Customer Reviews:
Not aged well.......2008-01-25
Sadly this film as not survived for me
Prehaps too many 80s cliches with dreadful sound track and wooden acting. and obvious cobbled up sets.
Bit too rock video. Why did I enjoy it so much when I first saw it!
Prehaps now all spoilt with the slickness of following years ... no, it was not the classic I was hoping for as other works travel and age well .
But I am afraid this didn't excite or move me I was bored bored mind numn bingly bored
1980's Mince.......2007-09-30
Some people need to get out more I suspect. If Adam and the Ants had ever made a film this would be it. Lots of big costumes and dubious over-applied make-up. Not to mention the atrocious over acting and the cardboard sets - and what exactly is it about ?. Please ! It is 1980's rubbish pure and simple. But you'll never look at a man whose eyebrows meet in the middle in the same way again. Avoid !.
Fantasy Horror Metaphor for Blossoming Sexuality.......2007-08-03
Neil Jordan (the Crying Game, Interview with The Vampire) directs a screenplay co-written by Angela Carter and based on the short stories concerning werewolves from her collection of short stories, The Bloody Chamber. The film is about a young adolescent named Rosaleen who dreams of various encounters with werewolves. The film has a consistent fairytale theme and it carries strongly into its visual style which stands out, in that it seemingly sprung right out of an old storybook. It is an absolutely gorgeous film. The art director for The Company of Wolves, Anton Furst, of course went on to create Gotham City and the Bat-mobile for Tim Burton's Batman. Ultimately, the dreams that Rosaleen has and the many stories within them circle around her aroused apprehension toward entering puberty.
We meet Rosaleen (Sara Patterson) while she is asleep at the beginning of the movie. She is dreaming of being chased through the forest by wolves that killed her sister. After her sister's funeral, she goes to live with her Granny (Angela Lansbury). Soon Rosaleen dons a red hood and her Grandmother begins to tell her a story that warns her about the dangers of werewolves. This story makes for some of the best visuals in the film and the segment stars Stephen Rea. Rosaleen sees her parents having sex and finds out a bit more when a boy begins to flirt with her. Eventually we see many references to Rosaleen's new sexuality after she kisses the boy. After several other short stores told by Granny (including one with Terrence Stamp as the devil) it is soon revealed that werewolves are indeed in the village. Rosaleen's family even kills a wolf and its paw turns into a human hand. As times passes, Rosaleen ventures out into the woods to her Granny's house only now she seems more aware of the dangers and is armed with a knife. Before she begins her travels she is challenged to a race to get there by a young hunter. If she wins she gets his compass and if he wins, he gets to kiss her. He is of course a werewolf and he arrives first, eating Granny. Rosaleen arrives and the hunter has her remove her red hood and burn it. Then he attempts to charm her. She shoots him and he transforms into a wolf. She pities the injured animal and decides to tell him a story about a young nude wolf-girl (played by experimental musician Danielle Dax) who arrives in the village. Later, Rosaleen's family and the villagers arrive at Granny's house and find two wolves there. Rosaleen's parents recognize that one of the wolves is a transformed Rosaleen. The wolves run into the forest and eventually show up inside the house where Rosaleen is dreaming.
The fact that this is a series of stories being told within a dream is significant as a sexual commentary via the subconscious mind. I don't believe Carter's stories would've been effective on film were they not framed within the context of a dream. Given that narrative, it is amazing how these ideas managed to translate so precisely. There must've been great communication between Jordan and Carter. The stories themselves are a culmination of some of Carter's best work and a whole lifetime of brainstorming. A lot of credit also goes to the cast, especially Sarah Patterson, who was likely a young teen at the time. It is a wonder Patterson didn't go on to become a big star and many still hold out hope that she will surface again in some capacity, even now...decades later.
