[yasr_overall_rating]
Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba is Wolf Guy, the only survivor of a clan of werewolves who relies on his feral, full-moon-activated superpowers to solve mysterious crimes.
Since its debut in the 1970s, “Wolf Guy” has not been a film that was easy to watch outside of Japan. While I can’t say the film is good, that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth watching. “Wolf Guy” is a sequel to “Horror of the Wolf” (1973) and both films are based on the “Wolf Guy” manga by Kazumasa Hirai. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything other than “Wolf Guy” was based on a long-standing concept and wasn’t an idea concocted for the movie, which adds some legitimacy to the film. Anyone who is a fan of strange movies or Japanese exploitation will find a lot to enjoy here.
I first encountered Sonny Chiba in Tony Scott’s “True Romance” where the characters discuss how even a bad Sonny Chiba movie is still good. Chiba stars as a detective in “Wolf Guy” who is also the last of a clan of werewolves. The film starts with Sonny Chiba witnessing a tiger spirit slash a man to pieces. This tiger spirit is so hokey looking that it’s strange it never caught on and became a meme. In an effort to solve the murder, Chiba discovers the dead man belonged to a rock band whose several other members died in similar ways. Eventually, Chiba discovers that the band members were killed after incurring the wrath of the tiger spirit because they raped a young woman and gave her syphilis.
The first time I watched “Wolf Guy,” I waited with baited breath through the whole film to watch Sonny Chiba transform into a werewolf like “An American Werewolf in London.” This never happens. A werewolf never turns into Sonny Chiba either. Depending on what you want to get out of your film watching experience, that might or might not disappoint you. Most of the thrills in “Wolf Guy” instead come from Sonny Chiba beating up bad guys. There are also many breasts. And if you noticed that I’m refraining from the plot that’s because it doesn’t make sense and to begin to pick it apart would steal away from the point that you could very well find some enjoyable moments in this movie.
A special note should be made about the soundtrack because it’s tremendous. Like many Japanese film scores, I don’t know much about who scored “Wolf Guy” but it might be the strongest part of this strange little film that contains many logic flaws and moves with the pace of a fever dream if it weren’t for Sonny Chiba’s martial arts abilities. Or, it just sounds like the score for a low-grade 1970s porn. You decide.
As can be expected with so many Arrow releases, there are some very funny interviews included as extras to the film. These bonus features are just a reminder that if you’re going to watch a film like “Wolf Guy,” you should watch the Arrow version so you can learn as much as possible about the film.
Available now in a 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray + DVD
