09-06-2020, 09:01 AM
"One of the rarest and most sought-after cult films produced by Japan's Toei Studio, WOLF GUY is a bonkers mix of ultra-1970's style, horror, action and sci-fi."
Thus spake Kanopy, luring me in. In hindsight, over-hyped.
It stars Sonny Chiba, who I used to view as interchangeable with Toshiro Mifune. They're both physically very powerful, with a lot of fighting ability, but no, Chiba doesn't have near Mifune's acting range.
Sonny Chiba plays Wolf Guy, the last surviving member of a mountain village of lycanthropes. He looks normal enough, or as normal as Chiba can look; and when he lycanthropes, there's no real make-up change. You just have to realize it's happened. In a couple of spots, it's not entirely clear. He rarely lycanthropes, by the way, as it depends on the phase of the moon or a passing comet or a two-headed calf being born within a 5-mile radius or some-such phenonema (don't test me on this), but when he does change, he becomes invincible for that day.
So, anyway, Wolf Guy is a news reporter, and as the movie opens, he witnesses a yakuza gang member being gruesomely torn apart as if by an invisible tiger.
As Wolf Guy investigates, he learns that all members of a yakuza gang are being killed in such a fashion, and that the killer just might be Miki, a drug-addled, syphilitic nightclub singer who subconsciously and psychically channels her vengeance.
The movie has a strong '70s vibe to it and uses American rock music throughout to firmly establish the setting ... in Japan.
I'll grant this is likely a treat for those more into Japanese comics, but for someone with more refined tastes (and for me, though of unrefined tastes), it misses the mark.
One of Wolf Guy's more notable quotes: "There is a nastier pathogen than syphilis. It's the one they call hatred of humans. I had clearly caught that infection from Miki."
I'd give this one a pass, but your mileage may vary.
Thus spake Kanopy, luring me in. In hindsight, over-hyped.
It stars Sonny Chiba, who I used to view as interchangeable with Toshiro Mifune. They're both physically very powerful, with a lot of fighting ability, but no, Chiba doesn't have near Mifune's acting range.
Sonny Chiba plays Wolf Guy, the last surviving member of a mountain village of lycanthropes. He looks normal enough, or as normal as Chiba can look; and when he lycanthropes, there's no real make-up change. You just have to realize it's happened. In a couple of spots, it's not entirely clear. He rarely lycanthropes, by the way, as it depends on the phase of the moon or a passing comet or a two-headed calf being born within a 5-mile radius or some-such phenonema (don't test me on this), but when he does change, he becomes invincible for that day.
So, anyway, Wolf Guy is a news reporter, and as the movie opens, he witnesses a yakuza gang member being gruesomely torn apart as if by an invisible tiger.
As Wolf Guy investigates, he learns that all members of a yakuza gang are being killed in such a fashion, and that the killer just might be Miki, a drug-addled, syphilitic nightclub singer who subconsciously and psychically channels her vengeance.
The movie has a strong '70s vibe to it and uses American rock music throughout to firmly establish the setting ... in Japan.
I'll grant this is likely a treat for those more into Japanese comics, but for someone with more refined tastes (and for me, though of unrefined tastes), it misses the mark.
One of Wolf Guy's more notable quotes: "There is a nastier pathogen than syphilis. It's the one they call hatred of humans. I had clearly caught that infection from Miki."
I'd give this one a pass, but your mileage may vary.
I'm nobody's pony.
