Review of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989) by Jean-Francois V — 21 Aug 2008

"The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" is a nice, atmospheric children?s story adapted from the first novel in of the twelve-volume Wolf series by the highly prolific Joan Aiken (1924-2004), who is perhaps more famous to modern adult readers for her sequels to several of Jane Austen?s novels.

With its mix of Christmassy, snowy landscapes and gothic, Dickensian sets, the film looks a bit like something that might be remade in a more powerful and colourful way by Tim Burton, as it fails fully to exploit its dramatic opportunities and constantly seems to be deactivating its own threats by ridiculing its own villains, so that only pre-teens should feel scared. The two evil women of the film, for instance, are interpreted in a very tongue-in-cheek way (by Stephanie Beacham, whom I knew through one of my favorite Star Trek TNG episodes, "Ship in a Bottle", and what few episodes of "Seaquest" I may have seen, and Geraldine James, who is probably most famous for her starring role in the overrated TV series, "The Jewel in the Crown.").

I rather liked the cinematography by Paul Beeson who, I learned, worked on such camp classics as "Starcrash" and "Hawk the Slayer" and on the rather good 1992 adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle?s "Lost World". The score by Colin Towns was also quite nice.

As for the cast, I think Aleks Darowska as Sylvia was not the most charismatic lead imaginable, and when I saw one of the little girls in the factory, I was surprised that they had not chosen her instead for the part, as she had much more screen presence and much more enthusiasm for acting. Aleks Darowska apparently never played again, while the little girl that drew my attention was one Rebecca Callard, who seems to have had a more prolific career.

On a side note, I think that Mel Smith looks like Kevin Spacey with a few extra stones and lead child actress Emily Hudson looks like the redhaired boy from the Harry Potter series. Apparently she too never acted again.