Wolf Guy (1975)

Author: Brett Gallman
Submitted by: Brett Gallman   Date : 2017-05-31 20:22
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Wolf Guy (1975)
Studio: Arrow Video
Release date: May 23rd, 2017

Reviewed by: Brett Gallman (@brettgallman)



The movie:

One doesn’t have to look too intently to recognize the appeal of Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope. Between that incredible title and a logline that boasts Sonny Chiba starring as the last in the line of extinct wolf-people, there’s enough to leave any genre fanatic chomping at the bit. But what’s great is that even this is merely scratching the surface of the pleasures to be gleaned from this riotously entertaining mash-up: part horror film, part detective procedural, part revenge fantasy, all completely fucking bonkers, Wolf Guy feels like it was conjured up from the depths of a delirium one might experience after taking in a 24-hour movie marathon.

In truth, a popular manga served as the inspiration for the film, which opens with a baffling mystery. Detective Akira (Chiba) prowls the streets, where a frightened, manic man jostles his way through a crowd, seemingly on the run from a mysterious attacker he calls “The Tiger.” When the man is suddenly slashed to death by the unseen force, Akira is sent digging through the criminal underworld in search of the truth. During the quest, he uncovers the strange story of a Miki (Estuko Nami), a prostitute whose gang-rape was orchestrated by her would-be father-in-law, whose political ambitions would have been thwarted by his son marrying a low-class girl. Now abandoned by her fiancé and infected with syphilis, she hatches her unusual revenge from a brothel.

And even this is just the beginning: when I say Miki’s revenge is “unusual,” just know that it involves possible astral projection and a spirit animal of sorts. There’s enough weirdness in Wolf Guy to go around for multiple movies, yet it’s all somehow stuffed into 86 minutes here. As such, it takes on a pretty jumbled, episodic structure, perhaps reflecting the manga format itself. By doing so at such a breakneck pace, Wolf Guy consistently surprises and entertains: one minute, Akira is fighting off a band of thugs before being rescued by a mysterious woman on a motorcycle. The next minute, he’s bedding said lady, the first of a few conquests, as he’s not just a wolf man: he’s basically James Bond, as no woman can resist his charms—including one that he quickly weds because she was named after his mother, which apparently would only be strange to you or me. For Akira, suckling at her breasts reminds him of his dearly-departed mom (did I mention Wolf Guy gets very, very weird?).

Despite its strange, whiplashing narrative. Wolf Guy remains compelling, thanks in large part to Chiba and Nami’s lead performances. The two are something like kindred spirits, particularly during a middle stretch when they both become captives of a government cabal looking to harness their supernatural abilities for its own nefarious purposes. Needless to say, it does not end well for this bunch, as Wolf Guy does not suffer these trifling fools lightly. Generally speaking, any foe that crosses his path is subjected to Street Fighter-style ass-whoopings, which is to be expected. What might be less expected, however, is Chiba’s soulful ruminations on humanity, particularly how fucking terrible it is.

If there’s one thread that consistently weaves through the madness of Wolf Guy, it’s the pure nihilism guiding both Akira and Miki’s separate journeys. His sends him on an inward quest to embrace his lycanthrope heritage; hers involves reclaiming whatever dignity she has left. Both spend an enormous amount of time ripping assholes to shreds, in some cases quite literally. Wolf Guy boasts the sort of free-flowing arterial spray usually associated with Shaw Brothers martial arts movies, just in case you need another reason to hunt this one down immediately.

A film quite unlike any other, Wolf Guy embraces the lunacy for just about all its worth. Sadly, Chiba never transforms into a full-on wolfman, though he does manage to stuff his disemboweled guts back into place, which feels like a fair compensation. Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi is more than capable of keeping up with Fumio Konami’s busy screenplay, too. His camera whirs and whips through the lush, widescreen compositions, especially the frenetic action sequences that often find Chiba somersaulting through bullets and flames before rearranging his opponents’ faces with his feet and fists. A reflection of the film itself, Hiroshi Baba’s score is a pastiche, with jangly piano bars and fuzzy, wah-wah guitar riffs blending to accentuate the raucous vibe that propels Wolf Guy from its opening frame.

Wolf Guy is a film that’s relentless as hell in its commitment to entertain you. That’s among the highest praise a film of this sort can earn: whether it’s engaging in conspiratorial Yakuza subplots, indulging in pinku eiga titillation, or stunt-laden kung-fu carnage, it serves as something of an exploitation smorgasbord. For 86 minutes, you’re invited to stuff your face with candy-colored, crimson-soaked, body-melting junk, as Wolf Guy moves through your system like a sugar rush—complete with the sobering comedown once you realize it retains that essential, tragic component to the wolf man existence. At least Akira can take comfort in the fact that he’s probably the coolest motherfucker that’s ever had to carry that tortured, lonely torch.


The disc:

It goes without saying that there are thousands of genre movies I’ve yet to see; however, I generally pride myself on at least being aware that these films exist. They’re at least on the radar, so to speak. You’d think this would be especially true of a movie where Sonny Chiba plays a misanthropic werewolf detective, but I didn’t have a clue until Arrow announced it as part of its release slate earlier this year. Apparently, its obscurity owes to the fact that’s it’s never been exported outside of Japan until now, so an entire legion of genre fanatics are primed to have their brains radiated by the sheer bliss that is Wolf Guy. Not only does it boast a restored presentation, but Arrow has also provided interviews with Chiba, Yamaguchi, and producer Toru Yoshida to provide solid overview of this era.

Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come: Wolf Guy is already one of the wildest discoveries of the year, and there’s apparently more where it came from (in fact, it’s technically a sequel to Horror of the Wolf, though the connection seems to be negligible, especially since Chiba wasn’t involved). But even if Arrow only graces us with Wolf Guy, what a wonderful, unexpected treat this one is. Discoveries like this don’t cross your path very often, nor do they always live up to their surface appeal. Wolf Guy clears that bar with ease and even goes a step further since it just might be your new favorite movie.
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