Wolfen (1981)

Director:

Michael Wadleigh

Writers:

Whitley Strieber (novel)
David Eyre (screen story and screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 July 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

It will tear the scream from your throat.

Plot:

A New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Wolf | Wolf Vision | El Train | Bar

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Albert Finney	...	Dewey Wilson
Diane Venora	...	Rebecca Neff
Edward James Olmos	...	Eddie Holt
Gregory Hines	...	Whittington
Tom Noonan	...	Ferguson
Dick O'Neill	...	Warren
Dehl Berti	...	Old Indian
Peter Michael Goetz	...	Ross
Sam Gray	...	Mayor
Ralph Bell	...	Commissioner
Max M. Brown	...	Christopher van der Veer
Anne Marie Pohtamo	...	Pauline van der Veer
Sarah Felder	...	Cicely Rensselaer
Reginald VelJohnson	...	Morgue Attendant
James Tolkan	...	Baldy

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (MegaSound encoding) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1987) | France:U | Australia:M | Norway:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:16 | USA:R (certificate #26425)

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Street, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Film Capital Associates

Trivia:

One of the few films to be released theatrically with the "Megasound" sound system format. Megasound was a movie theater sound system created by Warner Bros in the early 1980s. It was used to enhance the premiere engagements of a handful of Warner features. Theaters equipped for Megasound had additional speakers mounted on the left, right and rear walls of the auditorium. Selected soundtrack events with lots of low-frequency content (thuds, crashes, explosions, etc) were directed to these speakers at very high volume, creating a visceral effect intended to thrill the audience.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the night-vision scope/surveillance sequence with Dewey and Whittington, the scopes change angles and gain/lose sections from shot to shot.

Quotes:

[Eddie and Dewey are up on the top of a bridgeworks]
Eddie Holt: Shape shifting. We do it for kicks. Turn yourself into a different animal. One night a deer, next night a salmon...
Dewey Wilson: Or a wolf?
Eddie Holt: Sure.
[Eddie unhooks Dewey's safety line]
Eddie Holt: Or an eagle.
[Dewey looks down, a long way... ]
Eddie Holt: C'mon Dewey, just flap your arms and jump, its easy. It's all in the head.
Dewey Wilson: That would be murder. You wouldn't kill anyone else, would you?
Eddie Holt: That's what they pay you to find out...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Let's Get Hairy (#4.8)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Jitterbug Boy

Pretty good for a 80's horror movie

I had heard many things about this film and read many reviews but had never seen it until about a year ago. It was first called to my attention because the title was mentioned in the film "The Dream Team" and I had always been curious to see it so I finally did. The story goes as follows. Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) is in charge of investigating a gruesome and rather strange trio of murders committed in a small park in Manhattan. They are unique and draw attention because the victims are wealthy businessman Christopher van der Veere, his wife, and their former Haitian Death Squad bodyguard and they are killed by what appears to be a savage animal/dog attack. By some odd coincidence van der Veere was developing an area of Brooklyn slums for commercial purposes and some people had strenuously objected. To add more to the story several homeless people are found murdered in these projects much in the same way the first three were killed. Wilson recruits the help of Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora) a psychologist who specializes in murder and terrorism and starts digging into the lives of the van der Veere's and what they were up to. He soon begins to suspect the involvement of a group of Mohawk Indians particularly one named Eddie Holt (Edward James Olmos) who lends a air of mysticism to the case. But it goes much deeper than that. As Dewey discovers he is not up against a murderer, a terrorist, or a crazed Indian fanatic but a group of deadly enemies who see in the dark, hunt with menace, and kill anything they want and they have picked Dewey as their next target. They are the Wolfen. I am surprised that more people don't talk about this film as it is pretty good but it seems to have escaped major attention due to the Howling and An American Werewolf in London which were released around the same time frame. It is worth viewing at least once if only to say you've seen it. Based on the book by Whitley Strieber.