Wolfen is pretty badass. It's got an old-school vibe that I found impossible not to enjoy. There's some comedy in there, but mostly it's a serious film about a cop trying to solve a series of vicious murders in New York City. Wolfen is more or less a standard police procedural film, one that is played totally straight - I think these types of things hadn't been done to death in 1981 (and there wasn't as much competition on television), so it was nice to see a straight-ahead procedural without any bells and whistles. It also looks very cinematic and seems to have a bigger budget than I would have expected for a "werewolf" film - there are some really nice shots in there, especially of the bridge in the opening sequence - sorry New Yorkers, not sure which one. So while the story feels a little generic at times, you never hold it against the film because there's so much other cool stuff going on: great use of NYC, some thinly-veiled social commentary, solid (if sparingly used) gore, and a great supporting cast (featuring Gregory Hines, Edward James Olmos, and Tom Noonan).
Wolfen kicks off with a clearly wealthy couple coming home from their anniversary party. They make the last minute decision to stop by the park where they were married. While they are there, they are stalked by someone... or something... with proto-Predator heat vision. Moments later, they are violently dispatched. Officer Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) has a troubled past and seems to be on some sort of leave of absence. But since he's the best damn cop on the force, his boss calls him in to work on the case. Along with CSI guy Whittington (Hines), Dewey determines that this was not your standard random murder... it's extremely nasty and seems to be a ritualistic murder or a gangland style execution. But despite the bodies being torn to shreds, they can find no trace of any metals in the bodies, so no knives. What gives?
A few days later, the body of a homeless man is discovered in a partially torn down/abandoned building, and he has been mutilated in the same gory manner. But what could this squatter and the richest man in New York have in common? Who - or what - is terrorizing the streets of New York City? If you know the title of the film, you can probably guess. Although things are not quite as they seem...
Wolfen worked for me on a lot of levels. Albert Finney really grounds things with his performance - despite being a pretty generic cop character, Finney manages to give Dewey a likability without ever going overboard into silliness. The supporting cast is great too. I haven't seen Gregory Hines in a ton of stuff, and while his character is a bit overly jokey, Hines manages to make him feel like a full character in the short amount of time that he has onscreen. And Tom Noonan is a blast as a weirdo wolf expert who helps Dewey out on the case.
And even those that are the victims of Wolfen's 80's-ness fare pretty well. Diane Venora is good as a psychologist who reluctantly teams up with Dewey. She doesn't really have a heck of a lot to do - it's more of the type of role that's there to be saved by the hero, as well as a requisite love interest - and honestly, the two of them are a somewhat awkward couple. But the script never outright embarrasses her, and she does just fine in the role. Also, Edward James Olmos plays a Native American man - Dewey finds that the attacks may be tied with with Native American mythology. So while it's kind of obnoxious to see the obviously not Native American Olmos in the role, he's still pretty great in it. He has a super unhinged scene where he's running around on the beach (just to try and get into Dewey's head) that plays really well, and Olmos brings a manic energy to it.
Horror-wise? Wolfen has got some pretty good stuff. The stalking scenes feel a little old-fashioned at times (again, this is pretty early as far as the first-person heat vision/infra-red camera effects go), but they are still effective. Some of the chase scenes where the camera just steadily cruises around at wolf level look great. And the scenes that take place in abandoned sections of New York City look fantastic. The crumbling buildings are wonderfully shot - they straddle that line between really cool and legitimately troubling in their state of decay, which is just what the film needs. Apparently, they didn't even really need to build a set or anything - there were enough abandoned/partially torn down buildings in NYC at the time that they could just kind of go for it and shoot on location. And the gore is not often used, and doesn't always make a lot of sense (people's body parts often times just go flying through the air in a way that doesn't jibe with the attack), but it looks cool.
Overall I really liked Wolfen. There is some really good stuff in the film that unfortunately is also kind of spoilery, so I've left it out. But it's a good throwback kind of film that's served without irony - a hard-nosed/hard-living cop trying to solve brutal murders in run-down NYC. It may be a little slow-paced for some modern viewers - and I'm guessing the overall resolution of things will piss off about a quarter of the audience - but ultimately there is a lot here to like.
I would recommend this film.
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