan, and have seen the bulk of them, but it has taken me until 2013 before I finally saw 1981's Wolfen for the first time.Previously, I had seen clips of this movie and knew it was: #1 mostly shot in first-person POV and #2 the "werewolves" were actual wolves. Like I said, I *love* werewolf movies, but I really don't like them to be actual wolves. I want to see standing werewolves, much like in The Howling. Those scare me and what doesn't is when a man turns into a dog. Blah.The one exception to this rule was the fantastic 1994's Wolf with Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Everything else worked for me in that film, even though the characters turned into dogs.But, be that as it may, this movie was interesting and the continuous shots of the traveling "wolfen" were well-shot.New York City's getting face-lifts and this isn't faring with a wolf-pack group and they're attacking back. In come the police to investigate and make occasional love to women.An all-star cast (for back then) did help move this movie along, but it wasn't anything special and took way too long to see the beasts. I'm not ignorant enough to know back in the early 1980s (i.e. Friday the 13ths Part 1 and 2) it was common, and sadly, socially accepted to have the "killer" POV and I'm glad I wasn't around to take in the bulk of that.It's worth a watch – really, it wasn't terrible, but nothing to buy or rewatch.* * * Final thoughts: …at least these dogs the "Native Americans" turned into were ten times more convincing than that of the Twilight series to follow decades later.

bayardhiler "Wolfen" is one of those films that manages to combine different themes and elements. On the one hand, it is a horror film, a cop film, and a murder mystery. On the other hand, it is also a supernatural movie that has a spiritual message that says we are not as powerful as we think we are. The movie begins through the eyes of something non human. We don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it sees things in a different vision and can hear a whole lot better than we can. In the next scene, we see a wealthy big shot, his wife, and bodyguard get brutally killed by the same non-human entity. Needless to say, the killings make front page news. Enters our hero, Captain Dewey (played by Albert Finney) along with Gregory Hines, who plays a coroner's assistant. At first, its believed that terrorists were involved. Soon enough, however, Dewey realizes that only something non- human could have done it. As it turns out, other people in the slums have been killed in similar ways. Dewey eventually learns from the local Native American population (one of whom is played by the great Edward James Olmos) that the culprit he is after is called the wolfen, powerful beings who have lived among the human race, hunting the weak and the sick, who now hide out in the urban jungles. This is a very interesting movie. The point of view of the creatures is very well done, we also have some great shots of the urban decay of New York at that time. And while Albert Finney does not sound like a New Yorker (his British accent does come through here and there) he manages to give a pretty convincing performance of a burned out detective who has probably seen one too many dead bodies in his career. Its also interesting to see Gregory Hines in a horror movie, since I don't believe he ever starred in another one. Never the less, he plays the part well, adding a little bit of comedy. A number of people had issues with the movie, and I'll admit it did drag a little bit in some parts and the ending was just a little weak. However, if you're in the mood for something different from your usual werewolf movie, "Wolfen" would not be a bad way to spend your time. Also starring Diane Venora. 8 out of 10.