Maybe some of it is coincidence and no doubt much of it is the talent of the cast and crew, but it seems like everything comes together just right for this film and it comes off as even more cohesive and poetic to me with each subsequent viewing. I've watched the Company of Wolves many times and it still remains one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Sweetest Tongue has Sharpest Tooth..........2007-05-29
"Little girls, this seems to say
Never stop upon the way
Never trust a stranger friend
No-one knows where it may end
As you're pretty, so be wise
Wolves may lurk in every guise
Now as then, `tis simple truth
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth"
Charm can be deadly and sweet talkers are rarely genuine and generally Masters of Disguise. Werewolves being a prime example, clearly living in two worlds and therefore carrying a dark secret in their heart. To survive, they must feed, and to feed they must lure innocent victims, which are generally young and pretty females, for this is their preferred flesh. To lure, they must seek out the girl, alone and unprotected in the woods, appearing vulnerable, but to trap her they must have a way with words. The Werewolf is furtive, deceitful, dangerous and deadly. Yet, although showing their dark side, "The Company of Wolves" also reveals the vulnerability of the werewolf. Wolves have often been demonised and hunted, but they are truly beautiful creatures. Creatures of the Night. And Werewolves, are after all, half man, so they have a human element that can't be taken away from them. And that includes, the Search for Love...
"The scariest Wolves are those that are hairy on the inside"... The words of Rosaleen's wise grandmother played by Angela Lansbury. Enter into one of the Darkest Fairytales.... taking Little Red Riding Hood into the realms of Dreams, Death, Deception and Danger and intermingling with the Myth of the Werewolf. The lead role is played by Sarah Patterson, a girl on the verge of adulthood, with the colour Red being very significant. She looks every inch a fairytale beauty, long dark hair, beautiful brown eyes, pale flawless skin, flushed cheeks and blood red lips. A feisty girl, yet shrouded in innocence, on the verge of breaking into womanhood. This is a movie with a lot of imagery and symbology. A young boy in the village is very taken with Rosaleen and she toys with his feelings, but she doesn't want a boy, she wants a man. Perhaps she wants to leave the safety of the village and run into the arms of adventure... Enter a tall, dark, handsome stranger, sinister yet much more charming than the village idiot! "....he laughed with a flash of white teeth when he saw her and made her a comic yet flattering little bow; she'd never seen such a fine fellow before, not among the rustic clowns of her native village." (Extract from the Company of Wolves, The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter)
This film is based on the story "The Company of Wolves" which is one of the short stories in a collection by Angela Carter called "The Bloody Chamber", a darkly gothic, seductive, imaginative and rich collection of supernatural tales. Well worth reading as the author is a genius with words and you will be instantly transported to macabre and gothic worlds.
Wolves should run free and Rosaleen wants to break free too and perhaps run with the wolves, in order to enter a supernatural realm and escape what could be deemed as dull reality. Her sleep is tormented by nightmares that seem to fuse with reality. Perhaps, in Dreams, we are most awake, for in dreams, our true feelings and suppressed emotions may emerge. Rosaleens world becomes confused. The film is mostly set in the forest and the village where the tale unfolds but occasionally flits to the modern day where we often see Rosaleen in her bedroom dressed in white and either entering or waking from the world of dreams.
Although vilified by the villagers Rosaleen finds the wolf intriguing. She listens to her grandmothers tales about werewolves with great curiousity and intrigue, yet, she knows her own mind, a free spirit. When finally confronted by the beast and feeling scared, she realises she means no harm to the wolf. Nor him to her. And so, leaving her childhood behind, Rosaleen strays from the path and chooses to remain in The Company of Wolves. "If there's a beast in man then it meets its match in women too."
This film by Irish Director, Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire) is somewhat dated now, but it's still dark, supernatural and unique. It is bursting with symbolism and also gives Little Red Riding Hood the chance to run with the wolves, rather than being eaten by them or having someone kill them. (embracing nature rather than feeling threatened by it.) Much more exciting, don't you think?
Naked men with Mullets.......2006-09-22
I enjoyed this film when it was released (when i was a teenager back in the mid eighties)but watching it now it seems rather shallow. This film is full of empty and not very sophisticated sexual symbolism, most of which would be quite funny if i hadnt paid good money to rent the DVD! If you have read Angela Carter's original short stories, that this film is based on, i would suggest you may feel a bit let down here. Its all too much like some awfull eighties music video full of deaply meaningless slow motion shots and the wolves in question arnt all that scary ...many of them in the pack scenes look suspiciously drafted in German Sheppards (my auntie had one and it was quite cute actually). Then there was the naked man with the mullet...quite enough to put me off my supper. The synth soundtrack is also badly dated...sort of vangellis meets LSO.
