Wolfen (film)

Wolfen
Original 1981 film poster
Directed by	Michael Wadleigh
Produced by	Rupert Hitzig
Screenplay by	David M. Eyre, Jr. Michael Wadleigh Eric Roth (uncredited)
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 dates	July 24, 1981 (1981-07-24)
Running time	115 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$10,626,725

Wolfen is a 1981 American crime horror film directed by Michael Wadleigh and starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos. It is an adaptation of Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen.

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 bodyguard 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, his superior. 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 an abandoned church in Charlotte Street, South Bronx, which was going to be demolished by Van der Veer along with the rest of the ruined buildings in the area, in order to build new apartment complexes, and is suddenly attacked and torn to pieces by a monstrous being. Soon after that and while investigating the abandoned church, sounds of suffering lure Neff upstairs. Wilson follows her but 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 non-human hairs on several mutilation victims and consults zoologist Ferguson (Tom Noonan). Ferguson immediately identifies the hairs as belonging to Canis lupus, also explaining that there are 40 existing subspecies and these particular 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 (wolf)?". He compares wolves to Indians, 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" -a true Native- on the outside but white on the inside). 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 following animal clues Ferguson goes to Central Park, where the actual killer ambushes and kills him under a tunnel. Oblivious, Wilson spends the remainder of his night with Neff. In the following morning, a man in a jogging suit rides Ferguson's motorcycle right past Wilson as he leaves Rebecca's apartment. The man crashes, illustrating that he stole the 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, an animal who appears to be a wolf ambushes and kills 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, where Eddie Holt and his friends are drinking. The group of Natives reveal the true nature of the killer as Wolfen, the wolf spirit. They explain to Wilson that the Wolfen have extraordinary abilities and that they "might be gods". Eddie explains to Wilson that he can't fight the Wolfen, stating: "You don't have the eyes of the hunter, you have the eyes of the dead". The leader of the group, Old Indian, informs Wilson that Wolfen kills to protect its hunting ground. Wilson resolves to end his involvement in the Van der Veer case. In an allyway, Neff, Wilson, and Warren are cornered by the wolfen pack. Warren tries to flee but is killed when a pack member severs his hand and then decapitates him in his car. Wilson and Neff flee and blow up Warren's car with a pack member in it. When he and Neff are cornered in Van der Veer's penthouse by the Wolfen pack led by its white alpha, Wilson smashes the model of the construction project that threatened their hunting ground, to communicate to them that the threat no longer exists and he and Neff are not enemies. The Wolfen consent, and just as the police barge in, vanish. Wilson claims the attack was made by terrorists. The story ends on the assumption that Götterdämmerung takes the fall for the serial murders. Wilson's voice is heard, explaining that the Wolfen will continue to prey on weak and isolated members of the human herd, as humans do to each other on social and economic scale. The Wolfen will continue to be invisible to humanity because of their nature; not that of spirits, but superior predators, who are higher on The Food Chain than men.

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
• Donald Symington as Lawyer
• Tom Waits as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)

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.

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]

Reception

There was some disagreement if Wolfen is about werewolves. Time Out called it a "werewolf movie,"^[6] but Roger Ebert asserted Wolfen "is not about werewolves but is about the possibility that Indians and wolves can exchange souls."^[7]

References

External links

• Wolfen at the Internet Movie Database
• Wolfen at allmovie