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Post by Deviancy on Feb 11, 2021 4:01:21 GMT
The book was called the Wolfen, the film for whatever reason, they dropped the, the.
The film features Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos, and it is based on Whitley Streiber's novel, The Wolfen. For some odd reason its included in a lot of top werewolf film lists but it is NOT a werewolf film, they are wolves but they are a rare, near extinct, breed of wolf that has stronger senses, a far higher IQ, and spooky as hell. The story focuses on Detective Dewey (Finney) and his partner, a rich couple is murdered and it looks to be terrorists but as they investigate the wolfen start to investigate them. The wolfen realize their nearly extinct, so they prey on the homeless for food, those society has ignored and the only reason they killed the rich couple, well I won't spoil that, but they end up with the detectives getting warmer so now they're considering taking out the detectives. Its a solid film that is a horror film but has socially aware themes like how it touches on how society treats the homeless, and native americans, and for a film that was released in 1981, its sad that a lot of the socially aware themes are still very present today.
Olmos plays the key native american in the film, a suspect at first but later someone who actually helps because he and other fellow natives know a few things about the wolfen since they were around for quite awhile. The book is a little better than the film because it leaves the reader guessing if they are in fact the natives and possibly do turn into werewolves until nearly the end, the film kind of spoils that a lot earlier.
But since I'm going on about a supernatural wolf movie, I do think they were supernatural, just not werewolves, I'll list the best werewolf/wolf horror films, based on my opinion of course.
1. Wolfen (too easy)
2. Ginger Snaps (indie Canadian film that uses the werewolf theme in an interesting way)
3. An American Werewolf In London (spooky, decent amount of levity, one of a kind)
4. Silver Bullet (great cast... interesting reason to pick the victims)
5. Dog Soldiers (a little weak on the special effects but it was a low budget film, still good however)
Ginger Snaps never got a high def transfer as far as I know, I could be wrong.
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Post by wolf on Feb 11, 2021 21:44:55 GMT
The book was called the Wolfen, the film for whatever reason, they dropped the, the. The film features Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos, and it is based on Whitley Streiber's novel, The Wolfen. For some odd reason its included in a lot of top werewolf film lists but it is NOT a werewolf film, they are wolves but they are a rare, near extinct, breed of wolf that has stronger senses, a far higher IQ, and spooky as hell. The story focuses on Detective Dewey (Finney) and his partner, a rich couple is murdered and it looks to be terrorists but as they investigate the wolfen start to investigate them. The wolfen realize their nearly extinct, so they prey on the homeless for food, those society has ignored and the only reason they killed the rich couple, well I won't spoil that, but they end up with the detectives getting warmer so now they're considering taking out the detectives. Its a solid film that is a horror film but has socially aware themes like how it touches on how society treats the homeless, and native americans, and for a film that was released in 1981, its sad that a lot of the socially aware themes are still very present today. Olmos plays the key native american in the film, a suspect at first but later someone who actually helps because he and other fellow natives know a few things about the wolfen since they were around for quite awhile. The book is a little better than the film because it leaves the reader guessing if they are in fact the natives and possibly do turn into werewolves until nearly the end, the film kind of spoils that a lot earlier. But since I'm going on about a supernatural wolf movie, I do think they were supernatural, just not werewolves, I'll list the best werewolf/wolf horror films, based on my opinion of course. 1. Wolfen (too easy) 2. Ginger Snaps (indie Canadian film that uses the werewolf theme in an interesting way) 3. An American Werewolf In London (spooky, decent amount of levity, one of a kind) 4. Silver Bullet (great cast... interesting reason to pick the victims) 5. Dog Soldiers (a little weak on the special effects but it was a low budget film, still good however) Ginger Snaps never got a high def transfer as far as I know, I could be wrong.
I also liked Tom Noonan and his character in the film.
He has been a favorite character actor of mine.
Good list you got there too, deviancy.
"Ginger Snaps" was a pretty good flick, liked that one.
I would like to see the next two that came after that one.
Emily Perkins (who was Bev in the 1990 "IT") and Katherine Isabelle worked well together I think.
