In "Wolf," Jack Nicholson bays at the moon - and moviegoers responded to his call (the film earned $17.9 million over its first weekend of business). But Jack's werewolf sophisticate is probably the most subdued in a long line of movie beasties.
Here, a brief stroll through the video annals of human wolfdom:- "Werewolf of London" (1935) - The first. Henry Hull was the original beastman. Might have to scour the catalogs to locate this one on video.
- "The Wolf Man" (1941) - The best. Lon Chaney Jr. gets the full hairy-face treatment and still manages to be sympathetic. Maria Ouspenskaya became an instant camp legend as the maddeningly cryptic fortune teller who gives Lon the bad news.
- "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957) - Campiest. Before Little Joe, Michael Landon was a juvenile delinquent with something considerably more serious than acne to worry about. Fairly funny in ways both intended and not.
- "Werewolf of Washington" (1973) - Most off-the-wall. Merges Watergate and werewolves. Dean Stockwell leads the silliness.
- "Wolfen" (1981) - Artiest. Werewolves-in-New-York tale is smartly written and keeps its tongue vaguely in cheek. Albert Finney stars.
- "The Howling" (1981) - The hippest. Co-scripted by smart-writer John Sayles, directed by pop-culture specialist Joe Dante, with an eclectic supporting cast that includes Slim Pickens, John Carradine, Kevin McCarthy and Meshach Taylor.
- "An American Werewolf in London" (1981) - Scariest and funniest. The nighttime stalking on the moors is truly nerve-wracking, Griffin Dunne's subsequent appearances as a wisecracking corpse vastly entertaining. Our werewolf is David Naughton.
- "Silver Bullet" (1985) - Most pedestrian. Gary Busey and Corey Haim in another bad movie inspired by a Stephen King story.
- JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT there was no more footage of the 1990 Oscar winner "Dances With Wolves," here comes director-star Kevin Costner with more.
He's now assembling a new four-hour edit of the Western that earned him a best director Oscar. It's due from Orion on Aug. 31 at $80 on two tapes.
Apparently this movie is such a favorite with fans that they don't mind watching various versions. First there was the original three-hour movie and then came the ABC-TV miniseries, which included about 50 minutes of added footage. But Costner is adding even more, about 10 minutes that supposedly further illuminates the action and fills in gaps.
This latest version, called the "Limited Collector's Edition," also includes a 22-minute, behind-the-scenes, never-before-released video, "The Making of Dances With Wolves," and a book, "Dances With Wolves: The Illustrated Story of the Epic Film."
The package is definitely aimed at collectors and film buffs because it features a widescreen version of the movie.
There'll be a laser version too, on Image Entertainment, coming out at about the same time, priced at $125, also including a CD of the soundtrack.
- Dennis Hunt
(Los Angeles Times)
VIDEO QUESTION
Question: My VCR accidentally chewed up a rental tape, and the store where I got it wants me to pay $100 to replace it. I can't believe that's what the movie costs. Is the owner trying to make a killing?
Answer: When hits such as "Mrs. Doubtfire" cost less than $20, it may be hard to believe that most rental cassettes have a much higher price. Stores pay between $65 and $75 for most major releases, which translates to $100 at retail. The one you mentioned is one of those. You might try offering the store its replacement cost.
- Andy Wickstrom
(Knight-Ridder)
- Do you have a question you'd like answered? Send your queries to Andy Wickstrom, The Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box 8263, Philadelphia, PA 19101.
NEW VIDEO
WHY DOES HERR R. RUN AMOK? - An ordinary man plods through the routines of middle-class life for several scenes, then erupts into violence. Directed in 1969 by Michael Fengler and the great Rainer Werner Fassbinder, this socially critical melodrama was among the first works to establish the West German movement called Das Neue Kino as a major force. It still seems as outrageous as the filmmakers intended, although Andy Warhol's influence looms very large, and Fassbinder went on to achievements far more mature and affecting. New Yorker Video, New York.
- David Sterritt
(Christian Science Monitor)