1981 Directed by Michael Wadleigh
A city cop is assigned to solve a bizarre set of violent murders where it appears that the victims were killed by animals. In his pursuit he learns of an Indian legend about wolf spirits.
Albert Finney Diane Venora Edward James Olmos Gregory Hines Tom Noonan Dick O'Neill Dehl Berti Peter Michael Goetz Sam Gray Ralph Bell Max M. Brown Anne Marie Pohtamo Sarah Felder Reginald VelJohnson James Tolkan John McCurry Chris Manor Donald Symington Jeffery Ware E. Brian Dean Jeffery V. Thompson Victor Arnold Frank Adonis Richard Minchenberg Raymond Serra Thomas Ryan Tony Latham David Connell Jery Hewitt Show All…
Samuel C. Crutcher Lon Bender Marvin Walowitz James Bryan John Duffy Anthony Milch Randy Kelley Michael Minkler Ken S. Polk Kim Maitland Stan Gilbert Bruce Richardson Allan Bromberg James A. Corbett
Cidade em Pânico, Волки, 狼人就在你身邊, Вълци, Lobos humanos, Terror em Nova York, Urufen, W wilczej skórze, Wolfen: lobos
Horror, the undead and monster classics Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse Thrillers and murder mysteries horror, creepy, eerie, blood or gothic creature, aliens, monster, sci-fi or scary scary, horror, creepy, supernatural or frighten horror, scientist, monster, doctor or experiment horror, gory, scary, killing or slasher Show All…
The NYC equivalent of Paul Schrader's 'Cat People', starring Albert Finney, Gregory Hines, Tom Noonan, Diane Venora, and Edward James' Olmos' penis. Much of the movie is filmed in the bombed out parts of the South Bronx that looked like Dresden in the 80s. Really good.
Spooktober II: To Hell With the 80s
Although years later the concept presented in this film is no longer a novelty, it is interesting to look back at the roots of a new take on wolfman films. In order to avoid revealing too much of the plot, I am not going to discuss the approach this movie adopts. I can only say that there is a good commentary that to some extent has always been part of the lore of these mystical creatures.
Rather than the story itself, what stands out for me is Michael Wadleigh's experimental approach to filmmaking. It took me a while to adjust to the filter used to give us a better perspective of the attacking…
![nathaxnne [hiatus]](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/1/9/5/2/4/3/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=2d9f35eba8){kind=small}
In the intervening years since Wolfen was made, wolves have left the endangered species list and have been reintroduced successfully to many important North American ecosystems where they have had immediate salutary effects. Unfortunately as a byproduct of their success, increases in state-sanctioned violence and murder against wolves have also increased because humans never learn. Wolves have not yet returned to North American cities, but in their absence, their cousins the coyotes have done quite well for themselves. The presence of coyotes is difficult for humans to discern because they stay out of our way, going where we don't when we don't and living off of what we leave behind and the animals who increase in number by cohabitating with…
Cinematic Time Capsule
1981 Marathon - Film #87
”It's not wolves, it's Wolfen.”
Well, this turned out to be a boring sheep in wolf’s clothing. I came for a creature feature, but what I got was a thinly disguised sociological lecture.
And the only thing that actually frightened me was Edward James Olmos massive fur patch.
”What are you two trying to pin on the Big Bad?”
As if one of those clever subversive Larry Cohen scripts got the Tourneur treatment that Cohen himself just could not conjure. Less a werewolf film than a haunting piece of ecological horror that makes remarkable use of its urban setting. Olmos and Hines are just great as well. Too bad Wadleigh did not get another shot at fiction filmmaking.
A HUNDRED UNSEEN HORRORS #60
"Wolves don't kill people!"
"People kill people!"
Atmospheric on a few levels, this film proceeds like a 70s TV detective procedural but thanks to the wonky special effects, style and horror elements, it feels more like a cinema experience. It has a futuristic tingle, but also surreal ties to the past.
That peripheral wavelength (ultraviolet, infrared) filter, which we saw later on in PREDATOR, is a great vantage point. Of course it's later brought to our attention that this is the wavelength range at which wolves would see the world.
This is probably the most intelligent werewolf movie I have seen - one where the wolves get to be wild and unknown terrors, and we…
1981 In Review - July
#15
New York City police investigator Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) is trying to solve a series of grisly deaths in which the victims have seemingly been maimed by feral animals. He teams up with expert criminologist Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora), and together they stumble upon a band of inner-city Native Americans, led by the streetwise Eddie Holt (Edward James Olmos), who warns Wilson and Neff about a wolf-like, mythical creature that could offer a shocking solution to this disturbing case.
This is the other werewolf film from 1981 that is more obscure and less talked about, although to be honest it’s more of a wolf film if anything, I think. It’s more of a police…
Albert Finney’s bare ass was one full moon too many if you ask me.
This was actually pretty good, notwithstanding some questionable dialogue and plot exposition. Some of the shots of New York were beautiful; you don’t see those kinds of shots very often.
This film felt like Predator 2 meets The Ghost and The Darkness…in a good way!
☘️Daily Horror Hunt #21 – March 2020☘️
25. Werewolf movies don't get enough love. We will watch one today.
😈HORRORx52 (2020)😈
45. Monsters (Vampire, Werewolf, Kaiju etc.)
It's cool to see a wolf movie where the shape shifting has more of a mystical/natural element and isn't seen as just another unwanted curse. No Larry Talbot moping around all sad and whiny, no blood filled morning after regrets, and definitely no howling to the moon because they're so depressed about their miserable fate, hell you don't even see the beasts 'till the last third of the flick. These wolves are top of the food chain and they're more than happy to be there. I haven't read the novel this was based…
You Gotta Be Fucking Kidding Me: The 1980s Horror Month
For some reason I had always stated that I had seen and really enjoyed Wolfen, yet upon watching it tonight I didn't remember a single, solitary thing about it.
I can't even imagine for one second that even I wouldn't remember a single thing about this film, especially because it does happen to be very good. Maybe that was the only thing I remembered? So I'm putting this in the non-rewatch project and if you can't handle then that's too bad. Hold on, the foundations of Letterboxd are shaking as I write this.
Wolfen is an oddity in a few ways but I don't think it's some misunderstood masterpiece. It…
Geoff T's Hoop-Tober 5.0 Challenge
Wolfen (1981)
'81 was somewhat of a big year when it came to werewolf films. The two obvious ones that spring to mind are The Howling and An American Werewolf in London. The lesser known of these however was Wolfen, which isn't so much a werewolf film as it is a supernatural crime-drama that involves killer wolves, but still has some interesting elements to offer.
Occuring on the gritty streets of NYC (from Wall Street to the Bronx) are a series of grisly murders that resemble animal attacks. NYPD detective Dewey Wilson is called out of a vacation to investigate the bizarre deaths, one of which includes prominent real-estate developer Chris Van der Veer. While…