(out of boredom one day, a few years back, I saw Selena Gomez' film "Another Cinderella Story", got a kick out of seeing Isabelle and Perkins as the highschooler ugly step sisters.) |
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 12, 2021 2:36:36 GMT
I also liked Tom Noonan and his character in the film. He has been a favorite character actor of mine.
Good list you got there too, deviancy.
"Ginger Snaps" was a pretty good flick, liked that one.
I would like to see the next two that came after that one.
Emily Perkins (who was Bev in the 1990 "IT") and Katherine Isabelle worked well together I think.
(out of boredom one day, a few years back, I saw Selena Gomez' film "Another Cinderella Story", got a kick out of seeing Isabelle and Perkins as the highschooler ugly step sisters.) I haven't seen a lot of Noonan's work but I like him in Wolfen, Robocop 2, and Manhunter, pretty big departure from his wolf nerd role in Wolfen to the cold as ice killer type in the last two, but he pulls it off. As for the book, I have no idea why they haven't re-printed in the US or the UK but yet re-printed it in Russia or Germany, if only they did an English version as well, I'd pay the import fee. Sadly, they did two or three re-prints in the 80's in the US, then just never bothered again. Used copies are all over the place but I've ordered maybe four different copies, they're all beat to hell. There is a hardcover edition that many list on Ebay claiming its near mint, but I can tell the pages are yellow and they want over a hundred dollars, screw that. As for Ginger Snaps, the sequel is kind of essential to see since it wraps up the story with Perkins. That's why the third film confuses me, I just don't get why they did a prequel but with the same two sisters and in a radically different time period, I guess they just couldn't figure out where to go with the third since Ginger was dead and Perkins, well I won't ruin that for you since you haven't seen it. As for Perkins, I had no idea she was Bev in the 1990 version, didn't realize she was gen x'er, thought she was a lot younger than that. One film I left out was Red Riding Hood with that blonde actress who was really popular, can't remember her name. I thought it was just a silly romance flick but I finally watched it, its a solid werewolf film with an interesting twist. But like Cursed, a lot of people just didn't care for it. Cursed was also a decent werewolf film, I mean Craven rarely puts out turds, but again, people were like, "eh". |
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Post by wolf on Feb 12, 2021 2:54:52 GMT
I also liked Tom Noonan and his character in the film. He has been a favorite character actor of mine.
Good list you got there too, deviancy.
"Ginger Snaps" was a pretty good flick, liked that one.
I would like to see the next two that came after that one.
Emily Perkins (who was Bev in the 1990 "IT") and Katherine Isabelle worked well together I think.
(out of boredom one day, a few years back, I saw Selena Gomez' film "Another Cinderella Story", got a kick out of seeing Isabelle and Perkins as the highschooler ugly step sisters.) I haven't seen a lot of Noonan's work but I like him in Wolfen, Robocop 2, and Manhunter, pretty big departure from his wolf nerd role in Wolfen to the cold as ice killer type in the last two, but he pulls it off. As for the book, I have no idea why they haven't re-printed in the US or the UK but yet re-printed it in Russia or Germany, if only they did an English version as well, I'd pay the import fee. Sadly, they did two or three re-prints in the 80's in the US, then just never bothered again. Used copies are all over the place but I've ordered maybe four different copies, they're all beat to hell. There is a hardcover edition that many list on Ebay claiming its near mint, but I can tell the pages are yellow and they want over a hundred dollars, screw that. ------ Thanks for the info on the book! (I really liked Noonan in Robocop II, He was a good villian to follow Kurtwood Smith in the first film. I saw both Robocop's in the theater, the scene where he was shot to pieces and taken apart in II was just as traumatic as seeing him shot to pieces in the first movie, just in a different way.)As for Ginger Snaps, the sequel is kind of essential to see since it wraps up the story with Perkins. That's why the third film confuses me, I just don't get why they did a prequel but with the same two sisters and in a radically different time period, I guess they just couldn't figure out where to go with the third since Ginger was dead and Perkins, well I won't ruin that for you since you haven't seen it. As for Perkins, I had no idea she was Bev in the 1990 version, didn't realize she was gen x'er, thought she was a lot younger than that. ---- she looks younger than she is, the only good things about that Gomez movie was Jane Lynch as the step mother and the step sisters. 