The Wolves of Kromer (1999), Lee Williams, James Layton; Narrated By Boy George; Directed By Will Gould

This is clearly a low-budget comedy, but the acting is excellent and there are some very very funny turns, particularly the old ladies, but also the gay wolves. It's completely light-hearted and silly, and appropriately short (less than 90 minutes). I wish Americans could laugh at themselves this easily, but it seems the English have it all over us when it comes to self satire. The main targets are the stupid, and childishly hypocritical, "normal" townspeople, but also there are some pretty well-placed jabs at how relentlessly trivial and superficial wolf (gay) culture can be (and anybody who thinks it isn't isn't looking very closely).

Nevertheless, for all the lightness and parody, there's a fairly coherent radical subtext here, challenging the unproven assumption that families are inherently good with the equally valid argument that families are evil.

So glad I stumbled on this little treasure. Five star rating for a great job on what is obviously very little funding.

"THE WOLVES OF KROMER"

A Gay Allegory

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

There is something about werewolves that holds an interest for gay men and First Run Features has provided us with a DVD to satisfy that interest, "The Wolves of Kromer". "Wolves" is a modern day fairy tale fueled by themes of lust, greed and murder. Two separate plots mesh together to provide a suspenseful mystery which is filled with intrigue. A mysterious murder, committed by two old maids, is the backdrop for the movie. They frame local wolves (who are really local models) and this arouses the interest of the fundamentalist religious zealots and this propels a group of strange and bizarre characters to come forth and what results is a very unique fantasy film which is very odd.
The story of werewolves is an allegory for the gay experience but what is hard to decide is whether this is a horror film or a drama or is it just plain fantasy?
In the beginning of the movie is a scene in which two young men, dressed shabbily, are sitting in a forest; there is something supernatural about them, their nails are pointed and sharp but otherwise they look perfectly normal. As an older woman passes where they are sitting she is aghast at the sight of them and runs as if she had seen real wolves. The two young men, Gabriel and Seth, are regarded by the townsfolk as wolves. To us who are watching the movie and to themselves they look like handsome young men. This is obviously the set up for the fantasy. Do we see them as others see them or do we see them as we want to? Suddenly we notice that they are carrying stuffed wolf tales and we are led to believe that the director is showing us to actors pretending to be wolves.
There is a lot to interest the viewer and to keep him intrigued in the movie. I have read where some critics have tossed the movie aside as a silly diversion and I take issue with that. I think it takes several viewings to really understand what is going on. I agree that the wolf get-up looks silly; seeing young men dressed in fashionable clothes which are fashionably torn is a bit much. However, the facts that they have long nails and pointed ears make them look like wolves to a degree. They are unshod and shirtless but they wear ratty fur coats and live as outcasts in the woods and have to resort to petty theft in order to get food to eat and cash t play arcade games with. When the wolves are accused of killing the old lady the movie begins a rapid shift.
The allegory between the wolves and homosexuals is very clear--they are both outcasts and regarded as pariahs in society. It may take a great deal of patience to understand the film fully but it is a film worth seeing and thinking about. It is not a usual kind of film because you are forced to think about what you see but that is what I find enjoyable, so much more enjoyable than watching fluff.

people expect it to be a terror filme and its more of a social comentary comparing homossexuality to something completelly alien like bein a werewolf etc etc it's a great movie if you have brains and is not looking for "another" stupid terror filme

I love and will always this movie The Wolves of Kromer ~ Will Gould (III). The Wolves of Kromer is now the movie I like most of all in life. Don't buy this movie expecting your typical horror gore bloodfest because this movie does not even try to go there. This movie addresses gay social issues, homophobia all the attendant ignorance amd hate it spawns. Wolves and werewolves are more a recurring methaphor in the movie than fact. Yes the script and story line could have used some tightening up. Yes the pace was too slow and the people were a little bit too one demensional but none of that took away from the underlying power messages about how stupid homophobia is this movie sent on many levels. Yes there could have been more action and better character development and I would agree the movie had more than its share of flaws and bad production values but, I suggest the sheer power of its political message delivered using the Wolf \ Werewolf metaphor was artistic genius and more than makes up for any cinematic lapses in style and quality in other areas.

I usually hate movies that come to a tragic end but The Wolves of Kromer end's with a healthy degree of tragic irony that effectively drives the whole point of the movie home in a way worthy of the best hollywood has to offer. I watched this movie not expecting too much and ended up getting my eyes opened and my heart stolen. I can tell you now The Wolves of Kromer is a movie you can only understand completely if you have struggled with gay issues in your own life. The Wolves of Kromer makes perfect sense if you dealt with your own gay issues. I think The Wolves of Kromer is perhaps the only movie that has ever so effectively touched my heart. I know most people will not agree with me about the awesomeness of The Wolves of Kromer but honestly I do not care. I call them as I see them and move on! I am happy I brought this movie it is prized in my vast DVD collection.

The 1998 independent film "The Wolves of Kromer", directed by Will Gould and written by Charles Lambert and Matthew Read, is neither a horror film nor a film about werewolves in general. Instead, the "wolves" in the film are nothing more than a euphemism for the gay community at large. The two main wolf characters, Gabriel (James Layton in his only film) and Seth (Lee Williams in his film career debut), meet each other in the woods outside of the fictional town of Kromer, which is where many other wolves also live. (By the way, all of the wolves are gay males.) They spend their time wandering woods and resorting to petty theft (for the most part) to obtain money, clothing and food. Do they ever transform into wolves as in a typical werewolf film? No, instead they spend their time talking and walking around barefooted and always wearing cheap, second-hand faux fur coats with attached tails and beat-up shorts. Of Kromer's "human" residents (who, by the way are all straight or deeply closeted), the film focuses upon a sick bedridden woman named Mrs Drax (Rosemarie Dunham), her housekeeper that is trying to kill her named Fanny (Rita Davies), Fanny's dimwitted diabetic friend Doreen (Margaret Towner) and Kromer's Christian priest (Kevin Moore). As the film's story unfolds, Fanny intends to blame the impending murder of Mrs. Drax upon the wolves; and since the townsfolk regard the wolves as being inhuman, they can be hunted and killed.

Though some viewers have described this film as being a modern-day romantic fairy tale, in actuality, the film (which was poorly acted, written and directed), is nothing more than an exploitation of long-standing negative stereotypes of the gay and straight communities. Why? First, the "wolves" are viewed by everyone else as being inhuman animals. Second, the "wolves" are portrayed as being nothing more than criminals with no ethical center of any kind. Third, the "wolves" are preoccupied with immediate gratification and promiscuous partying. Fourth, the "wolves" are unworthy of being treated the same as everyone else. Fifth, if the "wolves" are subhuman, then there are no penalties for killing them. On the contrary, the Kromer townsfolk encourage such behavior. Sixth, the ridiculous costumes that all of the "wolves" always wear are akin to some people's stereotype of all gay men being drag queens. Consequently, this film is nothing more than an insult and disservice to both the gay and straight communities at large because only a very small minority of real gay men actually fit into this film's very negative stereotypes and only a minority of the actual straight community at large is as homophobic and hypocritical as this film depicts. Therefore, I can only rate this film with 1 out of 5 stars for being grossly inaccurate, poorly acted and completely unsympathetic. Not surprisingly, neither Will Gould nor James Layton have had any other involvement in any other film since "The Wolves of Kromer". If you watch the film, look for the obvious blooper of when James Layton is wearing tennis shoes (instead of being barefoot) while driving a stolen motorcycle. (He's barefoot when he & Lee Williams get onto it, but wearing shoes while driving it moments later.) My advice: save your money and time for something better.