I remember a scene in Wolf that I found bothersome, even before our hypersensitive woke era, when Nicholson disposes of some black mugger in Central Park. You actually saw scenes like that in quite a few movies from the 80s and 90s, white fantasies of taking down the black menace. Veiled.
I won’t quibble with that— there’s a scene with some black characters in the police station afterward where they’re complaining that if a white boy had his fingers ripped off the police would do more about it. I don’t know if that dialogue weakens or strengthens your point.
It does make me wonder— maybe they shot the scene in the park and then had second thoughts, but rather than reshoot or waste an expensive special effects shot, they added a line or two of dialogue in the other scene to soften it a bit.
This is a great article... but I am surprised no Paul Naschy flicks? Night of the Werewolf might be my favorite of those. Hope everyone here had a happy Halloween.
I will confess to knowing Naschy only by reputation. So my list is by no means a comprehensive survey of werewolf films. I’ll keep Night in mind, and when I’m looking for a Naschy fix it will be that one I reach for!
I have seen a few werewolf films I did not write about here, including Werewolf of Washington and Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory. And a decent Mexican werewolf movie whose name escapes me at the moment; the werewolf in that picture was a pianist/composer.
And what a reputation! I've only actually seen one movie on your last... American Werewolf. I will watch Wolfen (I hope), maybe Wolf Cop. James Spader's movie? Hmmmm. He will never out-act the role he acted in Crash, but I may give it a shot actually. All the best movies were made in 90s, after all. Except the ones that weren't. But there is a good chance, if it was good, it came out in the 90s. I don't know what happened to the film business after that. I guess it all got Marvelized without being marvelous.
I’ve gone, over the years, from disliking Spader to enjoying his work. I want to see Crash but also want to read the book first.
I tried to suggest in the review that if you have certain tastes, Wolf is worth seeing despite it being wildly inconsistent in quality and imagination. I enjoyed it, for sure. Various reviewers suggested that it was about half of a good film, with a great premise. I think the problem was that it’s just not so easy to do a thinking person’s horror film unless you actually like horror films. Cronenberg’s The Fly, which I saw recently and may write about, is every bit as good as I recalled from the era, and maybe even better. Cronenberg is the master of stories where characters become monsters; Nichols evidently is not.
Great reviews; I agree on "Wolfen"; it's a vastly underrated film. I haven't seen "Wolf Cop." I re-watched "Wolf" a year ago and remembered how terrible it is. "The Wolfman" is one of my favorites; I enjoy the pathos of the whole werewolf curse which this does very well; I will admit it's paced somewhat poorly, though.
"American Werewolf in London" is THE werewolf movie; like "The Wolfman" it captures the pathos of the werewolf curse, but does it even better with the ghosts of the slain haunting the werewolf. And the film flies by! It's paced so well!
Thanks, Ernie! And I love the Wolf Man, too; I’ve seen it many times. It’s actually one of my favorite universal horror films, despite my review. I’m just reluctant to recommend it. It is packed with really dumb dialogue. But if I’m not contorting myself too much here, I actually do agree with what you’re saying. If you buy into it, the film is quite touching, and Chaney might be working with lame dialogue but he really does convey the pathos beautifully.
Yeah, as a kid that movie made an impression, especially Chaney’s sadness (he brought that same poignant sadness to the role of Lenny in the 1939 film adaptation of “Of Mice and Men”). It set the expectation for what werewolf movies should be like…probably why I can’t get in to ones where the werewolves are heroes!
By the way did you ever see the 1973 film “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf”? It’s kind of off-beat and cheesy but it’s fun in a campy sort of way! It’s got some great scenes, like when these hippie Jesus freaks invite the guy who’s a werewolf into their prayer circle and he gets blocked by an invisible barrier…they worked the “mime in a box” routine into a movie!😂
I love anything with Finney in it. I remember seeing an atrocious recording of "Wolfen" so I need to get that watched again.
Glad you spotted Rik in "An American Werewolf in London". As you say, he didn't have much to do but he was a very fitting customer for "The Slaughtered Lamb". Great film.
As a teen I fell in love with Oliver Reed after watching "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961). Apparently the fact that he turned into a monster didn't put me off. Weird.
Thanks, Jules! I vaguely recall that I only even saw Wolfen years ago because I was working my way through Finney’s films.
Finney is so good I don’t know if I can even say why. And I tried to watch the Oliver Reed film for this essay but the first 15 minutes or so were so creaky I just couldn’t do it. Also, I’ve never felt that the Hammer films in general live up to the reputation— unlike, say, the endless greatness of Ealing. (But I’m always willing to have a Hammer proselytizer try to convert me!) I love Oliver Reed though, so I suspect one day I’ll get through it. I figure once it gets going it’s pretty good.
Also— I didn’t write about it yet but I do love The Brood, which may be one of Reed’s best.
Aargh, how did I forget that one? Okay, here’s how I weasel out of it, but still give you credit— I don’t consider that a horror comedy, so much as a parody of horror films. As such, it’s certainly one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen, and as much as I love American Werewolf, judged purely as a comedy it doesn’t even come close to Young Frankenstein. The tricky thing American Werewolf pulls off is that it actually is frightening at times, but also has some very funny scenes. But it’s certainly not anywhere near as hilarious as YF. More like very dry dark humor.
That scene with gene Hackman as the blind man, my god.
I remember a scene in Wolf that I found bothersome, even before our hypersensitive woke era, when Nicholson disposes of some black mugger in Central Park. You actually saw scenes like that in quite a few movies from the 80s and 90s, white fantasies of taking down the black menace. Veiled.
