A horror film with pretensions. People are getting their throats torn out in New York City, and Michael Wadleigh's prowling cameras, plus killings 'seen' in negative give you a pretty good idea of what's going on. Albert Finney, with a ragged American accent, is the detective hauled off suspension to investigate, running into a lot of mumbo-jumbo about hunting grounds, families and killing to survive. There's a Native American who seems to think he's a wolf, but he proves to be more of a red herring. With all its creeping around, frank dialogue and bits of people flying through the air when the 'wolfen' attack, it's not a film for the nervous or easily shocked. Director Wadleigh tries hard to cover the film with an other-worldly quality and a feeling of something outside our understanding, and Gregory Hines scores nicely on his film debut as a hip coroner with a disarming sense of humour.

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