वुल्फ

While driving through Vermont, New England, the middle age chief editor Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) hits a wolf with his car. He stops the car to drag the animal out of the road, but the wolf is alive and bites his hand. He goes to the doctor, takes rabies vaccine and the doctor releases him.

Will is under stress in her job since the publishing house where he works has been bought by the tough millionaire Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) and the employees are expecting downsizing. Will is supported by his wife Charlotte Randall (Kate Nelligan) and his colleague and assistant Stewart Swinton (James Spader).

Raymond invites Will to a party at his manor and he offers an unwanted job position in Eastern Europe to him and he learns that he had been betrayed by Stewart, who will occupy his position in the publishing house. Will also meets Raymond's rebel daughter Laura Alden (Michelle Pfeiffer).

On the next morning, Will Randall goes to his work and learns that he has acute senses and he feels more competitive and decided to fight for his job. Further he discovers that Charlotte is cheating on him with Stewart and that Laura and he are in love with each other. But Will Randall is becoming a wolf and his transformation changes completely his life.

I saw "Wolf" for the first time in 1994 and yesterday I saw this film again and I found it better and better than the first time that I saw it. The story perfectly combines drama, horror and romance, with Michelle Pfeiffer very beautiful and a great dispute among the characters performed by Jack Nicholson, James Spader and Christopher Plummer. The conclusion is open to interpretation whether the wild side of Laura Alden is transforming her or the sexual intercourse with Will Randall. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lobo" ("Wolf")

A cool new take on a werewolf story. Will Randall(Jack Nicholson)is your every day nice guy, who does'nt seem throw many punches, his best friend and coworker Stuart Swinton(James Spader) steals his job Has Senior Publisher, and his wife Charlotte(Kate Nelligan) is cheating on him. But something interesting happens to him. While driving home after a business trip, he accidently hits a wolf, and when he gets out of his car and tries to touch it, the wolf bites on the hand. Suddenly Wills senses start working in overdrive, He starts seeing farther then normal,and hearing farther also. And he starts able to smell things other people can't. He starts feeling great enough to fight back, And he will now start throwing punches. But happens when Will's Wolf instincts start taking over? One of the best werewolf movies in a long time. Jack Nicholson was great, really to perfect for this role. A different take on the werewolf story. Its a howling classic.

Ever since the 1940s, filmmakers attempting to make a new monster film, in the vein of the classics Dracula or The Wolf Man are often saddled with the contempt or disbelief provoked in response by contemporary audiences, leaving the end result either comedic or a camp attempt at a thriller incapable of being taken seriously or enjoyed by anyone other than caffeine riddled thirteen year olds. After numerous of said attempts, it was refreshing, to say the least, to experience a film which would normally fall under the aforementioned category, but which took its subject matter in a straightforward and serious fashion, helmed by a quality filmmaker and with a strong enough cast to properly sell some of the less credible aspects of the production. The result was Wolf, a modern werewolf film not intended as a joke or cinematic money grabber, but instead an intelligent look at the themes which thrilled 1940s audiences in a contemporary context.

Director Mike Nichols should be commended for instilling his subject matter with enough dramatic intensity to appeal to an adult demographic, without forgetting the primary intent of such a film - to thrill and chill its audiences in turn. But rather than milking the audience's emotions with a series of oh so trite horror clichés, Nichols is willing to forgo outright shock value screams for a continual chilling sensation - a more subtle and ultimately more eerie touch many modern hackneyed attempts at horror could learn volumes from. Adding to Wolf's credibility is some creative and intriguing camera work, although the continued use of slow motion during dramatic points does begin to appear hokey after a while, despite working brilliantly at other points.

The quality of the film is also strongly aided by a strong script, brilliantly paced between frights and character development; also a rarity considering the genre, and with just enough fleeting moments of perfectly placed comedic relief. The ever reliable Ennio Morricone contributes a wonderful score, a sublime tribute to the horror films of old without ever seeming clichéd. The filmmakers should also be commended enormously for resisting the temptation to overload the werewolf character with special effects, and take the classic makeup route instead. In an industry inundated with computer altered special effects, there is something very laudable about seeing an actual actor covered in prosthetic hair giving an actual performance, rather than a CGI created monstrosity. Whether intended as a tribute to the original Wolf Man (the facial hair designs are unmistakably familiar to Lon Chaney Jr.'s infamous antihero) or simply taking inspiration from it, the makeup works enormously well, and gives a welcome dose of nostalgia in a modern incarnation of the genre.

