Wolfguy (1975) - Sonny Chiba's Wildest Movie?

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 9/6/2017 at 8:01 AM, Tosh said:

Oh man, first my 3 year old smart tv dies, then I was moving during the busiest time of the year for my work, the deal with the new apt I had to do some fixing up - drywall repair, painted the whole place including the popcorn ceilings(with a roller), got all that done and went last weekend and got new tv just to find out there's no audio out for the rca jack so I can't get my dinosaur of a surround system hooked up, now I have a monster of a hurricane coming at me and it's been pandemonium trying to get water/food/gas/supplies, every fricking year I say I'm going to get prepared and never do.

So I haven't got to it, wanting to get the audio figured out, trying to figure out a conversion to hdmi or digital audio out to rca but everything I've found goes the other way(to an old tv), seeing how my new tv crapped out around 3 years I'd like to keep my old sound, it's 25 years old and still sounds great, plan B is getting a sound bar. I got an all region blu from LG, it was around 100 bucks.

Brother, I hope you are somewhere safe right now. That's the most important thing.

In a month I will remind you to prepare for next summer's hurricane season.

As for the audio thing, have you tried Googling it? I've finally caved in in recent years and now look up stuff there instead of being stubborn. Seems everyone has had whatever problem I look up long before I've faced it, and they often write excellent solutions to these things. Worth a look (after all the excitement is over).

Ah, LG has always been reliable for me. Years ago we got two 64" LG flat-screens (3D too) on a crazy deal where if you bought two at once, the second one wound up being about 75% off! They look and sound great, so perfect for a family that's movie-crazy like mine. One of these days I want to save up and get an Oppo Blu-ray player. Everyone I know that has one raves about them, with @Zatotom being the biggest cheerleader for the brand. 220 Electronics has all-region ones, and sometimes I go to their site and drool over them. But they are very expensive! So I opted for the $100-$200 LG player when my last BD player finally died screaming ( "Why do you use me so much? Please leave me alone! Agh... gurgle...ugh.")

 

On 9/6/2017 at 8:01 AM, Tosh said:

I did get to watch Time Bandits! LOVE this movie, all the way up to it's insanely bizarre ending. I'll pick up Doberman Cop, I'm going to place a good order next time. I'll be sure to drop Arrow a line, I want to also praise them on their excellent customer service.

Glad it held up for you. I should check it out again.

Arrow has a winning record with me too (so far. Knock on wood.). I've yet to get anything defective or damaged in shipping (they usually pack my stuff safely) from them. I recently picked up their nice boxed edition of RE-ANIMATOR to go with my "why-the-hell-did-I-buy-this-terrible-movie-again" Arrow Special Edition of BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (a fantastic release of a disappointing movie, but loaded with enjoyable extra features). Had to have the original classic with all the bells and whistles, you know?

 

[Tosh]

Alright, got my sound squared and put this in last night, even got the gf on board as she found out it was from a manga. 

 

I loved it, it's just one weird movie, but I can't help think how much better it could of been with a little more effort and budget, and when I mean effort I mean from the director and producer who didn't seem to want to even do the movie after watching the extras, Chiba's intensity makes the movie, well that and boobs, and a well shot downtown Tokyo, some great 70's imagery, and I'm really surprised no one has mentioned that trippy jazzy score - one up there for the ages.

It did peter out by the end, I was kinda hoping for a wolf - tiger battle ala Karate Bear Fighter, but that's how it goes with these 70's shoe stringed budget flicks. It does have me curious for the source material. So a really good B movie, certainly enough fighting, sex and insaneness to go around.

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

 

GD Y-Y

[ShaOW!linDude]

I watched this last night on the VRV streaming service. 

This is just a weird movie. Has a very low budget exploitative feel and some very pretty Japanese costars, which is kind of cool. There is some decent action, but it's not Streetfighter quality. It was good for a single viewing, but it's nothing I think I'd ever sit through again. I have some questions & comments I will tag as "spoilers" so as not to ruin the film for those who haven't seen it.

