Horror Movie Reviews
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Title: Empire of the Wolves (2005) |
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Review of Empire of the Wolves
- From the producer of The Professional and The Fifth Element and starring Jean Reno (The Professional) this intense horror/thriller finds a woman suffering from nightmares and bouts of amnesia mysteriously tied to a series of gruesome murders around Paris. Anna Heymes (Arly Jover), the wife of a senior government official, is experiencing the loss of memory and terrifying hallucinations. In the Turkish neighborhood of Paris, two police officers, Nerteaux (Jocelyn Quivrin) and Schiffer (Reno), are trying to solve the mystery of the sadistic murders of three women, all clandestine Turkish laborers. While the upright Nerteaux is determined to stop the killings, Schiffer is a dirty cop whose real goals are more questionable. In the course of the investigation, they discover that an armed branch of the Turkish mafia might be responsible for the murders. At the same time, Anna learns that her face has been transformed by plastic surgery, leaving nothing of her previous appearance. The link between Anna and the three victims becomes ever more clear as Anna's horrible past is progressively revealed to her, to Nerteaux, and to Schiffer
Description
- Anna (Arly Jover, Blade) is losing her memory. It started the day she failed to recognize her husband, Laurent (Philippe Bas). "I'm going crazy," she whispers to herself. Then at a dinner party, faces suddenly morph into death masks. Elsewhere in Paris, Captain Nerteaux (Jocelyn Quivrin, Syriana) is trying to catch a serial killer. The three female victims, all Turkish illegals, were tortured and mutilated. Out of desperation, Nerteaux turns to "Shifty" Schiffer (a blond Jean Reno) for help. A brutal cop with ties to the Turkish underworld, Schiffer is easily persuaded. (Too easily, perhaps.) Meanwhile, Anna begins seeing Dr. Mathilde (Laura Morante, The Son's Room). Despite the freaky Francis Bacon painting in her waiting room, which Anna finds terrifying, Mathilde turns out to be a sympathetic psychiatrist who helps unravel the truth about her condition--her face was altered and her memory erased. At the same time, Schiffer helps Nerteaux to solve his mystery. The link between the two is a right-wing organization called the Grey Wolves, which will lead all of them to Turkey for the explosive climax. Empire of the Wolves exerts the same grim fascination as The Crimson Rivers, a previous Jean-Christophe Grangé adaptation featuring Reno. While it marks a minor entry in the versatile actor's career, the gripping (if over-long) thriller ultimately belongs to Jover, whose Anna is as divided against herself as Anne Parillaud's La Femme Nikita. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Comments for Empire of the Wolves
- Posted on 2008-05-10
A few cards short
The central female character, Anna (Arly Jover), is engaging whilst she struggles to uncover her mysterious origins but the two protagonists striving to solve the same mystery by tracking down the murderers of her predecessors are quite unlikeable. Moreover there never is a plausible connection between all the dead Turkish women and Anna except for their nationality. Its never explained why the Wolves killed them or how their deaths came about.
Far too much of this movie makes little or no sense until the end and then the explanations just leave you cold. Who are the Wolves? Turkish Terrorists? Why are they Terrorists? Oh, no reason, they're just evil. Only evil guys would hide out in the famous Christian catacombs in Turkey - unnoticed by thousands of tourists and locals.
Give this film a miss and pick up Wasabi instead!
Score: 2
- Posted on 2007-10-21
THE TURKISH CANDIDATE
Highly original thriller more or less a mirror 'type' image of "Manchurian Candidate" and it packs quite a punch ARLY JOVER is spectacular as the very confused candidate, and it becomes quite an eye opener re. the world of 'intrigue'.
Reno [as usual] never fails to please and is remarkably original in his depiction of the burnt out [?] cop?
Enough said - go along for the ride - this is an original and deserves much more attention than previously received.
[ps. Hollywood - please don't remake - this is classic French 2000 cimnema].
Score: 5
- Posted on 2007-08-23
the worst movie of Jean Reno
It is one the worst film I have ever seen lately. The dubbing is made so poorly, that I had to watch it in French. I have read the book which I liked but the movie is a complete disaster! They could have made a little research or close to reality. There is a false advertisement; such as punks are introduced as Turks in the Turkish zone in Paris! Even the music is not Turkish but funky punk music when again when they show the Turkish areas. The wolves (far right hand - nationalists) are resembled as the Kurdish terrorists who lives in the mountain which is far from the reality. In sum, it does not worth buying or watching. I have wasted my time!
Score: 1
- Posted on 2007-07-17
Jean Reno
Tough cop Reno solves case about mad Turkish extremists trying to take over the world - it's a crazy violent romp. The French make it more complicated than it needs to be with numerous sub-plots and red herrings.
Great sound!
Score: 3
- Posted on 2007-02-24
A wonderful, pleasant experience!
I went into this with an open mind - I didn't read the cover, I didn't know the premise, nothing. The only familiar thing was Jean Reno. After 10 minutes or so of trying to figure things out, things started falling into place aided (and of great entertainment value), with the usual disdain of the french for all things un-french. Wonderful plot, good shots of Paris and the surrounds with just enough pace to keep on you the edge of your seat. I'm planning to watch it again soon!
Score: 5