🙂One film I left out was Red Riding Hood with that blonde actress who was really popular, can't remember her name. ----- Amanda Sieffried I thought it was just a silly romance flick but I finally watched it, its a solid werewolf film with an interesting twist. ----- I agree, that was a good one. Different with a Grimm's sort of flavor to it. The style of it reminded me ( a little) of the brothers Grimm with Ledger, Heady, Damon and Stormare (who is GREAT in all he does)
But like Cursed, a lot of people just didn't care for it. Cursed was also a decent werewolf film, I mean Craven rarely puts out turds, but again, people were like, "eh". ----- I don't think I've seen that one, if I have it must have been a long time ago. |
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 12, 2021 3:25:46 GMT
I don't think I've seen that one, if I have it must have been a long time ago. Cursed? It has Christina Ricci and Eisenberg playing brother and sister, and Jackson (Pacey from Dawsons) is her boyfriend, and they're on their own in their parents house because their parents are dead. They get cursed and Eisenberg realizes it very quickly, Ricci takes awhile. The writing is solid, kind of Scream like with being very hip and having the right kind of levity, probably the same writer since Craven worked with him on other things as well. The acting is also pretty good, I mean Ricci and Eisenberg don't do bombs. I went to look up the cast, looks like there's a show from 2020 called Cursed, don't think its a spin off, would be odd if it was. As for Noonan, he did pick up where Smith left off rather well but they made one mistake, he tries to justify selling drugs, and taking out innocent people, by saying it should be legal and they're forcing his hand. That took away a little of his evil side, while Clarence, no excuses, he just was evil as hell. But regardless, they both kick a*s in those two films, its a shame they neutered the franchise with the third film, I mean killing Lewis off early, toning everything down to PG-13, and the bad guys had no depth whatsoever, the main bad guy was just a goof. They had their reasons, they were making mass merchandise deals like action figures and what not, and the toy companies back then preferred PG to PG-13 franchises. These days, with Neca and Mezco and Funko, they don't care if it's NC-17, they'll still make figures if there's money to be made. Ooo... I'm now a "full member". |
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Post by wolf on Feb 12, 2021 4:16:57 GMT
I don't think I've seen that one, if I have it must have been a long time ago. Cursed? It has Christina Ricci and Eisenberg playing brother and sister, and Jackson (Pacey from Dawsons) is her boyfriend, and they're on their own in their parents house because their parents are dead. They get cursed and Eisenberg realizes it very quickly, Ricci takes awhile. The writing is solid, kind of Scream like with being very hip and having the right kind of levity, probably the same writer since Craven worked with him on other things as well. The acting is also pretty good, I mean Ricci and Eisenberg don't do bombs. I went to look up the cast, looks like there's a show from 2020 called Cursed, don't think its a spin off, would be odd if it was. ------ I'm gonna have to find that movie, I'd like to see that. I like Eisenberg and Ricci both. Thanks.As for Noonan, he did pick up where Smith left off rather well but they made one mistake, he tries to justify selling drugs, and taking out innocent people, by saying it should be legal and they're forcing his hand. That took away a little of his evil side, while Clarence, no excuses, he just was evil as hell. ------ Very true, I agree with you on all of that.