Customer Reviews:
Facinating film !!.......2005-04-28
Neil Jorden has created a facinating film that I have enjoyed since childhood, and still has content for me today. This is a classic of my own film collection, half fairy tale half horror, a psychoanalasist's dream of little red riding hood. beautifull soundtrack beautifull visuals.The story line is dark and wandering, punctuated with other wolverine fairytales, the film has a deep understanding of the true depths of old fairytales and the secrets that lie within.
It is just very unfortunate I cannot get this on an English region DVD, and must content myself with the fuzzy video version.
Little Red Riding Wolf.......2005-03-30
This is probably (no, definately) the most wonderful wolf / werwolf film ever made. It is actually a composition of both Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves short story, and one or two others from the same book. However, they actually only used real wolves for about four scenes ('in the pit', 'out of the well', 'outside granny's cottage', and the two when Rosaleen and the Huntsman have transformed) - all the rest were Alsatians.
The film features an exquisite cast - especially Angela Lansbury and David Warner - and the poem read over the closing credits is suculent.
Angela Carter's specialty was in re-telling 'fairy tales' in the way that they were probably originally written. The Company of Wolves was always one of the best on paper, and was obviously the only choice for celuloid. There just aren't enough words to describe how great this film is!
I have had to be extremly frugal in my viewing of this film, as I fear wearing out my VHS copy (which actually has a reasonable cover picture - the one on this DVD is the original cinema poster)!
There is only one thing wrong - I can't yet buy this on Region 2?!!
Little Red Riding Wolf.......2005-03-30
This is probably (no, definately) the most wonderful wolf / werwolf film ever made. It is actually a composition of both Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves short story, and one or two others from the same book. However, they actually only used real wolves for about four scenes ('in the pit', 'out of the well', 'outside granny's cottage', and the two when Rosaleen and the Huntsman have transformed) - all the rest were Alsatians.
The film features an exquisite cast - especially Angela Lansbury and David Warner - and the poem read over the closing credits is suculent.
Angela Carter's specialty was in re-telling 'fairy tales' in the way that they were probably originally written. The Company of Wolves was always one of the best on paper, and was obviously the only choice for celuloid. There just aren't enough words to describe how great this film is!
I have had to be extremly frugal in my viewing of this film, as I fear wearing out my VHS copy (which actually has a reasonable cover picture - the one on this DVD is the original cinema poster)!
There is only one thing wrong - I can't yet buy this on Region 2?!!
The REAL Red Riding Hood.......2004-03-02
Is this a horror movie? Well, not really. It's more a grown-up version of Little Red Riding Hood.
However, this is a very emotional and beautiful film which just happens to have a very gruesome werewolf scene. There are a lot of wolves in this film, and they are all real!
After watching this film a number of times, I feel myself sympathising with the female of the species, who have to put up with us wolves once they reach adolesence.
Gothic take on a classic fairytale story.......2004-02-12
The screenplay of this film was a colloboration between director Neil Jordan (Interview With A Vampire, The Crying Game) and feminist author Angela Carter, and is based upon a short story by Carter from her collection of short stories 'The Bloody Chamber'. This story, in turn, is based upon the classic children's story 'Little Red Riding Hood', but is filled with dark, menacing, and sexual imagery, all of which are used in the screenplay to create this stunning piece of gothic 'horror'.
That said, I always balk when I see this film placed in the 'Horror' section of any store, and cringe whenever I read a synopsis describing this film as a story about werewolves. Both descriptions are very wide of the mark. This is a story about the transition from childhood to adulthood of a teenage girl, and the symbolism throughout the film is subtle and powerful simultaneously. As such, it pretty much goes without saying that if you are looking for a scary movie, you're probably in the wrong place.
The highlights of this movie are:- Angela Lansbury as 'Granny', who turns in a wonderful performance and really adds a touch of class to the film. Also, the set design and lighting is brilliant, evoking a truly gothic feel to the scenes. For example, most of the movie is based 'outdoors' (like in the woods or in the village), and yet you always get the feeling of an enclosed and somewhat foreboding environment. This feels exactly right given that the story is centred around the character of a young girl, whose world consists solely of the small and familiar surroundings of home, where the outside world is only known to her through the fantastic stories of her Grandmother, where men, wolves and 'straying from the path' are to be feared.