I won’t quibble with that— there’s a scene with some black characters in the police station afterward where they’re complaining that if a white boy had his fingers ripped off the police would do more about it. I don’t know if that dialogue weakens or strengthens your point.
Qualifies it a bit. LOL.
It does make me wonder— maybe they shot the scene in the park and then had second thoughts, but rather than reshoot or waste an expensive special effects shot, they added a line or two of dialogue in the other scene to soften it a bit.
This is a great article... but I am surprised no Paul Naschy flicks? Night of the Werewolf might be my favorite of those. Hope everyone here had a happy Halloween.
I will confess to knowing Naschy only by reputation. So my list is by no means a comprehensive survey of werewolf films. I’ll keep Night in mind, and when I’m looking for a Naschy fix it will be that one I reach for!
I have seen a few werewolf films I did not write about here, including Werewolf of Washington and Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory. And a decent Mexican werewolf movie whose name escapes me at the moment; the werewolf in that picture was a pianist/composer.
And what a reputation! I've only actually seen one movie on your last... American Werewolf. I will watch Wolfen (I hope), maybe Wolf Cop. James Spader's movie? Hmmmm. He will never out-act the role he acted in Crash, but I may give it a shot actually. All the best movies were made in 90s, after all. Except the ones that weren't. But there is a good chance, if it was good, it came out in the 90s. I don't know what happened to the film business after that. I guess it all got Marvelized without being marvelous.
I’ve gone, over the years, from disliking Spader to enjoying his work. I want to see Crash but also want to read the book first.
I tried to suggest in the review that if you have certain tastes, Wolf is worth seeing despite it being wildly inconsistent in quality and imagination. I enjoyed it, for sure. Various reviewers suggested that it was about half of a good film, with a great premise. I think the problem was that it’s just not so easy to do a thinking person’s horror film unless you actually like horror films. Cronenberg’s The Fly, which I saw recently and may write about, is every bit as good as I recalled from the era, and maybe even better. Cronenberg is the master of stories where characters become monsters; Nichols evidently is not.
No love for the sequel, Another Wolf Cop? Out of all Canadian movies, that might be one of the most.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
I’ve only seen a few minutes of it— i have to say, I’m skeptical, but if you’re proselytizing, I’m listening.
I’m just sayin’ — plenty Canadian! And, uh, that’s it.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
Great reviews; I agree on "Wolfen"; it's a vastly underrated film. I haven't seen "Wolf Cop." I re-watched "Wolf" a year ago and remembered how terrible it is. "The Wolfman" is one of my favorites; I enjoy the pathos of the whole werewolf curse which this does very well; I will admit it's paced somewhat poorly, though.
"American Werewolf in London" is THE werewolf movie; like "The Wolfman" it captures the pathos of the werewolf curse, but does it even better with the ghosts of the slain haunting the werewolf. And the film flies by! It's paced so well!
Thanks for the great reviews!
Thanks, Ernie! And I love the Wolf Man, too; I’ve seen it many times. It’s actually one of my favorite universal horror films, despite my review. I’m just reluctant to recommend it. It is packed with really dumb dialogue. But if I’m not contorting myself too much here, I actually do agree with what you’re saying. If you buy into it, the film is quite touching, and Chaney might be working with lame dialogue but he really does convey the pathos beautifully.
Yeah, as a kid that movie made an impression, especially Chaney’s sadness (he brought that same poignant sadness to the role of Lenny in the 1939 film adaptation of “Of Mice and Men”). It set the expectation for what werewolf movies should be like…probably why I can’t get in to ones where the werewolves are heroes!
By the way did you ever see the 1973 film “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf”? It’s kind of off-beat and cheesy but it’s fun in a campy sort of way! It’s got some great scenes, like when these hippie Jesus freaks invite the guy who’s a werewolf into their prayer circle and he gets blocked by an invisible barrier…they worked the “mime in a box” routine into a movie!😂
It’s heartbreaking at the end when his dad realizes what he’s done.
Have not seen the 1973 film— I’ll add it to my list.
I love anything with Finney in it. I remember seeing an atrocious recording of "Wolfen" so I need to get that watched again.
Glad you spotted Rik in "An American Werewolf in London". As you say, he didn't have much to do but he was a very fitting customer for "The Slaughtered Lamb". Great film.
As a teen I fell in love with Oliver Reed after watching "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961). Apparently the fact that he turned into a monster didn't put me off. Weird.
Bravo Karl - great post! 🐺
Thanks, Jules! I vaguely recall that I only even saw Wolfen years ago because I was working my way through Finney’s films.
Finney is so good I don’t know if I can even say why. And I tried to watch the Oliver Reed film for this essay but the first 15 minutes or so were so creaky I just couldn’t do it. Also, I’ve never felt that the Hammer films in general live up to the reputation— unlike, say, the endless greatness of Ealing. (But I’m always willing to have a Hammer proselytizer try to convert me!) I love Oliver Reed though, so I suspect one day I’ll get through it. I figure once it gets going it’s pretty good.
Also— I didn’t write about it yet but I do love The Brood, which may be one of Reed’s best.
Aargh, how did I forget that one? Okay, here’s how I weasel out of it, but still give you credit— I don’t consider that a horror comedy, so much as a parody of horror films. As such, it’s certainly one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen, and as much as I love American Werewolf, judged purely as a comedy it doesn’t even come close to Young Frankenstein. The tricky thing American Werewolf pulls off is that it actually is frightening at times, but also has some very funny scenes. But it’s certainly not anywhere near as hilarious as YF. More like very dry dark humor.
That scene with gene Hackman as the blind man, my god.
Two words for you: Young Frankenstein!