But regardless, they both kick a§§ in those two films, ------ Yes! its a shame they neutered the franchise with the third film, I mean killing Lewis off early, toning everything down to PG-13, and the bad guys had no depth whatsoever, the main bad guy was just a goof. They had their reasons, they were making mass merchandise deals like action figures and what not, and the toy companies back then preferred PG to PG-13 franchises. These days, with Neca and Mezco and Funko, they don't care if it's NC-17, they'll still make figures if there's money to be made. Robocop 3 was an utter waste of celluloid. And I didn't like what little I saw of the Robocop remake.Ooo... I'm now a "full member". ----- Congratulations! Keep posting and you'll get to 'Forum Legend' in no time. 🙂 |
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 12, 2021 19:52:57 GMT
----- Congratulations! Keep posting and you'll get to 'Forum Legend' in no time. 🙂 Thanks. As for the Robocop remake, Keaton and Oldman were totally wasted in that film, they're both top notch actors but that film had no direction other than recycling what already had been done with some minor changes, changes that were bad. Trying to put a modern spin on a bad CEO was unnecessary, the CEO's in the original are future proof, and the lead actor, some think he's talented, I think he's a b flick level at best. It was also silly to allow him to keep one human hand, and to allow him to still be with his wife and kid here and there. One of the things that added to Robcop's personality was that he lost his wife and son since he couldn't let them know, and he had to live with that, and that allowed his rage against those who put him in that position to be more fluid, it also showed how he was a great man because despite everything, he still upheld the law. The remake also didn't have any of the cool levity bits like the "I'll buy that for a dollar" or the cool news clips, it just had generic CNN styled ones instead. I tried to like it because I'm into Oldman's work, I thought he was great in Dracula, and so many other films, but he wasn't enough to save that mistake of a film. The only thing I will give it some praise for, the fact he could run in the remake. In the original we have to believe the bad guys are too dumb to just run for it, he wouldn't have been able to keep up, and as a cop, he couldn't shoot them in the back. But they did the same thing in the Friday films, Jason was fast at first but by the 4th he was zombie like and could no longer run, but the teens still got caught. |
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Post by wolf on Feb 12, 2021 21:06:55 GMT
----- Congratulations! Keep posting and you'll get to 'Forum Legend' in no time. 🙂 Thanks. ----- you're welcome. 🙂As for the Robocop remake, Keaton and Oldman were totally wasted in that film, they're both top notch actors but that film had no direction other than recycling what already had been done with some minor changes, changes that were bad. Trying to put a modern spin on a bad CEO was unnecessary, the CEO's in the original are future proof, and the lead actor, some think he's talented, I think he's a b flick level at best. It was also silly to allow him to keep one human hand, and to allow him to still be with his wife and kid here and there. One of the things that added to Robcop's personality was that he lost his wife and son since he couldn't let them know, and he had to live with that, and that allowed his rage against those who put him in that position to be more fluid, it also showed how he was a great man because despite everything, he still upheld the law. The remake also didn't have any of the cool levity bits like the "I'll buy that for a dollar" or the cool news clips, it just had generic CNN styled ones instead. I tried to like it because I'm into Oldman's work, I thought he was great in Dracula, and so many other films, but he wasn't enough to save that mistake of a film. The only thing I will give it some praise for, the fact he could run in the remake. In the original we have to believe the bad guys are too dumb to just run for it, he wouldn't have been able to keep up, and as a cop, he couldn't shoot them in the back. But they did the same thing in the Friday films, Jason was fast at first but by the 4th he was zombie like and could no longer run, but the teens still got caught.
I'm a great admirer of Oldman's work too.
Coppola's Dracula was a great take on Stoker's classic. Oldman was really fantastic in it.
I saw the first two Friday the 13th flicks in the theatre when they came out.
Honestly, never watched the rest. the third (from what I saw of it) put me off on the franchise after that.
Though I did kinda like the Freddy vs. Jason thing, I did watch that just to see Freddy again. 🙂 |
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Post by edwardjohn on Feb 12, 2021 21:47:22 GMT
----- Congratulations! Keep posting and you'll get to 'Forum Legend' in no time. 🙂 Thanks. As for the Robocop remake, Keaton and Oldman were totally wasted in that film, they're both top notch actors but that film had no direction other than recycling what already had been done with some minor changes, changes that were bad. Trying to put a modern spin on a bad CEO was unnecessary, the CEO's in the original are future proof, and the lead actor, some think he's talented, I think he's a b flick level at best. It was also silly to allow him to keep one human hand, and to allow him to still be with his wife and kid here and there. One of the things that added to Robcop's personality was that he lost his wife and son since he couldn't let them know, and he had to live with that, and that allowed his rage against those who put him in that position to be more fluid, it also showed how he was a great man because despite everything, he still upheld the law. The remake also didn't have any of the cool levity bits like the "I'll buy that for a dollar" or the cool news clips, it just had generic CNN styled ones instead. I tried to like it because I'm into Oldman's work, I thought he was great in Dracula, and so many other films, but he wasn't enough to save that mistake of a film. The only thing I will give it some praise for, the fact he could run in the remake. In the original we have to believe the bad guys are too dumb to just run for it, he wouldn't have been able to keep up, and as a cop, he couldn't shoot them in the back. But they did the same thing in the Friday films, Jason was fast at first but by the 4th he was zombie like and could no longer run, but the teens still got caught. |
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 12, 2021 22:59:07 GMT
The Robocop remake is still better than any of the original sequels. I will say it is better than Robocop 3 but Robocop 3 was just a promo tool to market toys and the upcoming tv series, which failed. But Robocop 2 vs. the Remake? Different strokes for different folks... I personally prefer Darabont's ending to the Mist, many prefer the book ending, we all have different taste. |
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Post by wolf on Feb 12, 2021 23:27:11 GMT
The Robocop remake is still better than any of the original sequels. I will say it is better than Robocop 3 but Robocop 3 was just a promo tool to market toys and the upcoming tv series, which failed. But Robocop 2 vs. the Remake? Different strokes for different folks... I personally prefer Darabont's ending to the Mist, many prefer the book ending, we all have different taste. |
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Post by wolf on Feb 12, 2021 23:40:09 GMT
I was looking around and found some cool movie posters for "Wolfen"...
