Wolfen (film)
| Wolfen | |
|---|---|
 Original 1981 film poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Wadleigh |
| Produced by | Rupert Hitzig |
| Screenplay by | David M. Eyre, Jr. Michael Wadleigh |
| Story by | David M. Eyre, Jr. Michael Wadleigh |
| Based on | The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber |
| Starring | Albert Finney |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
| Editing by | Marshall M. Borden Martin J. Bram Dennis Dolan Chris Lebenzon |
| Studio | Orion Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | July 24, 1981 |
| Running time | 115 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $10,626,725 |
Wolfen is a 1981 horror film, and an adaptation of Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen. Directed by Michael Wadleigh, the film stars Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos.
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[edit] Plot
NYPD Captain Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) is assigned to solve a bizarre string of violent murders after high-profile magnate Christopher Van der Veer (Max Brown), his wife, and his bodygaurd are slain in Battery Park. Executive Security, Van der Veer's client, prefers to blame the murders on terrorists, but knowing that the victim's bodyguard was a 300 pound Haitian with voodoo ties makes Wilson skeptical. At the crime scene, Wilson meets with Warren, who's rank is a mystery but must be higher than his because Wilson takes orders from him. With pressure to solve the case coming down from both the commissioner and mayor, Warren partners Wilson with criminal psychologist Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora). Meanwhile a homeless man goes exploring through an abandoned church, only to be torn to pieces by a monstrous being.
While investigating an abandoned church on Charlotte in South Bronx, sounds of suffering lure Neff upstairs. Wilson doesn't hear the suffering, but once Neff is separated from him, he hears a wolf's howl. He goes up after Neff and drags her forcibly to safety. Soon after, a bridge worker is murdered by an unseen attacker.
NY Coroner Whittington (Gregory Hines) discovers nonhuman hairs on several mutilation victims and consults zoologist Ferguson (Tom Noonen), who immediately identifies them as Canis lupus but admits that there are 40 existing subspecies and these hairs don't belong to any of them.
Ferguson foreshadows his own death when he asks incredulously "What are you two trying to pin on the big bad?" He compares wolves to Indians (the word is thrown around arbitrarily throughout the movie), giving Wilson his first real inspiration.
Wilson finds Eddie Holt (Edward James Olmos), a militant Native activist he arrested some years ago for killing a conservative Indian or "apple" (a Native who is red on the outside but white on the inside). Eddie instantly has a guilty quality, as he was shown at the beginning of the film throwing a bottle at Van der Veer's car from atop the Brooklyn Bridge prior to his murder (though logistically, he couldn't have reached Battery Park in time to commit the murder). He claims he's a shapeshifter,[1] which implicates him as the killer, and even goes so far as to threaten Wilson with carefully constructed dialogue. Feeling that the conversation is circumstantial and potentially dangerous, Wilson opts to let well alone and tail Eddie later that night on his own terms. While tailing Eddie, the actual killer kills Ferguson in Central Park, absolving Eddie of suspicion. Oblivious, Wilson spends the remainder of his night with Neff.
In the movie's most irreverent moment, a man in a jogging suit rides Ferguson's motorcycle right past Wilson as he leaves Rebecca's apartment the following morning (and crashes, comically illustrating that it's not his motorcycle).
Back at the station, Whittington is the second person to foreshadow his own death when he says "If violence comes, I'm ready. I'm a dead shot, and a karate expert." He and Wilson stakeout the Bronx church armed with sniper rifles and sound equipment and after he almost blows his ears out by opening a beer can near the sound mic, wolves ambush and kill him. Meanwhile, Executive Security apprehends a Götterdämmerung terrorist cell in connection with the Van der Veer slaying.
A traumatized Wilson escapes the church and finds himself at the Wigwam Bar. There, Eddie reveals the true nature of the killer as Wolfen, the wolf spirit. Again, Eddie threatens Wilson. He tells him the Wolfen "might be gods" and "You don't have the eyes of the hunter, you have the eyes of the dead." He and everyone else in the bar then intimidate Wilson with animal calls. Old Indian informs Wilson that Wolfen kills to protect its hunting ground. On this revelation, Wilson resolves to end his involvement in the Van der Veer case.In an allyway, Nash, Wilson, and a cop are cornered by the wolfen pack.The cop tries to flee but is killed when a pack member severs his hand and then decapitates him while Wilson and Nash flee and blow up a car with a pack member in it.Wilson decides to fight the pack.This is made possible in the finalé when he and Neff are attacked in Van der Veer's penthouse by the Wolfen pack led by its white alpha.Just as police barge in, the Wolfen vanish, confirming that they're spirits. Wilson claims the attack was by terrorists. The movie ends on the assumption that Götterdämmerung takes the fall for the serial murders. Conveniently, Götterdämmerung's motto is "the end of the world by wolves", suggesting that Wolfen will continue to kill.
[edit] Cast
- Albert Finney as Dewey Wilson
- Diane Venora as Rebecca Neff
- Edward James Olmos as Eddie Holt
- Gregory Hines as Wittington
- Tom Noonan as Ferguson
- Dick O'Neill as Warren
- Dehl Berti as Old Indian
- Peter Michael Goetz as Ross
- Reginald VelJohnson as Morgue Attendant
- Tom Waits as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
[edit] Production
The film is known for its early use of an in-camera effect to portray the subjective POV of a wolf. Similar to thermography, the technique was later adopted by other horror films such as the Predator series.
The setting for the transient home of the wolves was shot in the South Bronx (intersection of Louis Nine Blvd & Boston Road). The church seen in the opening panorama shot was located at the intersection of E 172nd & Seabury Pl. The shot of this neighborhood is from the north looking roughly S - SE. The decrepit site of ruined buildings was no special effect. The church was built (and burned) especially for the film.[2] Urban decay in the Bronx in the early 1980s was so widespread that it was the ideal production setting. Today, this community contains mostly suburban-style privately owned houses.
[edit] Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States by Orion Pictures through Warner Bros. in July 1981.[3] The film grossed $10,626,725 at the box office and received positive reviews from film critics for its frightening content .[4]
Selected premiere engagements of Wolfen were presented in Megasound, a high-impact surround sound system similar to Sensurround. Director Wadleigh was unsatisfied with the final cut of the movie, but so far no director's cut of the film is available.
The film was released on DVD in the United States by Warner Home Video in 2002.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "FROM the FILES of FANGORIA: Never Call A WOLFEN a Werewolf". http://www.fangoria.com/moviestv/3971-from-the-files-of-fangoria-never-call-a-wolfen-a-werewolf.html.
- ^ NYTimes.com "The Faces in the South Bronx Rubble"
- ^ "Company Credits for Wolfen". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083336/companycredits. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ "Wolfen". boxofficemojo.com. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wolfen.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ "Wolfen". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=51560. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
[edit] External links
- Wolfen at the Internet Movie Database
- Wolfen at AllRovi
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