The casting of Jack Nicholson as a modern day werewolf may have immediately come across as a very mixed blessing, inciting excitement that such an iconic actor was taking a shot at a part which seemed tailor made for him, and fear that Nicholson might simply coast by on the premise, and indulge in his tendency to drift over the top to the point of pantomime, effectively ruining the intent of the film. Thankfully, Nicholson also had the credulity to take his subject matter seriously, and emerge with a perfectly tuned performance. Nicholson channels his legendary charisma into an entirely credible character, riddled with pathos and dark menace, easily dispelling fears that his facial prosthetics might come across as laughable, and emerging with a surprisingly powerful and very serious performance. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a tremendously charismatic and entirely believable performance as Nicholson's surprisingly well written love interest - rather than being reduced to screaming and floundering around, Pfeiffer injects her character with real human emotions, taking what could have been a routine romantic lead and nearly stealing the film in one of the most impressive performances in her career. James Spader makes a deliciously slimy antagonist, and classy support is provided from Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins and Christopher Plummer.

What might have degraded into cheap watered down horror trash culminated as an intelligent, mature and unapologetic modern monster thriller, made all the stronger by its firm, capable direction, intelligent and wonderfully paced script, with excellent performances from Nicholson and Pfeiffer. Wolf makes a wonderful modern take on the Wolf Man classic right down to the facial prosthetics, and is easily worth seeing for any fans of the genre in the mood for a horror film which refuses to patronise its audience - a very refreshing change.

-8/10

"Wolf" is not your average blood and guts horror flick. Rather it is a high budget drama with horror overtones with a top notch cast skillfully directed by Mike Nichols.

Jack Nicholson stars as Will Randall a meek book editor whose life suddenly is thrown into turmoil when he is bitten by a wolf while driving home from a business meeting. Suddenly he begins to feel younger and more energetic and to have keener senses of smell, sight and hearing. But to his horror, he begins to experience memory black outs during which several tragic events occur. He gradually comes to realize that he is taking on the characteristics of a wolf.

At the office, Randall has just been fired from his job by owner Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) and his place taken by the arrogant brown nosing Stewart Swinton (James Spader). Randall also learns that Swinton has been having an affair with his wife (Kate Nelligan). At that time he meets Alden's beautiful but self-centered daughter Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer) and naturally they become involved (Who wouldn't howl at the moon after spending the night with Michelle Pfeiffer?).

When Randall's wife is murdered, he begins to fear the worst so he turns to Laura for help in helping him to subdue his urges. But is he guilty murder? We have to wait to find out what's really going on until the last part of the film.

The performances by all cast members are top notch. Nicholson as usual stands out as the tragic, doomed Randall. Pfeiffer (who is a much better actress than she is given credit for) is excellent as Laura. Plummer is suitably oily and manipulative as Alden and Spader is really good as the over ambitious Swinton. Look for David Hyde Pierce in a small role as Randall's assistant and look real close for David Schwimmer as one of the cops who tries to arrest Randall at the zoo.

An off beat but different sort of horror film.

There is nothing better than the original starring Lon Chaney. There is no two ways about it. This film is however outstanding. The plot centers on Will Randall (Nicholson), an aging, past his prime publisher, who is struggling to keep his job as Chief Editor at a publishing house which is being taken over by a wealthy investor name Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer.) His marriage is also on the skids and he is contending with a pompous, brown-nosing, sleazy protégé (Spader) for his future at the publisher. While on a business trip to retain a client on a snowy road in Vermont, Randall hits a wolf and is bitten. After his encounter and assurances from his doctor Randall notices heightened senses and finally gets a hold on what is going on in his life. Along the way he meets a mysterious and interesting woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) and seeks the advice of an alternative healer (Om Puri.) This movie is not terribly scary or really very horrifying, it portrays the wolf as being like mankind, "...evil if the person who is bitten is evil..." And in the dog-eat-dog world of business, really speaks about the urban jungle that is work and business every day. (Who are the real monsters? Werewolves? Or is it the people who wear suits and decide the destinies of people who work in corporate America?) Action comes in at points in small doses and culminates in the end with a final showdown. Overall the makeup was good; it was reminiscent of the classic, and done in the spirit of being an good homage to the original, and thankfully, it didn't come off as too campy. The dialogue was fair and what little profanity there was didn't seem necessary. Overall, a good film, I like to watch it from time to time. It will be too slow for viewers who do not appreciate a more dramatic thriller.