Wolfen on DVD

Albert Finney stars as a New York City cop in what must surely be one of the few politically correct, warm and fuzzy horror movies.

But it's also a pretty nifty and chilling yarn.

A construction tycoon and his wife are killed mysteriously and their bodies mutilated, leading Dewey Wilson (Finney) and his new partner Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora) on a whodunit that turns into a whatdunit. With the help of a creative medical examiner (Gregory Hines) and a native American Indian (Edward James Olmos), they discover that the tycoons were merely the latest in a long line of people who have been killed in such a brutal manner.

It turns out that the perpetrators, not surprisingly considering the movie's title, are Wolfen, an ancient race of highly intelligent wolves that used to live in harmony with human society when it was Indians who ran North America in a blissful Utopia. When the white man came on the scene, however, with his technology and all the other evils we get thrown in our faces so often, the Wolfen were forced to live on the periphery, in the abandonded and forgotten areas, subsisting on the abandoned and forgotten people white man’s society had left behind.

So the Wolfen lived in the squalor of the South Bronx, eating derelicts, until their new territory also became threatened and they were forced into action.

Forgive the cynical tone, but this reviewer has seen his share of politically correct pap come out of Hollywood. Fortunately, while Wolfen is indeed politically correct, it is definitely not pap. It’s a stylish and moody piece that’s told and shot intelligently and really pulls you right along with Finney’s investigation.

Director Michael Wadleigh uses enhanced Steadicam shots to denote the Wolfen’s point of view shots, and this innovation does a lot to heighten the overall tension. There are also some terrific shots of Manhattan (pre Sept. 11, 2001, so the Twin Towers are still there in all their ugly glory), including some great ones from atop one of the big bridges that connect Manhattan with the rest of the US.

The performances are all first rate, in particular Finney, who we don’t see enough of, as the jaded and failed cop who's taken onto a journey into a new world, and Hines as the lighthearted but extremely professional ME.

The DVD is very good, with one exception. The anamorphic widescreen picture (16x9 TV compatible) is for the most part excellent, with no discernable artifacts and a sharp, bright and colorful image, and the Dolby Digital audio is also very good. But the dialogue appears to be a heartbeat out of synch through the movie and this is a tad disconcerting, making Wolfen appear almost like one of those badly dubbed Japanese horror flicks of the 60’s and ‘70’s. It doesn’t ruin your enjoyment of the film, but it’s weird and it shouldn't be.

Extras are supposed to include a running commentary featuring co-stars Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos and director/co-writer Wadleigh, though there was no evidence of such on our DVD. There’s also some cast/crew listing, though it isn’t extensive, the theatrical trailer, and a short essay on different wolf-related horror movies over recent decades.

Wolfen, from Warner Home Video
114 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital audio
Starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines, Dick O’Neill
Produced by Rupert Hitzig
Written by David Eyre and Michael Wadleigh, Directed by Michael Wadleigh

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