fritz@hpfclp.UUCP (fritz) (04/25/85)
I really don't know how to approach a review of this movie, but it's so
unique and... fascinating that I'm going to try. Here goes:
The_Company_of_Wolves is a dreamy, surrealistic, sometimes scary movie
that could be looked on as an "art film" version of Little Red Riding
Hood. It shifts frequently from one reality to another (e.g. from a
dream to a story told IN the dream), and eventually these realities
start to get a little blurred. It's filled with images that leap out
and grasp your mind, often leaving you reeling. Sometimes the imagery
seems disconnected or disjointed, making you wonder what it meant, but
none the less it fascinates you. I saw the movie with a friend, and we
were rather dumfounded when we came out -- but we kept marvelling about
the intensity, beauty, and bad craziness of the movie. This is prime
midnight-movie-cult material, kinda like An_American_Werewolf_in_London.
Except aAWiL's main feature was its nutty black humor; in tCoW it's
the visual trip and bizarre twists.
A warning: there are a few scenes in this movie that get fairly gory.
One scene of a man-into-wolf transformation comes immediately to mind.
If you're bothered by this kind of thing, you can just close your eyes
through a few scenes.
If, however, you like movies that really tap-dance on your psyche, I
think you'll enjoy tCoW. In some respects it's a horror movie; it
certainly has the tension of a good horror flick. But it's much more
than that. You'll have to see it yourself to see what I mean. I plan
to see it again!
Gary Fritz
Hewlett Packard
Ft Collins, CO
{ihnp4,hplabs}!hpfcla!fritz
********************* MILD SPOILER ALERT *****************************
The story begins with a nice English family coming home from a shopping
trip. The parents tell the older daughter to go fetch the younger daughter
(who the older daughter evidently isn't very fond of). The younger,
however, is locked in her room, deep in a mysterious dream. (That, by
the way, is all you ever see of the rest of the family [in THAT reality,
anyway!] -- the only return to the original reality is occasional flashes
back to the dreaming girl.)
The dream begins with the eldest daughter being chased, and (apparently)
killed, by wolves. The setting is a deep, dark forest in olde England.
Thereafter, the youngest daughter (Rosalee) spends time with her grandmother
(Angela Landsbury! [sp]), who tells her many dark tales of wolves --
those that are hairy on the outside AND those that are hairy on the inside!
Further developments in the plot reveal the fear of the villagers for
the wolves, and (much worse) the werewolves. There is eventually a
confrontation in Granny's house (Granny, by the way, has knitted Rosalee
a bright-red cape! How quaint) with one of the baddies, and strange
things happen from there.
See it. It'll warp ya.root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (04/30/85)
> The_Company_of_Wolves is a dreamy, surrealistic, sometimes scary movie > that could be looked on as an "art film" version of Little Red Riding > Hood.... > ...were rather dumfounded when we came out -- but we kept marvelling about > the intensity, beauty, and bad craziness of the movie. This is prime > midnight-movie-cult material, kinda like An_American_Werewolf_in_London. > Except aAWiL's main feature was its nutty black humor; in tCoW it's > the visual trip and bizarre twists. I don't think this movie will catch on as cult material, at least not in the same way that "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Liquid Sky" have caught on. More than other cult films, this is a thinking film and with an atmosphere and fell to it that are (at least in my opinion) quite foreign to the typical american cult movie viewer. ============================= Slight Spoiler ================================= The audience that I saw the movie with became quite hostile towards the end when Rosalee began quoting from "Petite you know what." They wanted blood. They wanted gore. They wanted to watch wolves ripping Rosalee's supple young body into bloody shreds of meat. And that line, "My... what big eyes you have...." had them rolling in the ailes. I couldn't make out what else was being said, although I could well imagine. ============================================================================== Also, I think that the first man/wolf transformation scene was somewhat excessive. But remember.... this is a British film. They do that sort of think in the good old UK. I think the mechanical effects people were in essence saying, "Look what WE can do with latex foam!" -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "Markland needs women!"