The Company of Wolves (1984)

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers:

Angela Carter (story)
Neil Jordan (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 April 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Fantasy

Tagline:

Where fairy stories meet horror stories [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

A bag full of symbolic folklore about werewolves, or, rather, their sexual connotation. Granny tells her granddaughter Rosaleen strange...

Plot Keywords:

Folklore | Sexuality | Grandmother | Woods | Teddy Bear

Awards:

Nominated for 4 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 10 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sarah Patterson	...	Rosaleen
Angela Lansbury	...	Granny
David Warner	...	Father
Tusse Silberg	...	Mother
Micha Bergese	...	Huntsman
Brian Glover	...	Amorous Boy's father
Graham Crowden	...	Old Priest
Kathryn Pogson	...	Young Bride
Stephen Rea	...	Young Groom
Georgia Slowe	...	Alice, Girl Killed by Wolves
Susan Porrett	...	Amorous Boy's mother
Shane Johnstone	...	Amorous Boy
Dawn Archibald	...	Witch Woman
Richard Morant	...	Wealthy Groom
Danielle Dax	...	Wolfgirl
Vincent McClaren	...	Devil Boy
Ruby Buchanan	...	Dowager
Jimmy Gardner	...	Ancient
Roy Evans	...	Eyepatch
Edward Marsen	...	Lame Fiddler
Jim Brown	...	Blind Fiddler (as Jimmy Brown)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jim Carter	...	Second Husband (uncredited)
Terence Stamp	...	The Devil (uncredited)

Directed by
Neil Jordan

Writing credits
Angela Carter		story "The Company of Wolves" &
Neil Jordan		screenplay

Produced by
Chris Brown	....	producer
Nik Powell	....	executive producer
Stephen Woolley	....	executive producer
Stephen Woolley	....	producer

Original Music by
George Fenton

Cinematography by
Bryan Loftus

Film Editing by
Rodney Holland

Casting by
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Anton Furst

Art Direction by
Stuart Rose

Costume Design by
Elizabeth Waller

Makeup Department
Sylvia Croft	....	makeup artist
Christopher Tucker	....	special makeup effects

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Frift	....	third assistant director
Paul Tivers	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Dick Budden	....	sculptor
Emma Harrison	....	scenic artist
Peter Mann	....	stand-by constructor
Nigel Phelps	....	illustrator
Adrian Start	....	supervisor painter
Peter Walpole	....	production buyer

Sound Department
Alan Bell	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Dave Crownshaw	....	special effects technician
Dave Eltham	....	special effects technician
Toby Philpott	....	animatronic wolf and transformations

Visual Effects by
Alan Church	....	optical effects
Tony Willis	....	effects cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Marc Boyle	....	stunt arranger
Terry Cade	....	stunts
Graeme Crowther	....	stunts
Tex Fuller	....	stunts
Nick Hobbs	....	stunts
Gareth Milne	....	stunts
Dinny Powell	....	stunts
Bill Weston	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Birtles	....	gaffer
Tom Collins	....	still photographer
Ian Foster	....	clapper loader: second unit
Peter Hodgson	....	video playback operator: second unit
Eamonn O'Keeffe	....	focus puller: second unit
Mike Roberts	....	camera operator (as Michael Roberts)

Animation Department
Stuart Robinson	....	animatronic designer

Editorial Department
Tim Arrowsmith	....	assistant editor
Justin Krish	....	assistant editor
Kevin Phelan	....	unit projectionist: Mercury Theatres

Music Department
Robert Stewart	....	additional orchestrator

Other crew
Alexis Cahill	....	unit production runner: special effects unit
Peter MacDonald	....	director of effects
Rodger Shaw	....	animatronic wolf

Thanks
Mike Lowrie	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
• Palace Pictures

Distributors

• ITC (1984) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cannon Film Distributors (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vestron Video International (1985) (UK) (video)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (video)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Denmark) (VHS)
• Future Film (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hen's Tooth Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2004) (France) (all media)
• LW Editora (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2005) (Greece) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2007) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Carlton International Media (worldwide)
• U.G.C. Worldwide Distribution (USA)
• Vestron Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 (re-rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Trivia:

The exact age of Sarah Patterson's character, Rosaleen, is not mentioned in the film. However, in his director's commentary for the UK Special Edition DVD, director Neil Jordan says she is supposed to be 12-and-three-quarters. On the U.S. DVD (Hen's Tooth Video edition), the promo trailer contains a scene where Rosaleen tells Granny she is 12-and-three-quarters. (Granny: "Maybe you're too young / too young to understand." Rosaleen: "Tell me Gran / I'm 12-and-three-quarters.")

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Father: Seeing is believing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: Fairy Tales/Karin Rosenthal/Tart Cards (#6.2)" (2003)

Dreaming of wolves

The company of wolves is very far from being the typical movie about werewolves, it's very different from films such as An American Werewolf in London or The Howling. This film is full of symbolism, it's a kind of rewriting of Perrault's Little Red Ridding Hood with Freudian elements. The film was directed by Neil Jordan, but in it we can notice the writing of Angela Carter, an author who is mainly interested in rewriting folklore myths from a feminist point of view. If you see this film you will enter a world of magic, of dreams, not only by means of the script, but also by the settings, which are really wonderful. The film itself deals with the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence, with all its sexual connotations, and the loss of innocence. When we become adults we realize life is not a magic tale. All this is treated from a feminist point of view, the main character is a girl who dreams about several stories with werewolves. Visually the movie is incredible, and it manages to reflect the symbolism of woods, the mixture of light and darkness, the magic creatures which live there during the night and the dangerous inside them especially for the girls who don't follow the path. From my point of view the film is one of the best dealing with the myth of werewolves, mainly because the film is a metaphor of life, of the human specie, all of us have an animal inside.