The Company of Wolves - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Company of Wolves



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As George Takei is famous for saying, “Oh My!!!” was all I could say after watching The Company of Wolves. I’m going to admit that very sheepishly, but as an avid connoisseur of 1980s horror and fairy tales, I had NEVER actually sat down and watched The Company of Wolves. Sure, I had heard about the film, but for some reason a physical release of the film had never come across my desk, and it has just been relegated to one of those “oh yeah, I’ll rent it someday” films. Luckily for us Scream Factory has gotten ahold of the film, pulled a nice new release with a 4K master, touched things up a bit, and popped it out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD combo pack for fans to enjoy.

Now, about the fans. Fans of this film are going to come from a niche audience, and I’ll let you know why. Cannon Films productions. Yes, the absolutely crazy low budget film studio that was INFAMOUS in the 1980s and 1990s for pumping out low budget action/horror schlock like they’re on a coke fueled bender with a dash of methamphetamines. A sort of half way mix of modern Red Riding Hood and over grimms fairy tales ACTUALLY told like a true Grimms tale, some absolutely amazing scenery chewing, and a constant feeling that this was actually a German 1970s softcore script (and set pieces) changed to be released in Hollywood.

The film is told from the point of view Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson), a beautiful young girl who lives in what appears to be a 1500s Bavarian village (at least that’s the visuals that conjured that location since no one ever says WHERE the movie takes place) we are given a sort of haunting fair tale wherein here grandmother (Angela Lansbury) tells her a variety of stories about young women who get distracted and pulled off the trail and eaten by wolves. In between these little vignette stories that grandmama tells her, are privy to Rosaleen slowly being dragged off her own path, smitten with a random stranger and once again, susceptible to what we can all but guess is coming (I mean seriously, the fact that a large basis for this film is from Little Red Riding Hood is NOT exactly a secret).

The film can only be described as a Cannon Films drug fueled nightmare, running a balancing act between a grungy Grimm Fair tale, a creepy thriller, and disgusting body horror. And of course some random nudity thrown in for good measure because, let’s face it, it’s a Cannon Films production. I mentioned above that I would swear that this was a 1970s low budget German softcore film if it wasn’t for the fact that there is only that one nude scene. The acting, the set pieces, EVERYTHING about this production is one that screams that fact. The writing and acting are downright painful, with the main “wolf” over acting so incredibly badly that I was yelling at the screen “dude, it’s ok, you can stop now! There’s no scenery left to eat! You’ve eaten it all!”.

The one redeeming factor about the film is the ending. If not for the writing and acting, that ending could have added a clever twist to the production. But sadly there’s not much to enjoy about the rest unless you’re under the influence of some illicit substances. However, there is also a massive cult following out there for this little flick, and I guess it made waves back in the 80s when it won four BAFTA awards including Best Costuming”. Personally, I’m not one of those people, especially when my virgin experience with the movie is 38 years later and not expecting some a roller coaster ride.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Scream Factory presents the film with a rather impressive 4K UHD image that was supposedly sourced from a 4K scan of the original negative (which isn’t uncommon for Shout/Scream Factory) complete with HDR and Dolby Vision color enhancements. The film was definitely DEFINITELY a low budget Cannon film, which means it’s going to be heavily grainy and kind of a grungy teal and gray color grading. That being said, the image is quite stunning when compared to screenshots of the DVD and ITV Blu-ray I could find. The heavy grain is still natural looking, and the colors are just so richly saturated when you’re away from the brown and gray look of the 1500s era. White levels can be boosted at times, and I did notice some crush in the shadows, but I’m going to choke that up to aesthetic choices based upon other Cannon Film productions I’ve seen. There is a very hazy storybook quality to the picture that could be taken as a flaw, but once again, is simply an aesthetic choice. There is a lot of print cleanup done for the image as well, with all the speckles and print debris cleared up as well. Overall, it’s an impressive image considering just how crummy the original elements appear to have looked in the past.







Audio:

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA track is solid, but due to the limited production values it’s not going to be a banger either. The George Fenton created score is actually the highlight of the entire film. It’s absolutely gorgeous and richly detailed from beginning to end with no major signs of degradation. The dialog is generally GOOOD, but also showing its age. There’s some harshness on the high end, a bit of a volume issue, and a tendency to show off the painfully obvious ADR use for the film. The low end is quite nice, with some added punch for the wolf scenes, and the overall ambiance is quite impressive.








Extras:

4K UHD Disc
• NEW Audio Commentary with producer Chris Brown and actors Micha Bergese and Kathryn Pogson
• Audio Commentary with Director Neil Jordan

Blu-ray Disc
• NEW Audio Commentary with producer Chris Brown and actors Micha Bergese and Kathryn Pogson
• NEW Where the Fairy Tales End: Scoring The Company of Wolves – an interview with composer George Fenton
• NEW Alice in Dreamland – An interview with actress Georgia Slowe
• Audio Commentary with director Neil Jordan
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV spot
• Still Gallery

Final Score: ​

The Company of Wolves is bizarre, over the top, lavishly costumed for a low budget Cannon Films production, and just plain creepy at times (seriously, there’s an overly rapey vibe to the entire film that had me wondering if it was done intentionally for humor, or whether the lunacy of Cannon Films just bled into the production naturally). The physical horror aspects were a neat twist on the Wherewolf legacy, and Scream Factory’s 4K discs appears to be a hefty quality increase over the VERY poor ITV DVD international disc. However, I’d say that unless you’re a huge fan of the film already then I’d simply rent it first. It’s not going to appeal to everyone.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Kathryn Pogson, Stephen Rea
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Written by: Angela Carter, Neil Jordan
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 22nd, 2022

Recommendation: Interesting Cult Watch

 

[Asere]

Glad you got to review it. I too missed this one and saw it for the first time a year ago or so. I remember Bravo at the time advertised this movie in the 80's. I enjoyed the movie and would buy it if the price was lower. For now Prime Video will do.