Another, and major, highlight of this movie is the wonderful soundtrack by George Fenton, which is worth having on CD itself. Combining adaptations of traditional folk music with eerie, ominous synth sounds does as much to enhance the gothic atmosphere as the visual effects and set design.
Other than that, the rest of the performances are generally pretty good, especially Neil Jordan's staple actor, Stephen Rea, as well as a fine cameo from Brian Glover and debut from the beautiful and talented Sarah Patterson as the lead charcter 'Rosaleen', who sadly hasn't done much else since as far as I know. The film is also quite famous for it's man-to-wolf scenes and an early use of animatronics. The effects, sadly, do look pretty dated now, but the context of the scenes in which they are used is untainted, and remain powerful scenes both visually and emotionally. The fact that Rosaleen, after witnessing the pain and anquish that such a transition entails, openly weeps and says 'I'm sorry, I didn't know a wolf could cry', is brilliantly emotional and indicative of her almost complete transition from unknowing child, to compassionate and knowing young adult.
All in all, this is a great movie that is so full of rich imagery and subtlety, that it promises to provide great re-watch value, and should not be considered as a 'horror-flick'... unfortunately, most stores don't have a section entitled 'Enchanting fantasy gothic adult fairytale stories'...
Sadly, the DVD isn't great. The packaging is pretty dreadful, with a lame colour drawing adorning the cover. The menu is something straight out of Hammer House Of Horror, and is daft. Annoyingly, the film is in 4:3 aspect ratio, despite a tantalising opening sequence which is in 16:9 widescreen, but sadly, as soon as the film begins proper, we are snapped back into pan and scan...The extras are not wonderful, but there is an extended trailer, which actually contains some different versions of scenes that made it into the final cut. These include a scene where Rosaleen reveals her age (13 and a half), which doesn't appear anywhere in the actual film!
By the way, this great film IS AVAILABLE ON REGION 2, and you can usually pick it up on Amazon Marketplace or ZShops, albeit at a slightly inflated price.
Customer Reviews:
Facinating film !!.......2005-04-28
Neil Jorden has created a facinating film that I have enjoyed since childhood, and still has content for me today. This is a classic of my own film collection, half fairy tale half horror, a psychoanalasist's dream of little red riding hood. beautifull soundtrack beautifull visuals.The story line is dark and wandering, punctuated with other wolverine fairytales, the film has a deep understanding of the true depths of old fairytales and the secrets that lie within.
It is just very unfortunate I cannot get this on an English region DVD, and must content myself with the fuzzy video version.
Little Red Riding Wolf.......2005-03-30
This is probably (no, definately) the most wonderful wolf / werwolf film ever made. It is actually a composition of both Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves short story, and one or two others from the same book. However, they actually only used real wolves for about four scenes ('in the pit', 'out of the well', 'outside granny's cottage', and the two when Rosaleen and the Huntsman have transformed) - all the rest were Alsatians.
The film features an exquisite cast - especially Angela Lansbury and David Warner - and the poem read over the closing credits is suculent.
Angela Carter's specialty was in re-telling 'fairy tales' in the way that they were probably originally written. The Company of Wolves was always one of the best on paper, and was obviously the only choice for celuloid. There just aren't enough words to describe how great this film is!
I have had to be extremly frugal in my viewing of this film, as I fear wearing out my VHS copy (which actually has a reasonable cover picture - the one on this DVD is the original cinema poster)!
There is only one thing wrong - I can't yet buy this on Region 2?!!
Little Red Riding Wolf.......2005-03-30
This is probably (no, definately) the most wonderful wolf / werwolf film ever made. It is actually a composition of both Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves short story, and one or two others from the same book. However, they actually only used real wolves for about four scenes ('in the pit', 'out of the well', 'outside granny's cottage', and the two when Rosaleen and the Huntsman have transformed) - all the rest were Alsatians.
The film features an exquisite cast - especially Angela Lansbury and David Warner - and the poem read over the closing credits is suculent.
Angela Carter's specialty was in re-telling 'fairy tales' in the way that they were probably originally written. The Company of Wolves was always one of the best on paper, and was obviously the only choice for celuloid. There just aren't enough words to describe how great this film is!
I have had to be extremly frugal in my viewing of this film, as I fear wearing out my VHS copy (which actually has a reasonable cover picture - the one on this DVD is the original cinema poster)!
