| Directed by Michael Wadleigh ( U.S.A - 1981) Wolfen is a kind of Native American take on werewolf mythology set oddly enough in New York City. Something has been killing off bums, drug addicts, and other fringe dwellers of society in the Bronx for years. That something isn’t your average crack cocaine dealer. It’s an extremely elusive breed of beast known as the Wolfen. These Wolfen predate the white man, and even the 'Injun. But as is always the way, the authorities don’t take the menace seriously until somebody important becomes a statistic. That somebody important just happens to be megalomaniac multi-billionaire developer Christopher Van Der Veer. Van Der Veer inherited a fortune from his father, and turned it into a vast fortune by way of some less than ethical investing. He used his finances to fund a government overthrow somewhere in South America, and even turned a third world sacred site into a copper mine. An evening stroll in Manhattan’s Battery Park turns sour when Christopher, his coke snorting wife, and their enormous bodyguard are torn to pieces by an unidentified animal. It seems that he was planning to turn the derelict hunting grounds of the Bronx into a plush sanitized estate. A kind of playground of the wealthy. As Yogi would say, the Wolfen are smarter than your average bear. The derelict wasteland of the Bronx has provided them with both refuge, and a steady supply of fringe dwelling humans to feast on. They see the developer as a real threat, which is why they take it upon themselves to ruin his romantic stroll. Though it sounds original so far, we’re about to be subjected to a movie cliché. All of the responsible ‘by the book’ members of New York’s finest seem to be busy. So Detective Dewey Wilson is put on the case. Dewey has been on suspension for his mental problems, and also his alcoholism. Fairly implausibly, he’s assigned to the most important New York City murder case since David Berkowitz started killing hapless citizens as the 'Son of Sam'. Together with comic relief coroner Whittington (played by Gregory Hines; who believe it or not actually doesn’t dance once in this film), an oddball zoologist known as Ferguson, and a police psychologist love interest, Detective Dewey attempts to unravel the mystery as bodies keep piling up around the city. His attention focuses on Eddie Holt, a Native American activist who tried to blow up City Hall. He claims to be able to shape shift into a salmon, a deer, and even a wolf. But our motley crew of investigators are about to discover that something far more terrifying than a mad bomber activist with an identity crisis is stalking the people of the Bronx. Wolfen is basically a Native American allegory under the guise of a horror film. At one point a character even informs Dewey that “Wolves and Indians evolved and were destroyed simultaneously. Their society’s are practically one and the same. They’re tribal, they look after their own, they don’t overpopulate, they’re superb hunters”. It also tends to suggest that the Wolfen are symbolic of all "oppressed peoples". So in a sense, this is an extremely liberal minded film. On the other hand though, the destitute people of the Bronx are seen as by Eddie and his people as a fitting food source for these lupine creatures despite the fact that they too are being kept down by a modern society. Social commentary aside, Wolfen is just an average potboiler of a film that takes advantage of some great New York locations. The steady-cam P.O.V. shots were fairly cutting edge for their day, and have been ripped off by filmmakers big and small ever since. Entertainment : 2 out of 4 Watchability : 1.5 out of 4 Overall : 1.75 out of 4 Reviewed by Blake |
| WOLFEN |