Belgium:
British:
and others....
This is a favorite scene of mine from the movie:
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 13, 2021 3:14:44 GMT
Streiber, the guy who wrote the book, went to sci fi hardcore after and didn't really touch on horror much but not too long ago I believe he did an actual werewolf book. He was smart though, never wrote a sequel to the Wolfen. Why is that smart? The story ended the way it needed to, leaving the fate of the very endangered pack unknown.
Great story and it pretty damn faithful to the book, the only difference really is they had to leave things out due to time. For example Dewey's partner has a husband who is kind of a mess, he's not touched on in the film whatsoever, but I don't think she ever says she is single. It also touches on more issues the US has when it comes to how certain groups of people are treated but that's Streiber, he's very political.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2021 10:42:37 GMT
The book was called the Wolfen, the film for whatever reason, they dropped the, the. The film features Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos, and it is based on Whitley Streiber's novel, The Wolfen. For some odd reason its included in a lot of top werewolf film lists but it is NOT a werewolf film, they are wolves but they are a rare, near extinct, breed of wolf that has stronger senses, a far higher IQ, and spooky as hell. The story focuses on Detective Dewey (Finney) and his partner, a rich couple is murdered and it looks to be terrorists but as they investigate the wolfen start to investigate them. The wolfen realize their nearly extinct, so they prey on the homeless for food, those society has ignored and the only reason they killed the rich couple, well I won't spoil that, but they end up with the detectives getting warmer so now they're considering taking out the detectives. Its a solid film that is a horror film but has socially aware themes like how it touches on how society treats the homeless, and native americans, and for a film that was released in 1981, its sad that a lot of the socially aware themes are still very present today. Olmos plays the key native american in the film, a suspect at first but later someone who actually helps because he and other fellow natives know a few things about the wolfen since they were around for quite awhile. The book is a little better than the film because it leaves the reader guessing if they are in fact the natives and possibly do turn into werewolves until nearly the end, the film kind of spoils that a lot earlier. But since I'm going on about a supernatural wolf movie, I do think they were supernatural, just not werewolves, I'll list the best werewolf/wolf horror films, based on my opinion of course. 1. Wolfen (too easy) 2. Ginger Snaps (indie Canadian film that uses the werewolf theme in an interesting way) 3. An American Werewolf In London (spooky, decent amount of levity, one of a kind) 4. Silver Bullet (great cast... interesting reason to pick the victims) 5. Dog Soldiers (a little weak on the special effects but it was a low budget film, still good however) Ginger Snaps never got a high def transfer as far as I know, I could be wrong. Great list you got there. I personally would add The Howling. Great werewolf movie. As to your list i would rearrange the order but the selection is great. |
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 14, 2021 3:30:45 GMT
As to your list i would rearrange the order but the selection is great. The top 5 list is just random. If I was to put that list in order it would be more like this... 1. Wolfen (still has the #1 spot) 2. An American Werewolf In London (just fun... fun.. fun) 3. Silver Bullet (wonder if Marty and the others had nightmares for life) 4. Ginger Snaps 5. Dog Soldiers Wolfen doesn't even really belong on the list since it isn't a werewolf film but they still had a supernatural vibe which is why it makes the list. The book makes it clear they're not werewolves but it never says they don't have supernatural powers, I mean they did have senses 10x stronger than other wolves, as explained in the book, and they were quite larger and in the book there's a part where they kind of are made to appear to look down on normal wolves. I also liked how the book goes further into why the natives relate to them, they both had their land stolen from them and both are bitter about it. The wolfen kill that rich couple because they were trying to steal the land that belonged to the wolfen, so they risked eons of no one realizing they existed just to save their land, and in the end, while they survived, they lost their land because they had to re-locate to remain safe. And it opened the door to the possibility the natives were the wolfen because that rich a**h*le was also taking land from the natives. Great story... really needs to be re-printed... I think its on Kindle but no thanks, I like reading books, I read enough off of monitors as it is. |
