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The Company of Wolves by Neil Jordan
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DVD detailsActor: Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese, Sarah Patterson, Tusse Silberg Director: Neil Jordan Cinematographer: Bryan Loftus Writer: Neil Jordan Editor: Rodney Holland Producer: Chris Brown Producer: Nik Powell Producer: Stephen Woolley Writer: Angela Carter DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language) Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.78:1 Running Time: 95 minutes DVD Release Date: 2002-10-15 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Henstooth Video
DVD Reviews of The Company of WolvesDVD Review: Passionately Taken Care Of Summary: 5 StarsAlthough there is a low budget and it is shot entirely on a studio lot it can not be denied that this is great and well thought out story of a classic tale. It pushes beyond the monetary restrictions to tell us a tale of overindulgence and budding female sexuality; where in the endit consumes "little Red Riding Hood".
Neil Jordan is a pure genius when it comes to telling a story on the sliver srceen. He direction was flawless and the acting was well done.
DVD Review: DARK AND DISTURBING Summary: 4 StarsNeil Jordan's little-known werewolf film mixes several Grimm fairy tales (mainly "Ltttle Riding Hood" and "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf") with a disturbing Freudian coming of age sexuality. Sarah Patterson is the hormonally driven lead facing puberty and predatory men. A dangerous mix. Angela Lansbury is startling as the story-telling grandmother. David Warner is the sympathetic woodsman dad. Weird, wonderful and genuinely horrifying.
DVD Review: What a Great Company It Is Summary: 4 StarsIn his book about WEREWOLVES (review below), author Bob Curran makes favorable mention of this film--and with good reason. In a way THE COMPANY OF WOLVES reminds me of the 1940's B&W classic CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE. Following the success of CAT PEOPLE, European born producer Val Lewton was pressured by his Hollywood counterparts into making a sequel to that film. This was the age of the mega-monsters & sequels were the rage (Son of Frankenstein, etc.) Lewton caved in--and the resulting movie is now a cult classic. It is even more finally crafted & absorbing than the original.
THE COMPANY OF WOLVES is a brilliant synthesis of the European fables & folklore concerning the grisly lycanthrope. Vignettes of various horrific tales of werewolves are woven around the familiar of Little Red Riding Hood, with many entertaining twists & takes on the legend. The art direction is wonderfully surrealistic & pleasing to the eye.
My favorite story concerns an outdoor wedding reception hosted by pre-Revolutionary French aristocrats. They are seated around a table inside a pavilion. Stacks of delectable food & wine are placed all around, and the people who aren't engaged in snooty conversation, are stuffing their faces like--pigs. The many servants & waiters are all bowing & scraping while they serve their masters, yet behind the frozen half-smiles lurks contempt & disgust for the supercilious party-goers.
Then suddenly, amidst the gluttonous orgy, a beautiful, obviously pregnant country woman intrudes on the scene. She castigates the assembly for their haughtiness & phony airs--and then drops a bombshell by announcing that the father of her baby is the groom. She starts laughing at them as they begin to morph into werewolves, and not just "common" werewolves, but poodle-like werewolves! Only the servants are spared and they are obviously delighted at the turn of events. In a final scene the country woman--a witch--sits in the top branches of a tree, laughing in the moonlight night.
PS. I haven't a clue why this movie was originally given an "R" rating.
Chill-out, the consummate actress Angela Lansbury plays Grandma!
I would give it a PG 10 & up.
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DVD Review: Angela Carter's genius Summary: 4 StarsMovie goers these days may be coming to their senses, suffering month after month the same cookie cutter plots, characters, CGI, *s*t*a*r*s* appearing over and over like a familiar pickpocket or scam artist at the intersection. I don't want to mention any names but one in particular moves like concrete through the recent Terminator clone. Really, how many more scenes of robot feet crushing human skulls can one sit through?
Producers take no risks these days and certainly would never risk the sort of exotic and arabesque excursions into dark human themes that make a movie like THE COMPANY OF WOLVES. The immortal Angela Carter originated the story and collaborated on the movie adaptation, retelling the folktale of Little Red Riding Hood, bringing up from the blood depths as only she could the predatory nature of human sexuality, and the link of myth to our animal origins. It's a remarkable movie contrasting the plaster construct of societal rules against the organic thrust of existence in all its violence. Her characters move carefully, subdued to stifled whispers, cowed by the unfettered nature that howls all about them, that swallows them whole. The performances of David Warner, Angela Lansbury and Stephen Rea as a young brides-groom going with the wolves in a full moon before he can consummate his marriage, haunt the montage with an understated sense of doom. The jungle forest where the wolves run wild and free is littered with dolls and toys. The very streams seem to run with the blood of fresh kill. The colors do that to you, fill your mind with the smell of rapacious abandon. You can feel the sensation. Not bad for a B movie. Not bad at all. I congratulate the lot. If you ever get the chance, find Angela's book SAINTS AND STRANGERS and read the similar story, "Peter and the Wolf." She wrote wonderfully in her life. Her loss to us by cancer is incalculable.
Despite the occasional clumsy special effect, THE COMPANY OF WOLVES works quite well and is a welcome change of scenery from the usual formulaic dreck of recent years. This dvd version is in widescreen and not quite for the little ones. Rated R. It's one to see over and over again.
DVD Review: Serious Audio problems detract from this film (VHS version) Summary: 2 StarsThis movie is more fantasy, and artsy dark fantasy at that, than a typical horror movie, which is something I like.
However I can't comment on the movie itself too much, because I really just couldn't get passed the serious audio problems.
The voices are quiet and have a rather muffled sound the majority of the time, and as a result I can understand very little of what was is said. The music some times is also way too loud.
Thanks to the quiet muffled voices and loud music I found myself constantly turning the volume way up, and then way down.
Makes me wonder if the DVD has subtitles, and/or has remastered audio, if so I may pick it up.
Description of The Company of WolvesThe story unfolds as young rosaleen lies dreaming in her bed. A violent nightmare transports her back in time to a world of primeval forests & werewolves. She learns her only sister has been killed by a wolf. Her granny weaves vivid tales of folklore & fantasy with warnings of beasts that lurk within men. Studio: Henstooth Video Release Date: 10/15/2002 Starring: Sarah Patterson Angela Lansbury Run time: 92 minutes Rating: R Director: Neil Jordan The tangled forest is misty with mystery, the thatched cottages are cute and quaint, and the dashing rogues are devious charmers, but this revision of "Little Red Riding Hood" is not your usual fairy tale. In the troubled dreams of an adolescent girl in the hormonal rush of puberty, it becomes a veritable werewolf story with lush storybook imagery, gothic horror flourishes, and decidedly sexual implications. Director Neil Jordan, who collaborated with author Angela Carter in this 1985 adaptation of her story, applies a knowing intelligence to the bittersweet tale. The often startling transformation effects may appear primitive compared to modern movies, but the delight is in the dark imagination, dense textures, and fantastical wonders of this dream world. Angela Lansbury is the story-spinning granny and David Warner the understanding woodsman father, and watch for a devilish cameo by a sinister and seductive Terence Stamp. --Sean Axmaker
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