Urufu gai: Moero ôkami-otoko

Composer Fukamachi Jun was having an absolute ball. With keyboards, theremin, and juicy electric guitar all over the place, the music both atmospheric and upbeat distinctly recalls contemporary Pink Floyd in all their psychedelic, meandering glory, with some additional influence from funk and otherwise prog rock. Why, I wouldn't mind tracking down a copy of the soundtrack here for my collection, and I barely listen to music any more. Yes, the tunes in 'Wolf guy' are a blast. And that's good, because the first impression that this flick makes is that the music will be the most consistent highlight. That's hardly to cast aspersions on the remainder, but the direction feels a tad loose from the outset, and the cinematography overzealous in a manner seen all too often in subsequent years that's intended to swap out the earnest impact of stunts and effects for, if you'll pardon me, "Whoa-oa-oa! Look at this camera, just flying all over the place!" Plot development is also decidedly brusque and clunky, and sometimes all but incohesive, accentuated by that moment when our first female character is abruptly introduced and then, oh, I guess we're in a sex scene now. When the progression does come across as a tad more lucid, it's almost as if the filmmakers suddenly realized in the midst of the shoot that there was an actual narrative they were supposed to be imparting, too.

Don't get me wrong, I know what type of film I sat to watch. Or at least, I understood very quickly after I pressed "play." I've seen the exploitation flicks and low-budget, low-grade fare churned out by the likes of Jesus Franco and Jean Rollin; I've seen one-shot OVAs that just forged ahead and told their story, nevermind judicious sense or care. Director Yamaguchi Kazuhiko, cinematographer Nakajima Yoshio, writer Konami Fumio, producer Yoshida Toru - well, they were just here to have a good time, weren't they? This title cares about flavor and style, not function or substance, and by Jove, if you're in the audience, you had best be on board with that ethos. A lot of action violence, something something supernatural, and all the stunts, effects, blood, gore, and physical, spirited acting you could want to bring these to bear: and that's a movie! Sure, there's a plot here, too, and apparently it's an adaptation of a manga. And it's fine. But the plot is almost beside the point in this corner of the medium, isn't it? Likewise for characters who are only here either to die, or to be painted with broad ideas. The plot is duly compelling such as it is (if not completely satisfying as it presents), and the scenes are vibrant in providing the fuel for the cast and crew to bring the seedy tableau to life. Maybe, after all, this is all that 'Wolf guy' needed to be.

If you want action, you'll get it, including one brief late sequence that's straight out of Eon Productions' James Bond franchise. If you want skin, you'll definitely get some. If you want a sordid tale of crime, violence, drugs, and women, you'll get it. If you come here for the suggested element of horror, you'll sort of get it, in scattered bits and pieces, and of course more so as the length draws on. For the record, though, the name of the piece, and a supposed core trait of Sonny Chiba's protagonist, doesn't meaningfully come into play until late in the runtime, and even then, not in the way one would assume from the outside looking in. In fairness, taken in and of itself the story is solid, and there are excellent ideas in here ripe for genre cinema. It's just that this feature, as it exists, is far less concerned about that story than it is about the violence, gnarly imagery, and rip-roaring entertainment for which the foremost ideas could be a vehicle. And it shows, again and again. Perish the thought of balance or earnest, careful plot; exactly how much one will get out of the viewing experience will vary greatly from one person to the next. For my part I did enjoy 'Wolf guy,' and I think it's worthwhile on its own merits even if it didn't really meet its full potential; it's also likely best left to watch on a quiet day when you're having a hard time deciding on something else. Take that as you will.

I saw this for the first time recently n I am totally surprised at the kind of bizarre stuff shown in this movie. Without having read the adult novel or the manga series and without having seen its prequel (Horror of the Wolf), I enjoyed this due to Sonny Chiba. They say its prequel has a transformation scene which is lacking in this one. We have a detective who is the last surviving werewolf n till the end we r deprived of a transformation scene. Since our detective is played by Sonny Chiba, there is tons of martial arts. We also have a girl who can kill people by jus thinking about their deaths and that too in a tiger fashion way of ripping the body apart. Now this is some serious X-woman stuff. This film has plenty of action, gory deaths, lots of nudity, over the top facial expressions of our dear Chiba n some bizarre stuff.

Wolf Guy was a vehicle for popular Japanese action star Sonny China. I'm pretty much a novice concerning Japanese cinema, only have seen a handful of movies. This film in particular is more of a action piece than horror. Wolf Guy moves along pretty fast with some nice kung fu action, naked chicks and blood. A lot of blood! Sonny China has some nice Wolverine type of pork chops and hair like Mr. Brady. Wolf Guy was different than I expected and for a horror/action hybrid that is 90 percent action works on its own terms. As I stated before I have only seen a few Japanese movies and maybe 2 of those were Sonny China flicks. In any case, I thought Wolf Guy was cool and I will definitely watch it again.

This film is completely demented. It starts with great flourish, violence, gore and excitement with only a hint of just how over the top it will become. There is a semblance of story at the beginning, however, strange and there is a mystery for us to work out and much extreme violence to deal with.

As the film progresses, though, it begins to get a little bit silly and gradually story and suspense give way to increasingly stupid and facile action which would not have been out of place in a comic. So stylish at the start it is a crime that in the end bombs are being tossed about in some disused quarry.

Sonny Chiba plays the only survivor of a clan of werewolves who relies on his feral, full-moon-activated superpowers to solve mysterious crimes. One night, a bizarre and bloody death in the Tokyo streets plunges him into a far-reaching conspiracy populated by crooked politicians, naked women, an invisible phantom tiger, and a shadowy organization known as the J-CIA.

Steve Kopian writes, "If you look up WTF in the dictionary, one of the top five definitions will be this film." He is not wrong. While this may not be one of he five most bizarre movies out there, it certainly makes every attempt. And if "weird" isn't your thing, there are also copious explosions and a great deal of gun play and squibs in the later scenes, evincing a definite Sam Peckinpah influence. So, there's that.

As author Bryan Senn points out, even though the title is "Wolf Guy", one of the strange things is that Chiba never actually becomes a wolf at all. He has his strength fluctuate based on the lunar cycle, and at its peak he can deflect bullets or even reverse the effects of being disemboweled. But at no point does he howl or even grow the slightest bit of hair.

If one person can be blamed for this bizarre mash-up, it must be writer Fumio Kônami (1933–2012). By this point in his career, he had already made a name for himself with "Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion" (1972) and "New Battles Without Honor and Humanity" (1974), both of which are available in the United States thank to Arrow Video. Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's first impression upon being given the story was actually, "Is this worth making a movie out of?" Luckily someone said yes.

On top of all the awesome visuals, there is an unbelievably funky score that I need to have. As noted in other reviews, it would be great is Arrow (and others) would more frequently add a bonus music disc to their Blu releases. We need more love for the soundtracks, too.

For decades the film was presumed lost, and remains tragically little known. Thankfully, Arrow Video has brought it out of the depths and on to Blu-ray. They also give us new video interviews with actor Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba (14 minutes), director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (10 minutes), and producer Toru Yoshida (17 minutes).