Spoiler

1. So...what? No werewolf? The term gets bandied about, and presumably Chiba is the only survivor of the Inugami clan, who are wiped out for lycanthropy tendencies. So is that it? He doesn't transform but merely has certain wolf characteristics?

2. The film references days within the lunar cycle, but no depictions of the moon's phases. So, what's the point?

3. The ending. Maybe the cut VRV has is older. It's looks great, and picture logo for the film is @KUNG FU BOB's work. However, the film's finale on the streaming service abruptly stops when Chiba leaps from the jeep as the final bad guy drives off the edge of a cliff. It bursts into flames and that's it. No "The End", no closing scene, no nothing. Strange.

4. Who is the actress who played Taka? 

 

[thekfc]

32 minutes ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Who is the actress who placed Taka? 

Yayoi Watanabe.

You may have recognize her as she was in some of the Female Prisoner Scorpion movies, Bodyguard Kiba and Karate Warrior. 

[Takuma]

21 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

  Hide contents

3. The ending. Maybe the cut VRV has is older. It's looks great, and picture logo for the film is @KUNG FU BOB's work. However, the film's finale on the streaming service abruptly stops when Chiba leaps from the jeep as the final bad guy drives off the edge of a cliff. It bursts into flames and that's it. No "The End", no closing scene, no nothing. Strange.

 

Sounds like it's missing the last scene.
 

Spoiler

 

There should be a cool little scene with Chiba carrying Watanabe and throwing his rifle over a cliff

 

 

[ShaOW!linDude]

36 minutes ago, Takuma said:

Sounds like it's missing the last scene.

Yep, didn't have that. That's what I figured.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 3/11/2019 at 12:14 PM, ShaOW!linDude said:

I watched this last night on the VRV streaming service. 

This is just a weird movie. Has a very low budget exploitative feel and some very pretty Japanese costars, which is kind of cool. There is some decent action, but it's not Streetfighter quality. It was good for a single viewing, but it's nothing I think I'd ever sit through again. I have some questions & comments I will tag as "spoilers" so as not to ruin the film for those who haven't seen it.

  Hide contents

1. So...what? No werewolf? The term gets bandied about, and presumably Chiba is the only survivor of the Inugami clan, who are wiped out for lycanthropy tendencies. So is that it? He doesn't transform but merely has certain wolf characteristics?

2. The film references days within the lunar cycle, but no depictions of the moon's phases. So, what's the point?

3. The ending. Maybe the cut VRV has is older. It's looks great, and picture logo for the film is @KUNG FU BOB's work. However, the film's finale on the streaming service abruptly stops when Chiba leaps from the jeep as the final bad guy drives off the edge of a cliff. It bursts into flames and that's it. No "The End", no closing scene, no nothing. Strange.

4. Who is the actress who played Taka? 

 

Cursed streaming nonsense! Cutting the very end off of a Chiba-san flick? "In my day movies had endings. Now days... it's just a child's game!"

As for your other questions (and thanks for keeping it "spoiler-free" for those that haven't seen it yet. I love that)...
 

Spoiler

 

1. No, I was disappointed about this too. I kept thinking the only thing crazier than a Paul Naschy werewolf has got to be a Sonny Chiba werewolf! I was so hyped. From what I understand, in the original manga upon which the film is very loosely based, the character does transform into a werewolf. On the Blu-ray release I seem to recall the film's director and producer saying they didn't have it in the budget to do the special effects properly, so they opted not to go that route. I only watched those interviews once though, late at night, so I'll have to check them out again.

2. I thought the same thing. My guess is that this is another case of the project being more ambitious than the budget would allow.

3. That's not my art. That painting is by Wes Benscoter. As others already reported above, the damn ending was indeed missing from the version you saw. I wonder how many other people are seeing it that way? Argh! 😡

4. Answered already.

 

Yup, definitely a weird one! I think the problem is that you are just too nice a guy. Perhaps you'd need to be more dark and twisted like me to enjoy this movie in repeat viewings? 🤪

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Someone sent me an MP4 of this, going to have to flip it on. Just rewatched Black Magic 2, so a little horror is right on the money!