THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984)
2-Disc Collector's 4K Ultra HD + BLU-RAY
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: Region-Free, A
Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 100p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Neil Jordan
Cast: Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese, Sarah Patterson
The Company of Wolves (1984) is director Neil Jordan's (IThe Butcher Boy) dark fantasy film based on a short story of the same name by English writer Angela Carter, who co-wrote the screenplay Jordan. It's an eerie fairytale that opens in the modern day, but through a dream we are treated to the 18th century tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" by way of the comely Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson, Snow White) whose sister Alice (Georgia Slowe) is killed by wolves while alone in the forest. While her parents (Tusse Silberg, David Warner (Nightwing) mourn she is sent to sat with her kindly and wise grandmother (Angela Lansbury, Bedknobs and Broomsticks), who while knitting in front of the fireplace spins her granddaughter cautionary tales about young maidens who falling in love with handsome strangers who are hairy on the inside, or whose eyebrows meet, and such. What we see are those stories playing out in dark, fantastical anthology style, each relating in some way to the lore of werewolves with elaborate staged sets of fairytale forests populated by voracious wolves, an anachronistic devil (Terrence Stamp, The Collector) in a Rolls Royce, a feral wolf woman (Danielle Dax), a doomed groom (Stephen Rea, The Doctor and The Devils), and a handsomely wolfish Huntsmen (Micha Bergese, Interview with a Vampire).
The film is gorgeously realized, shot on sound stages with lush sets that throw you right into a fairytale world come to life with surreal, painterly attention to detail and some quite dreamy atmosphere. While we do get some werewolf
transformations and two decapitationsthis is not a horror film, it's a dark fairytale of the Grimm variety, so it's quite dark in spots, but it's not a bloodbath - don't come into it expecting The Howling or An American Werewolf in London, think more along the lines of more artful fairytales like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006).
Audio/Video: The Company of Wolves (1984) arrives on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 2022 4K scan of the original camera negative presented in Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p UHD widescreen (1.85:1) - despite being advertised on the wrap and slip as a 1.66:1 presentation. I thought it looked fantastic, the velvety grain structures are nicely resolved and filmic looking throughout, color-saturation is terrific, and fine detail and texturing are pleasing. The Dolby Vision HDR10 color-grading is pretty tasteful, the reds have a nice swelling, whites are crisper looking, but this is a very dreary looking film by design with autumnal colors, and the biggest winner is the deeper blacks and more nuanced contrast layering. This has a hazy, soft-focus cinematographic quality to it that sells the fairytale aesthetic of it, that a stylistic choice that suits the film rather well, but does not translate to razor-sharp imagery in 4K, and that's fine by me, the image looks terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles, a very clean and well-balanced track that export dialogue, sound effects and the wonderful dark fairytale score by George Fenton (High Spirits) sounds great.
Onto the extras, we get the archival Audio Commentary with director Neil Jordan, which might have originated on the OOP Hen's Tooth Video DVD, plus a brand new Audio Commentary with producer Chris Brown and actors Micha Bergese and Kathryn Pogson, which is actually a collection of audio interviews that were conducted, edited and moderated by Justin Beahm to play over the film. It's quite well done and has plenty of interesting info about the making of the film.
We also get the new 19-min Where the Fairy Tales End: Scoring The Company of Wolves – an interview with composer George Fenton - who talks about loving the fantastical nature of the script and imagery of it, giving it an equally fantastical score with primitive folk elements, collaborating with synthetic programmers David Lawson, and the notable flute, bass and fiddle contributions, as well as his influences while writing, Jordan's hands-off approach, and working with the director again on High Spirits
Also new, the 6-min Alice in Dreamland – An interview with actress Georgia Slowe who played the doomed Alice talks about the wonderment of the stage sets and the huge muscular trees and practical effects, describing it as if walking through someone else's dream, how she was excited to be in an adaptation of an Angela Carter story, basing her character on her older sister, stories of working with a beautiful owl and a second-hand story of a scared-wolf on set, how scary it was being in a wooden coffin that was nailed shut, and ADR-ing a lot of her screaming.
The 2-disc UHD/BD release arrives in a dual-hub black keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original theatrical art from Cannon Films, plus a new illustration from Joel Robinson. The first-pressing also includes a slipcover with the new artwork. Inside the discs have the same two artworks.
Special Features:
Disc One (4K UHD):
- NEW 2022 4K scan of the original camera negative
- NEW Audio Commentary with producer Chris Brown and actors Micha Bergese and Kathryn Pogson
- Audio Commentary with director Neil Jordan
Disc Two (Blu-ray):
- NEW 2022 4K scan of the original camera negative
- NEW Audio Commentary with producer Chris Brown and actors Micha Bergese and Kathryn Pogson
- Audio Commentary with director Neil Jordan
- NEW Where the Fairy Tales End: Scoring The Company of Wolves – an interview with composer George Fenton (19 min)
- NEW Alice in Dreamland – An interview with actress Georgia Slowe
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min 36 sec)
- TV spot (31 sec)
- Still Gallery (36 Images)
Screenshots from the Scream Factory Blu-ray:
