You are currently viewing At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Wolf “94”

At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Wolf “94”

MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Romantic Horror/ Stars: Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins, Christopher Plummer, Eileen Atkins, David Hyde Pierce, Om Puri/ Runtime: 125 minutes

I feel it must be said that since at least the ’40s, any movie maker who has even dared to attempt to make a brand new monster flick that is in the style of such masterpieces as The Wolf Man or even Dracula has been met with either hostility or just plain disregarded by modern day film goers thus leaving filmmakers to either embrace comedic or camp elements in order for people to embrace their film and go see it. Yet even though this has resulted in some truly great monster movies in its own right, the fact still remains that it would be nice to have a horror movie for adults by adults. Thankfully, after watching numerous movies, I finally found one that actually approaches this material in a manner that is actually serious, is directed by a noted director, and saddled with an unusually strong cast to help make audiences go along with the less believable parts to this film. Thus when you combine those things, what you ultimately get is Wolf, a modern werewolf film that isn’t designed as either a Howling-level camp film or a chance to just suck up any money lying around like the sequels to the Howling. Rather this is a brilliant new look at the concepts that chilled audiences back in the 40s, but set in a contemporary world as well as a witty albeit horror-tinged look at how if you really want to survive as a professional in modern corporate America sometimes you just have to go straight for the jugular….literally.

The plot is as follows: Wolf tells the story of a man named Will Randall. Will is an older, seemingly in the twilight of his career, but sweet and goodhearted nonetheless publisher who, when our story opens, finds himself embroiled in a struggle to maintain his position as Chief Editor at the publishing house where he works due to the fact that it is being bought by a rich individual by the name of Raymond Alden. In addition to his professional conundrums, Will’s marriage is also on the proverbial rocks so to speak and he also is having to put up with the fact that his protégé is a slimy suck-up. Yet his life suddenly changes one night when, whilst on a trip in Vermont to keep a client from leaving, Randall hits a wolf and, upon inspecting it to see if its ok, is promptly bitten. However it isn’t long before, following this horrific incident as well as an assuring visit from his physician that Will begins to notice that his senses have all been mysteriously magnified somehow. Thus Will, with the help of Alden’s daughter and the guidance of an alternative healer, attempts to figure out just what exactly is going on and, in the process, finds himself realizing that a beast may have just been awoken….

Now the director of this film, a Mr. Mike Nichols should be praised for blending this movie’s plot material with enough ferocity in order to engage its target audience while also remembering just what the point of a movie like this truly is which is to scare and keep an audience on the edge of their seat in equal measure. However, instead of playing with the audience’s various emotional responses through a set of groan-inducing clichés, the director makes the intriguing choice to omit the typical shocks and scares that will typically elicit screams for the audience, and instead utilizes a never-ending yet quite potent all the same feeling of dread and gloom. A quite understated yet also quite creepy method that a lot of horror films nowadays could learn a thing or 2 about how best to utilize themselves. Also increasing this movie’s believability is some unique and fantastic skill with the camera even though the repeated usage of slo-mo at points of drama in this film does start to get a wee bit stale even though there are other moments where it works absolute wonders.

Now I also feel that this movie’s overall quality is also enhanced considerably through an incredibly well-written script, a fantastic balance between scares and evolving the various characters in the story, and just the right amount of comedic moments to keep things light. We also get, courtesy of the dependable musical legend that is Mr. Ennio Morricone a score that is both absolutely fantastic as well as a wonderfully low-key ode to the old-school horror flicks without once feeling over-the-top. In addition, the creative team behind this film should also be given significant praise for being able to avoid putting way too much special effect work into the creation of the werewolf, and instead choosing to go down a road that utilizes classic make-up instead. Indeed given that the film industry really truly has become overloaded with special effects that are rendered via the computer, there’s something quite praiseworthy about watching a film where an actual performer is in classic make-up and actually able to act rather than witness a genuine CGI-abomination. Indeed I really do not know if this was meant as an ode to the werewolf film that started it all or rather just taking a few notes from it, this is some make-up effects that work phenomenally well and also manage to give to the wolf movies of the 90’s a wonderful jolt of nostalgia from the past.

Now I feel that to many an audience member, the casting choice of screen legend Jack Nicholson as our modern day hero with a bad hair day and fangs was one that definitely must have been seen as quite the mixed bag. I say that because on one hand it must’ve been quite intriguing that this cinematic icon was actually choosing to take a role that seemed just right for him and his acting style and talents. On the other hand however, there may have been a fair amount of trepidation that Mr. Nicholson might just make the decision to engage in his style of acting as over the top as possible thus destroying what this film was trying to achieve. Fortunately, this is an instance where Nicholson has chosen to take the content of this film seriously and thus provides a wonderfully in sync turn in this film. Indeed Nicholson is able to take his famously high amount of charisma and utilize it to help him create a 100% believable character that is occasionally stricken with both pathos and menace in equal measure. He also does a wonderful job of eradicating with ease any worries that the facial prosthetics that he gets put into might come across as unintended hilarity for the audience and instead uses them to help him walk away with a performance that is both serious yet also fantastic at the same time. Also doing a wonderful job in this film is Michelle Pfeiffer who manages to contribute both a wonderful sense of charisma as well as seem quite relatable in her role as our main fanged hero’s, quite well-developed love interest. Indeed instead of just being diminished to nothing more than running around and screaming at the top of her lungs, Pfeiffer manages to insert genuine pathos into a character thus turning what could have been a one-dimensional role into a role that not only is one of Pfeiffer’s best, but also nearly taking the movie right from under Nicholson’s nose. We also get wonderfully dependable work from James Spader who brings a sliminess and sleaze to his antagonistical role in that wonderful way that only James Spader can. Finally we also get elegant back-up from wonderfully dependable support actors Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins and Christopher Plummer. Indeed even though they do veer a little bit into cliché with their roles, all 3 still manage to succeed thanks to bringing little idiosyncrasies and quirks to their respective characters.

All in all Wolf is a riveting example of what happens when a film that could have been released into the world as a neutered direct-to-video slog fest is actually given a booster shot and turned into a brilliant, and grown-up present-day monster film. Indeed thanks to a strong sense of direction, a script that is both brilliant and possesses a terrific sense of pacing, and wonderful performances from a dependable cast that is headlined by a game Nicholson and Pfeiffer, Wolf is a delightful updating on the iconic Wolf Man tale, including the usage of facial prosthetics rather than a complete transformation scene, and is most certainly worth a watch if you want a horror film that is both a bit more intelligent than most and which refuses to look down on its audience and that is certainly something worth howling about. On a scale of 1-5 I give Wolf “94” a solid 3.5 out of 5.