Never Cry Wolf - 1983

Wolves. Animals, right? Right.

Years ago when I started writing this blog, I followed a few different bad movie/cult movie blogs, linking to them on here sometimes with my reviews like Spawn of the Slithis. The only blog I kept up with since then though is the glorious blog Every 70's Movie. Although largely inspirational, I do want to go on record as saying I individually loved 70's movies already, it was not because of this blog.

Never Cry Wolf was written up on this blog as being "one of the best nature films" and it didn't take much more than that for me to watch it. In the beginning we follow bookish introvert Tyler, a nerdy scientist who gets sent to the Arctic circle to find out if wolves are killing the caribou population there. He is dropped off without a clue of what to do, nearly dies, and is rescued by a Eskimo aboriginal.

As the film goes on, we see a deep meditation unfold as Tyler finds the wolves, as he gets to know them, as he gets to know the Eskimos, and as he begins to understand the environment in which he now lives. Never Cry Wolf is one of those movies that that doesn't have much of a plot beyond the setup, but instead replaces it with atmosphere and character growth.

The magic of the environment which Tyler witnesses is beyond words, even though you can tell they used trained wolves and shit. The humbled feeling brought to him, the uniqueness of his journey will leave an impression on you to be sure. It's a movie wherein the story is about the bad inside man, how man is corrupted, and how out of touch man is with nature. One person learning about the beauty of nature is nothing compared to the untold millions who see it as a "resort" which they could use to make money.

Sometimes I will finish a movie and I won't want to watch another. I finished Never Cry Wolf early on into the night, and I sat there wondering what to do. Because the reality is, it sits so hard on me emotionally that I don't want to lose the emotional impact by diving into another, different story. I sit there, angered, saddened, dispondent. I sit there and I stew. Never Cry Wolf is a emotional, turgid story hiding behind the visage of a nature film. But what me and others might know is, nature is brutal, sharp, and will fuck you up. Just like the watching of this movie.

5 stars.