There is only one thing wrong - I can't yet buy this on Region 2?!!
The REAL Red Riding Hood.......2004-03-02
Is this a horror movie? Well, not really. It's more a grown-up version of Little Red Riding Hood.
However, this is a very emotional and beautiful film which just happens to have a very gruesome werewolf scene. There are a lot of wolves in this film, and they are all real!
After watching this film a number of times, I feel myself sympathising with the female of the species, who have to put up with us wolves once they reach adolesence.
Gothic take on a classic fairytale story.......2004-02-12
The screenplay of this film was a colloboration between director Neil Jordan (Interview With A Vampire, The Crying Game) and feminist author Angela Carter, and is based upon a short story by Carter from her collection of short stories 'The Bloody Chamber'. This story, in turn, is based upon the classic children's story 'Little Red Riding Hood', but is filled with dark, menacing, and sexual imagery, all of which are used in the screenplay to create this stunning piece of gothic 'horror'.
That said, I always balk when I see this film placed in the 'Horror' section of any store, and cringe whenever I read a synopsis describing this film as a story about werewolves. Both descriptions are very wide of the mark. This is a story about the transition from childhood to adulthood of a teenage girl, and the symbolism throughout the film is subtle and powerful simultaneously. As such, it pretty much goes without saying that if you are looking for a scary movie, you're probably in the wrong place.
The highlights of this movie are:- Angela Lansbury as 'Granny', who turns in a wonderful performance and really adds a touch of class to the film. Also, the set design and lighting is brilliant, evoking a truly gothic feel to the scenes. For example, most of the movie is based 'outdoors' (like in the woods or in the village), and yet you always get the feeling of an enclosed and somewhat foreboding environment. This feels exactly right given that the story is centred around the character of a young girl, whose world consists solely of the small and familiar surroundings of home, where the outside world is only known to her through the fantastic stories of her Grandmother, where men, wolves and 'straying from the path' are to be feared.
Another, and major, highlight of this movie is the wonderful soundtrack by George Fenton, which is worth having on CD itself. Combining adaptations of traditional folk music with eerie, ominous synth sounds does as much to enhance the gothic atmosphere as the visual effects and set design.
Other than that, the rest of the performances are generally pretty good, especially Neil Jordan's staple actor, Stephen Rea, as well as a fine cameo from Brian Glover and debut from the beautiful and talented Sarah Patterson as the lead charcter 'Rosaleen', who sadly hasn't done much else since as far as I know. The film is also quite famous for it's man-to-wolf scenes and an early use of animatronics. The effects, sadly, do look pretty dated now, but the context of the scenes in which they are used is untainted, and remain powerful scenes both visually and emotionally. The fact that Rosaleen, after witnessing the pain and anquish that such a transition entails, openly weeps and says 'I'm sorry, I didn't know a wolf could cry', is brilliantly emotional and indicative of her almost complete transition from unknowing child, to compassionate and knowing young adult.
All in all, this is a great movie that is so full of rich imagery and subtlety, that it promises to provide great re-watch value, and should not be considered as a 'horror-flick'... unfortunately, most stores don't have a section entitled 'Enchanting fantasy gothic adult fairytale stories'...
Sadly, the DVD isn't great. The packaging is pretty dreadful, with a lame colour drawing adorning the cover. The menu is something straight out of Hammer House Of Horror, and is daft. Annoyingly, the film is in 4:3 aspect ratio, despite a tantalising opening sequence which is in 16:9 widescreen, but sadly, as soon as the film begins proper, we are snapped back into pan and scan...The extras are not wonderful, but there is an extended trailer, which actually contains some different versions of scenes that made it into the final cut. These include a scene where Rosaleen reveals her age (13 and a half), which doesn't appear anywhere in the actual film!
By the way, this great film IS AVAILABLE ON REGION 2, and you can usually pick it up on Amazon Marketplace or ZShops, albeit at a slightly inflated price.
UK DVD:
- The Devil's Rejects - Special Edition [2005]
- The Evil Dead [1982]
- The Exorcist [1974]
- The Fog [1979]
- The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
- The Hills Have Eyes 2 [2007]
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Two Disc Theatrical Edition) [2003]
- The Lost Boys (2 Disc Special Edition) [1987]
- The Lost Room
- Them [2006]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
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