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Post by wolf on Feb 14, 2021 16:47:59 GMT
As to your list i would rearrange the order but the selection is great. The top 5 list is just random. If I was to put that list in order it would be more like this... 1. Wolfen (still has the #1 spot) 2. An American Werewolf In London (just fun... fun.. fun) 3. Silver Bullet (wonder if Marty and the others had nightmares for life) 4. Ginger Snaps 5. Dog Soldiers Wolfen doesn't even really belong on the list since it isn't a werewolf film but they still had a supernatural vibe which is why it makes the list. The book makes it clear they're not werewolves but it never says they don't have supernatural powers, I mean they did have senses 10x stronger than other wolves, as explained in the book, and they were quite larger and in the book there's a part where they kind of are made to appear to look down on normal wolves. I also liked how the book goes further into why the natives relate to them, they both had their land stolen from them and both are bitter about it. The wolfen kill that rich couple because they were trying to steal the land that belonged to the wolfen, so they risked eons of no one realizing they existed just to save their land, and in the end, while they survived, they lost their land because they had to re-locate to remain safe. And it opened the door to the possibility the natives were the wolfen because that rich a**h*le was also taking land from the natives. Great story... really needs to be re-printed... I think its on Kindle but no thanks, I like reading books, I read enough off of monitors as it is.
"An American were wolf in London" was an excellent movie. The FX were really good for the time it came out. The story, cast, humor ....all were very good.
"The Howling" was another good one for the time it was made.
"Dog Soldiers"?....I've got to look that one up, I don't think I've seen that one.
More favorite scenes from "Wolfen" the night vision effects were way cool in this first scene....
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Post by wolf on Feb 14, 2021 17:47:54 GMT
Tell you what Deviancy , don't know if you've seen these or not, but the most recent remake of "The Wolfman" with Benicio DelToro and Anthony Hopkins was really good in my book. And I really enjoyed the series "Penny Dreadful" and liked the rather different sort of take on the werewolf in that show, Josh Hartnett was very good in that part, I think. I really like his work too.
....and thank you for the details on Streiber's book, I'm wanting to get a copy and read it even more now.
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Post by Deviancy on Feb 15, 2021 3:44:00 GMT
Tell you what Deviancy , don't know if you've seen these or not, but the most recent remake of "The Wolfman" with Benicio DelToro and Anthony Hopkins was really good in my book. I really liked the remake of The Wolfman, liked it far more than previous versions. DelToro and Blunt do most of the heavy lifting, great chemistry and their "love" for each other and the way she fights so hard to try to find a cure for him was very well done. Weaver comes next, great performance and I liked how they tied him to the Ripper case, and then Hopkins, while it wasn't his best performance, he knows how to play the evil game. I don't think he'll ever do a character better than Hannibal but he's still always a solid performer. In short, I totally enjoyed the film and its in my top ten wolf/werewolf flicks, just not the top 5. As for Dog Soldiers, just imagine Predator with werewolves, they're in the woods or a jungle and get picked off by werewolves, or become them. Back to Wolfen, Abebooks has tons of used copies. Actually, I think I'll go check Abe out tonight to see if I come across anything, or find out it has been re-printed, I don't exactly keep up with release dates on books and cd's like I used to. |
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