Alfie, The Little Werewolf

A feel-good Dutch family comedy, Alfie the Little Werewolf was the first foreign movie I saw in Cannes. The movie poster was what initially drew me to Alfie. It shows Alfie in mid-transformation perched on a tree limb with a full moon behind him. The title character, portrayed by Ole Kroes, strongly resembles the American child actor Jonathan Lipnicki (Stuart Little). For me, the resemblance resurrected fond memories of The Little Vampire, one of my favorite movies as a kid.

Alfie, the Little Werewolf tells the story of Alfie, an adopted boy who discovers that he is destined to become a werewolf every full moon after he turns seven. Alfie is one of the smaller, quieter kids in school, and predictably is harassed by a bully named Nico. Alfie has an adorable little-kid crush on Noura, a girl in his homeroom class who won’t even give him the time of day. On the night of the first full moon after his seventh birthday, Alfie transforms into a werewolf and roams the town. He encounters a mysterious stranger in the park who gives him advice and then recedes back into the shadows. This stranger is, of course, important later on. When Alfie returns to his bedroom, his older brother Timmie discovers him still in werewolf form and takes the news that his brother is part monster very well. He agrees to help Alfie keep it a secret from their parents. The rest of the movie is Alfie’s adventures as his life as a werewolf continues to impact his life as a normal human boy. 

Since I had already seen a movie with a relatively similar storyline to Alfie, I was probably a bit more prepared for some of the weirder scenes than the average person. For example, one scene shows werewolf Alfie invading the chicken coop of his next-door neighbor Mrs. Klijtjes, and it’s implied, with an artful smattering of blood on his lip and some feathers, that he ate a chicken. Gross. Alfie’s dad (Remko Vrijdag) provided some excellent comic relief with character quirks that were usually very funny, although a few were too over the top. For example, one joke that was more cringe-worthy than funny was a scene in which he’s trying to fix the kitchen sink while wearing a women’s floral bathing suit.

I loved the music, arranged by Patrick Lemmons, which sounded like spooky, Halloween-esque folk music. I don’t often notice the sound track of movies, but this one was pleasantly unique. The movie’s coloring was very vivid, with an emphasis on deep, saturated colors. It definitely made me want to move to the Netherlands if I could experience scenery like the kids rollerbladed through on their way to school every day. The costuming of the characters was appropriately artsy and meshed well with the quirky subject matter of the movie. Alfie always wore some combination of red and blue, which I think was intentional, but ends up being more interesting trivia about the movie than serving any purpose. One misstep in the special effects of the film was doing zoomed out shots of werewolf Alfie. The CGI is really terrible and looks like something out of the SIMS. Also, whoever designed the werewolf costume for Alfie must’ve been watching a lot of Star Wars because he looks like a baby albino Chewbacca.

Alfie the Little Werewolf definitely has an agenda and a message to convey. In one scene, Alfie complains to Timmie, who is a whole lot nicer to his younger sibling than I ever was to mine, “I just want to be ordinary!” Timmie tells him, “No one is ordinary. Ordinary is boring!” When Alfie finally works up the courage to talk to Noura, he tells her, “I’m just a bit different,” and her response is “That’s what I like about you.” The idea that “normal is boring” or some variation of that phrase is repeated several times throughout the movie. However, unless you’re keeping a tally or something, it doesn’t detract from the plot. In addition, Alfie is aimed at a younger audience, so the repetition is necessary. I really enjoyed this movie, and although some of the characters were clichéd, I thought it was a refreshing break from a lot of American kid’s cinema that’s rife with either thinly veiled adult jokes or stupid bathroom humor.

Cast & Credits

Maas Bronkhuyzen

Kim Van Kooten

Trudy Labij

Ole Kroes

Remko Vrijdag

Bos Bros Film & TV Productions and uFilm presents the movie directed by Joram Lursen and written by Tamara Bos. Based on the book written by Paul van Loon. Dutch. 2011. Running time: 95 minutes. No MPAA rating.