If there's one thing that symbolizes Halloween, it's Jack-o-Lanterns. And, the second thing is probably pumpkins. The third thing, maybe a full moon. Fourth, ghosts. Fifth, Skeletons. Sixth Michael Myers, seventh... okay, look, somewhere in the top 20 things that symbolize Halloween, right up there with candy bars and zombie movies, are wolves, or more specifically, Werewolves, perhaps howling at the full moon.
Wolf (1994) is the story of an old, mild-mannered senior editor named Will Randall (Jack Nicholson), who, while coming back from a trip to sign an author in Vermont, hits a large black wolf with his car. Will thinks the Wolf is dead, and while trying to pull it out of the way of his car, it bites him. The wolf runs into the woods beside the road, where a bunch of other wolves are waiting for it. Will quickly gets into his car, and drives home. The next day, Will gets fired from his job, and instead of taking it laying down, Will reacts in an unusually predatory manner. It's almost like he has been given... some part of the wolf... through the wolf's bite...
Okay! This may be one of the few horror stories I review where all hell does NOT break loose. Jack Nicholson plays the lead, Michelle Pfeiffer plays the love interest (one of the few horror movies she has done), and creepy old James Spader plays Will's protege. Christopher Plummer and David Hyde-Pierce play supporting roles as Will's boss and assistant. Jack Nicholson doesn't act anymore (his last movie was in 2010, though I haven't heard about him retiring as of yet), but I thought he did a particularly good job in this movie. This wasn't a cheap B-monster movie like many of the others I review, but a first class Hollywood blockbuster with stars in their prime. The acting was excellent across the board, and the special effects by Rick Baker involved actual make-up and prosthetics, and not a bunch of crappy CGI.
I liked Wolf. The plot was coherent, the sub-plots intriguing, and the supernatural element of the story was more of a sublime background. The end of the movie even featured an actual werewolf fight, and how often does that happen in real life? Exactly! Never! Oops, I gave away an important plot point. Oh well. This movie is 22 years old, now. I caught it on Starz Encore Suspense, so they will probably show it again at some point, if you want to watch it. Obviously I have seen it before, and it's just as good watching it a second or third time. I loved the old indian guy!
Old indian guy: "I want you to... bite me."
Will: "I'm sorry...?"
Old indian guy: "I can't ask you to.. transform me with your passion, so... I want you to honor me with your bite."
Seriously? If I had a dime for every time I've heard THAT old come-on line! :-D
In other news, I'm late with my post again. Meh. As long as I get 31 reviews done in 31 days, I'm all good. Tried to find another Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing flick to watch tonight, but the other one I DVR'd turned out to be almost as much of a dud as last's night's horror movie. Wish I had more time to just sit around and watch scary movies, but alas, real life often takes time away from the finer things! I'm grateful I have as much time as I do. :-)
I remember as a kid, I swear I couldn't have been more than 10 or 11, sitting on the front steps of my old house with my friends, and it was night. This was back in the late 70's, early 80's, and parents didn't pay much attention to their kids back then. There wasn't any of this helicopter parenting shit in those days. I left the house after breakfast, sometimes came home for dinner, and maybe went out again afterwards. So there we are, sitting on the steps, and it was probably around Halloween or something, because we were just sitting there, and I was practicing my wolf-howling. We didn't have internet back then, and the channels consisted of 2, 4, and 7, for the most part. Practicing wolf-howling was just one of the many goofy things we did to pass the time. I was pretty good at it, if I recall correctly. I nailed it so good one time, dogs started barking all over the neighborhood! I still howl at the full moon from time to time, just to keep in practice. I'm thinking of listing it on my resume, as an important job skill. Never know what will attract an employer's eye, right? Right!
Til tomorrow night, then!
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