By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I am a sucker for R rated fairy-tale fantasies. On the camp side I’ll take DEADTIMES STORIES (1986) any day of the week, for something more erotic I venture to THE BEAST (1975) and for the artistically sexy I go to THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984). A girl must know what they like and what they’re in the mood for. Today, I go to the surreal and Gothic.
The film begins with Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson) fast asleep on her bed. In her dream, she lives during the late 1700s. Rosaleen’s sister is killed by wolves. Her grandmother (Angela Lansbury) takes her in to give her parents some time to properly grieve.
Granny knits the red hood for Rosaleen and warns her to stay on path in the woods, never eat fruit that falls from a tree, and always steer clear of men who have eyebrows that meet. At night, Granny tells Rosaleen a story of werewolves.
She talks of a woman (Kathryn Pogson) that met a travelling man (Stephen Rea). The two marry and on their wedding night, he leaves. His wife is oblivious to the true nature of her new husband and she waits for him to return. Wolves surround the cabin and she fear the worst. She summons a search party praying he wasn’t killed. Eventually she accepts that he was and remarries. She has children with her new beau and soon turns bitter in young motherhood. One night, her first husband returns and reveals himself to her. He is furious with her for moving on and reveals himself as the werewolf he really is.
Some of the best special effects and make-up ever put on screen happen in this film. I love it. When he turns into what looks like a skinned dog, it’s insanely well-done. It should disgust me, but I’m always astounded by the detail and precision of the art. It’s beautifully grotesque.
Rosaleen is sent to bed after the story, but awakes to howling in the middle of the night. Though, she remains in bed there is certainly something out there beckoning her.
Once back in the village with her parents (David Warner and Tusse Silberg), Rosaleen meets a boy (Shane Johnstone). He courts her for a bit and asks her to walk through the woods together.
Before she goes, she returns to granny’s and hears another story regarding a young boy who tempted by the Devil (Terence Stamp). He’s given a potion that makes hair grow on his chest and plant-life attach to him. He becomes paralyzed by the vines entangling his legs.
That Sunday, Rosaleen walks with the boy who tries to get a bit frisky with her. They fool around and play games for a bit. Rosaleen ends up venturing off the path that her grandmother warned her about. She comes across a tall tree that she climbs and hides in. When the boy sees a wolf with blood on his mouth, he panics and runs out of the woods. The parents begin arguing with one another and fighting. She shows a statute of baby Jesus she found that sheds a tear.
All the villagers get together with torches held to kill the wolf. When they chase him down and murder him, Rosaleen’s father cuts off the wolf’s paw only to see it transform to a human hand.
Meanwhile, Rosaleen tells her mother a story. A woman (Dawn Archibald) crashes the wedding of her douchebag ex (Richard Morant). He ditched her while she was pregnant and now she’s visibly with child. The woman chides those present for their hypocrisy before using some old fashion black magic to turn them into wolves that she reigns over. Honestly, I would have much preferred to be at the wedding of pups.
Later, Rosaleen starts off in the woods to bring her granny a basket of baked treats. She brings a knife for protection. Deep in the forest and on the path, she meets a huntsman (Micha Bergese) who claims to know a shorter way to granny’s. He races her there and wins.
The Huntsman is a wolf who kills granny and seeks solace in relief from Rosaleen. Shockingly, she offers it to him.
She tells him a story about a woman (Danielle Dax) sot by a villager for being a wolf. A priest (Graham Crowden) shields her from danger and heals her.
In the end, we conclude back in the real Rosaleen’s house and on her bed where the dream and film began. Only now we know, Rosaleen has lost some innocence and gained some insight.
The movie is filled with symbolism and imagery to convey emotion. At its heart it is a coming of age story done magnificently well. Like LABYRINTH (1986), ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951) and WIZARD OF OZ (1939), we have an outstanding woman led production that tells the story of female evolution in an artistic fantasy manner.
The cast is outstanding. The anthology tales woven in fit remarkably well with the tone and pace. It’s a very unique spin on THE LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story.
If you don’t own it, but subscribe to AMAZON PRIME, watch it now.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
