Shudder Saturday: WolfCop (2014)

I remember hearing mixed things about Wolfcop when it first came on the scene. I have subsequently heard that the sequel was an improvement, but I am not the sort of person who would be able to watch any sequel without having watched the first film first. I am not a lunatic.

Written and directed by Lowell Dean, this is a fairly simple tale of a cop (Lou Garou, played by Leo Fafard) who seems to be very close to losing his job. He would much rather spend his time getting drunk than solving crimes, but things change when he ends up involved in some black magic ritual one night. That gives him the "gift" of lycanthropy, which turns him into the titular wolfcop. The bad news is all the extra fangs and hair. The good news is that he actually seems to become better at his job.

Although it's hampered by some of the acting, as well as the moments that feel planned more around the low budget than the set-pieces, there's a lot to enjoy here. The mix of tired tropes used to define our main character and his situation are mined well to show the full transformation, and everything plays nicely into a finale that is both clever and entertainingly cute.

Fafard may not be the best lead ever, but he leans into an amplified set of behaviours that play into the ridiculousness and comedy of the premise. Amy Matsio does a bit better as his partner, Tina, Sarah Lind gets to play her character, Jessica, as a sultry riff on Little Red Riding Hood, Aidan Devine is pretty good as the Chief Officer, Corinne Conley has good fun in her role, and Jonathan Cherry, arguably the most familiar face, also seems to be having a good time with the material.

Dean may not be able to smooth off all of the rough edges, but that just adds to the appeal of the whole thing. And while it's mostly a bit technically crude and visually ugly, all the stops are pulled out for a couple of fantastic highlights. The actual werewolf transformation sequence is up there with the best of them, a genuine contender that should appear on any ranked list of "best movie werewolf transformations of all time", and there are some brilliant gore gags that focus on spray and splatter ahead of realism.

I think I fall in line with many other horror movie fans who wanted this film to live up to the full potential of the premise. It's slightly disappointing, particularly in the first half, but the best parts of it easily make up for the lesser moments. If the sequel is the improvement that everyone says it is then I am pretty much guaranteed to have a great time with that. In the meantime, I won't rush to rewatch this one, but I am glad to have finally made time for it. It may not have had me howling with laughter, but it kept me fairly amused, and it tried to deliver at least one or two moments that felt quite unique. It also has one of the best taglines ever.

6/10

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The Dark Hours (2005)

Director Paul Fox and writer Wil Zmak have done a fair bit of work for television. I'm sure that's good for them, television stopped being the "poor cousin of cinema" a long time ago and can provide a steady income and constant work schedule for those in showbusiness, but it's a shame for audiences because they've been deprived of more movies like The Dark Hours. It's not a film that redefines the horror genre, by any means, but it's a fairly smart and interesting twist on the home invasion film.

Kate Greenhouse plays Dr. Samantha Goodman, a woman who we first see being quite antagonistic to a violent offender being given an evaluation. She realises that it's time for her to take a break, especially as the tumour in her head is now large enough that time has become a precious commodity, and so heads off to the winter cottage to meet up with her husband, David (Gordon Currie). David has gone away for some quiet writing time, only taking Samantha's sister, Melody (Iris Graham), with him. Both David and Melody are surprised when Samantha joins them, but there's an even bigger surprise in store when two other people come to the cottage. Adrian (Dov Tiefenbach) and Harlan (Aidan Devine), one of Samantha's ex-patients, want to play some mind games.

It may follow a well-trodden path, but The Dark Hours keeps things interesting and slightly fresh throughout thanks to a consistent grey area in the realm of morality for all involved. When viewers first see Samantha she's not being a very nice person, even if she's not being nice to someone who isn't all that nice themselves. David doesn't seem like a very understanding, supportive husband, and his time due to be spent with Melody seems more than a little suspicious. Adrian and Harlan are, of course, obvious villains, but they have their own code of conduct that shows them to perhaps have good intentions, despite their bad methods of getting results.

Decent acting from Greenhouse, Currie, Graham, Tiefenbach and Devine (there are some others onscreen, but it's down to these five characters, for the most part) is supported by the unfussy direction from Fox, and the smart script by Zmak. Things may build up to a finale that proves to be far too predictable, but that doesn't detract from the many little pleasures along the way.

This is not a film that wants to shock people, it's not a film that wants to push the boundaries of the genre and it's not a film that feels the need to throw around bucketloads of blood and gore. It is, instead, a quietly effective work that proves to be quite thought-provoking and certainly deserves to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience.

The Dark Hours is showing at The Filmhouse today as part of the run up to the 20th Dead By Dawn so get your tickets here - http://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/the-dark-hours/ - and enjoy it on the big screen.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dark-Hours-DVD/dp/B000FFL1P8/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1359152789&sr=1-1