31 Days of Terror - Day 1+2: Street of Crocodiles (1986) + Wolfen (1981)

Street of Crocodiles (1986) 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092020/

Off to a shaky start, first day and I'm already doubling up. Ah sure.

I have to admit I knew nothing of the Quays Brothers before sitting down to watch this today. Street of Crocodiles is a 20 minute stop-motion animated short, based on a collection of short stories of the same title by Polish writer Bruno Schulz. I can't decide which description sums it up best: A Dave McKean painting come to life, or Jan Švankmajer on drugs. 

The film is practically dialogue-free, I wasn't entirely sure what was going on story-wise, but the grotesque imagery, strange characters formed out of puppets and doll parts and suitably outlandish music kept me interested to the end. it's intriguing stuff, I'd probably watch it again. The whole thing's been uploaded to Vimeo, definitely worth checking out. 7 out of 10

http://vimeo.com/20715637

Wolfen (1981)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083336/

Wolfen was directed by Michael Wadleigh, primarily a cinematographer, renowned for his helming of legendary concert documentary Woodstock (1970). Essentially a  slow-building crime mystery with a hint of the supernatural, it tells the story of NYPD Captain Dewey Wilson (played by Albert Finney) as he investigates a series of grisly murders, aided by a wise-talking Coroner (Gregory Hines) and a cynical criminal psychologist played by Diane Verona.

The script is decent, doesn't take itself too seriously and there's a good few laughs, which works in contrast to the murder scenes. Speaking of the murders, they're pretty light on gore, but it definitely has its moments. What made the film really stand out for me was the overall concept for the mystery, (which I won't go into detail), its camera effects and its use of location.

I'm a sucker for any movie set in 70s/80s New York and in particular, the Bronx. This being the early 80s, the South Bronx is practically a wasteland, the piles of rubble and the odd free-standing building makes for a great movie location, the setting for many of the film's more memorable scenes. The camera effects mentioned are used during the monsters' POV shots (of which there are many) and were among the first to use those thermography-like imaging effects, the ones made famous in the Predator movies.

Wolfen is a pretty good show, it's an entertaining film and while it might be a little slow-moving compared to other 80s horror flicks, it's still worth seeking out for the overall atmosphere. 6 out of 10