The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

To begin with I have not read the book, and I can understand frustration when films aren't faithful to books, I hate that too.

I first saw this film when I was a kid and was enthralled by the atmosphere, characters and story and the memory stayed with me. I have seen it twice since then as an adult, and still love it.

I do understand worrying that it will scare children (and I certainly wouldn't show it to a 5 year old, it's not meant for small children) but I think that lots of children would love this film and parents should base it on their own knowledge of their children, most parents know roughly what their own kids will love and what they will find scary.

I've been trying to find a DVD of this but there isn't one :(

I remember watching this film when i was roughly 8 years old, thirteen long years ago (makes me feel old even though i'm only 21!)and i remember screaming at the television "Run, little girl, RUNNN" I absolutely loved the film as it had two best friends, nice frilly frocks and excitement all rolled into one action packed film. Recently i remembered very vague details of the film and it was driving me insane not knowing the title. All i remembered was a green, little red riding hood like cape/coat, lots of snow, wolves, a big building like a kind of castle and a horse and carriage. I searched for ages and came across this but ignored it as i thought it looked nothing like the memories i had. But after watching the trailer out of curiosity, i realised it was the famous "LITTLE GIRL GETTING CHASED BY WOLVES IN SNOWY FOREST" film that i have been desperately trying to find. Looking back it is very very corny and rather scary for a child may i add, but never the less i think i may have to watch it this Sunday, all wrapped up on the sofa eating crappy foods and plenty of chocolates - cosy. Nothing better than a good reminisce of childhood memories :)

I found myself pleasantly enjoying this, just as I did with the book. The costumes were top notch, the relatively small budget is used excellently on the sets and cinematography. The film has a very clever style, a mixture of Victorian England and a sort of steampunk feel.

The acting is fairly apt throughout, Miss Slycarp is definitely my favourite of the characters and I was slightly disappointed to see Pattern and Simon's roles reduced to only a couple of scenes. Further deviances from the book include Bonnie and Sylvia not immediately liking each other, which I suppose allows for the film to show the growth in their relationship and how they contrast but come closer together by the end, in the book despite their differences they got together very well so I don't know why they include the girls calling each other "coward" and "stupid" which I didn't feel necessary but again I suppose it shows growth. Mr Grimshaw was less funny at the start as in the book but that's only a small change.

Because it's an 80s film it has to be really dark as well, unlike in the book where nobody died there are some deaths here: a child drowns whilst working in a mill, a boy gets crushed to death and two women are devoured by wolves - not something you see in every kids film!

7/10: Stylish, dark and fairly well acted. It's easy to follow and quite entertaining

I remember being enthralled by both the book and this film when I was little. Stephanie Beacham performs brilliantly as the evil Miss Slighcarp. She is well supported by Mel Smith, Jane Horrocks and Richard O'Brien (really likable as James and totally unrecognisable here from his "Rocky Horror" persona). The plot moves quickly and despite not faithfully mirroring the story of Joan Aiken's novel manages to portray all the characters just as they were depicted in the text. I continue to enjoy watching this as an adult - some fans of the book may be unhappy with some of the added material but as a fan of Joan Aiken myself, I think this adaptation and the actors' performances do great justice to her writing.

I can remember watching this at least 25 years ago and just remembered the films name after racking my brains. I could only remember Stephanie Beacham in it. The snow scenes were superb real snow, wow, for a change. I thought the film was very good as a children's/family film. Would love to know where it was filmed. I watched it with my brother who was about 20 at the time and he also enjoyed it. The scenery locations were beautiful. The scenes that really sticks in my mind is the scene where Stephanie Beachan was riding through the snow on a large sleigh being pulled by a pack of black wolves. Wonder if you can still buy it, if someone could tell me.