Wölfe von Willoby

Alright, we'll be honest - the film isn't perfect. BUT it does have more redeeming features than a lot of modern crap that's hyped and huge (naming no names Mission Impossible 2 and 3!). Amongst these redeeming features is the stunning scenery. The luscious snow that we know was created by good ol' mother nature and not CGI - *cough*LotR**cough*. The beautiful house in which the girls live give the film a definite sense of period realism and creates the claustrophobia that makes the film scarier. Then there's the quite frankly marvellous Stephanie Beaucham. Whether her character is gorgeous or grotesque Beaucham always manages to camp it up wonderfully and seems to be having a truly good time chewing up all of the scenery. Her subtle nuances and facial ticks create so much humour for an older audience and she has all of the best lines. We also need to bare in mind that this film was made some seventeen years ago, meaning that yes, it probably has dated a little, but that doesn't mean that it can't be entertainment along the lines of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' for a new generation. Deaths aside.

I can remember watching this at least 25 years ago and just remembered the films name after racking my brains. I could only remember Stephanie Beacham in it. The snow scenes were superb real snow, wow, for a change. I thought the film was very good as a children's/family film. Would love to know where it was filmed. I watched it with my brother who was about 20 at the time and he also enjoyed it. The scenery locations were beautiful. The scenes that really sticks in my mind is the scene where Stephanie Beachan was riding through the snow on a large sleigh being pulled by a pack of black wolves. Wonder if you can still buy it, if someone could tell me.

I do confess I have not read the book, but whether a film is faithful to its source rarely ruins it for me. That said, while there are one or two somewhat tedious scenes along the way and I would have liked the film to have lasted longer, I liked this film. I liked The Wolves of Willoughby Chase especially for the stunning scenery, the cute wolves and the evil governess marvellously played by Stephanie Beacham. The music is good too, the script is above average, the story is at least interesting and the direction is competent at least. The performances of Emily Hudson and Aleks Darowska are appealing and Mel Smith, Geraldine James and Richard O' Brien(The Rocky Horror Picture Show) while over-the-top are fun. Overall, a good film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I found myself pleasantly enjoying this, just as I did with the book. The costumes were top notch, the relatively small budget is used excellently on the sets and cinematography. The film has a very clever style, a mixture of Victorian England and a sort of steampunk feel.

The acting is fairly apt throughout, Miss Slycarp is definitely my favourite of the characters and I was slightly disappointed to see Pattern and Simon's roles reduced to only a couple of scenes. Further deviances from the book include Bonnie and Sylvia not immediately liking each other, which I suppose allows for the film to show the growth in their relationship and how they contrast but come closer together by the end, in the book despite their differences they got together very well so I don't know why they include the girls calling each other "coward" and "stupid" which I didn't feel necessary but again I suppose it shows growth. Mr Grimshaw was less funny at the start as in the book but that's only a small change.

Because it's an 80s film it has to be really dark as well, unlike in the book where nobody died there are some deaths here: a child drowns whilst working in a mill, a boy gets crushed to death and two women are devoured by wolves - not something you see in every kids film!

7/10: Stylish, dark and fairly well acted. It's easy to follow and quite entertaining

Just watched this on TV, never heard of it let alone seen it before and that does surprise me a little. Having watched the trailer I thought this to be a film about wolves trying to kill and eat people. That does come into it at the finale, however the plot is mainly about 2 young girls, a wicked, scheming nanny and the Victorian workhouses. Stephanie Beacham is superb as said Nanny, in fact she goes all psycho at the end, and the workhouse is horrific. In one scene a boy is crushed to death between 2 giant rollers. The Nanny and the workhouse are the two scariest things here, the wolves (well, black shaggy dogs pretending to be wolves) seem quite tame in comparison. The late British comedian Mel Smith plays a drunken fraudster, he's good value, but it's Beacham and the 2 young actresses who play the cousins that give the best performances. Everywhere is covered in snow (filmed in Czechoslovakia) and featuring a grand, Gothic mansion/castle it is good winter viewing. Entertaining family movie that has plenty of humour but also a dark edge, a few scenes may prove scary for younger viewers.