Apparently the movie had a limited budget, but it looks pretty great for a non-Hollywood fantasy/horror story from the early 80s. Sarah Patterson stars as a young girl who lives in a decidedly fantasy-style forest that looks like something out of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Her sister has recently been killed by a wolf in the woods, so her parents (including Dad David Warner) are worried whenever she goes to visit her grandmother (Angela Lansbury) who lives alone outside of town.
Sounds like Little Red Riding Hood, doesn't it? Well it is, basically, just a little more fleshed out and with more werewolves. I've skipped letting you know the movie starts with a present day framing device letting us know that this is a contemporary girls' dreams, and then there are stories within the story within the story that various characters tell warning the girl against talking to strangers, etc. One of the earliest and most effective of these stars Stephen Rea and features probably the coolest werewolf transformation I've ever seen (even cooler than AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON!). Another vignette features the great Terence Stamp in a small role.
The movie gets a little needlessly complicated with the framing story, and this leads to kind of a strange ending, but everything in between is great, including the various wolf vignettes told by various characters. There's beautiful atmosphere, dreamy visuals, gory effects, solid acting. Kubrick had good taste and Neil Jordan is underrated.
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