Movie Review: Wolfen - 1981

The Wolfen is a 1981 horror movie directed by Michael Wadleigh. It stars Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines, and Edward James Olmos. This movie is based on a novel by Whitley Strieber.

Is this movie a horror classic, or a total miss?

The movie follows detective Dewey Wilson, played by Albert Finney. He is a down on his luck hardboiled detective with a history of alcoholism. He has been assigned to a case about series of bizarre murders, one of which is the murder of one of the richest business men in the country. What makes the murders so bizarre is that they appear to be done by animals. Albert is teaming up with police psychologist Rebecca Neff, played by Diane Venora, to solve these murders.

This movie is probably not what you would expect. I’m guessing that because of the title, and the release date, most of you will assume that this is simply An American Werewolf in London knock off. If that is the case then you are incorrect. This movie is quite different. It’s really more of a violent police procedural with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy elements in it. The tone of the movie is very serious, and dark.

The direction of this movie is a mixed bag. Movie is shot well, and the violence in the movie is pretty graphic. The gore in the movie looks great. The acting performances from most of the actors are fine, but the lead is a bit bland. Albert Finney’s performance is just there. You’ll feel like you’ve seen this character in a millions different movies, and many of them have been done better.

Another negative from the movie’s direction is the P.O.V shots from the villains. They use a special camera filter, similar to The Predator that has not aged well. It looks like a bad Photoshop filter. I’m sure that when this movie came out it was a neat effect, but today it just looks cheesy. It’s a shame because the rest of the movie feels true to life.

The movie’s script is also a mix of good and bad. The good is that the movie’s plot is interesting. The movie takes itself very seriously, which works in its favor. The script is full of detective work, Native American folklore, forensic science, and psychology. The main problem with the script is that it’s too long for its own good. The movie is almost 2 hours long, although it only has about 1:30 of interesting material. After an interesting beginning the movie slows down to a crawl in the middle. Even for a police procedural this movie is slow.

Another major problem with the movie is the ending. Frankly, it’s morally reprehensible. I won’t spoil it, but the lesson that this movie is trying to teach is bizarre. Not to mention that even if you take the moral out of the equation, the ending doesn’t resolve anything. It’s just clunky and illogical.

Overall, this movie is more interesting than good. The premise of the movie is interesting. Many elements of the movie are well executed, but the slow pacing and poor ending ruin the movie. Overall I give it 2 out of 5. You could do worse, but unless you’re a diehard Wolf, werewolf, or horror fan then you are better off skipping this one.