I don't recall having seen any Polish films before, let alone any Polish werewolf films, so I unfortunately heaped expectation upon Wilczyca, especially since it is rather well reviewed here. In some ways it does well, but overall I felt a little let down by the experience. The story is a classic Gothic one, a lady, Maryna dies cursing her husband, and the curse is visited upon him and upon a younger lady. Emphasis on traditional elements brings a cosy, pleasing feel to the film, with its spooks delivered in measured fashion, while all round solid performances bring a welcome sincerity. The setting really helps things too, frozen paths, snow fleeced fields, and domiciles of rustic grandeur captured with chilly beauty in the cinematography of Janusz Pawlowski , the film clutches with a feel of Eastern European winter and this feel helps ease the film along even in its weaker moments. Of which there are regrettably too many, the film is overlong and there are several stretches that could have been cut down with little harm. These longeurs are all the more hurtful since the film lacks much in the way of twists or turns and the screenplay is fairly simplistic during the first hour or so I was led to glancing at my watch far more often than I like to. The film also largely eschews exploitative elements outside of a spot of effective violence in the close, more would have been nice, as would nudity, though the cold climate is probably a good reason for the lack in that department. There are some good acting turns to keep things moving though, Krysztof Jasinski makes for a cold gnarled and dignified protagonist, noting mounting strangeness and cowed by things not all as they should be, while Iwona Bielska is terrific as Maryna and her later counterpart, striking features and a performance of wolfish sensuality give the film its best moments, she captivates in the classic European tradition of sinister femininity. Things eventually pick up after a sluggish hour and the final block is fairly good sailing, but still by the end it had the feel of too little too late, the film needed fireworks but what it delivers isn't much more than a campfire. Altogether, this isn't one that I'd especially recommend. Technically able and sporadically fun and intriguing, but generally not much more than a more or less skippable detour, one for European horror completists only I'd say.
