Shudder Saturday: Another Wolfcop (2017)

If it wasn't immediately obvious from the title, this is a sequel to WolfCop, the lycanthropic comedy that became a bit of a cult hit back in 2014. As is the way of many sequels, this tries to give you everything you liked in the first movie, but just give you a bit more. You get a main premise with an even more outlandish idea at the heart of it, some more great gore moments, and an even wilder WolfCop sex scene. Yes, you read that right.

A number of the main cast members return, including one who you wouldn't necessarily expect to find a way back from their fate in the first movie. Leo Fafard is Lou Garou, the hard-drinking cop who quite literally embodies the fuzz sometimes. His previous partner, Tina (Amy Matysio), is now the new police chief. Things seem to be getting strange and dangerous in Woodhaven under the guidance of a wealthy businessman named Sydney Swallows (Yannick Bisson), and there may be a number of other shape-shifting villains to be dealt with. Lou and Tina will need help, which is available in the surprising form of Willie (Jonathan Cherry) and his sister, Kat (Serena Miller). 

Once again written and directed by Lowell Dean, who has certainly found his greatest success with this character, Another WolfCop is a blast for those who were fans of the first film. Everything is slightly amplified in the best possible way, and it maintains a tone of consistent silliness from start to finish. There's even a celebrity cameo (Kevin Smith) to reinforce the idea of this "brand" now being a beloved new bit of cultdom. If you didn't like the first movie then you should go nowhere near this, but if you did . . . oh boy, does Dean have some treats for you.

Fafard is a good sport in the main role again, especially while having to spend more time in the full WolfCop make-up. Cherry and Miller almost steal the movie though, working with a few different, and brilliant, gags that I won't spoil by describing here. Matysio is solid, and keeps trying to admirably both work within the law and make use of a valuable badge-wearing werewolf, and Devery Jacobs does perfectly fine as a new police officer who ends up in danger. Bisson is surprisingly tame in his role, although he does what he needs to do, but at least we get some fun with Alden Adair's portrayal of a dangerous cyborg named Frank.

I think I remember when this was first released that many people said it was a bit better than the first movie. I would agree with those people. As long as you're ready for the tone of the comedy then you'll surely have a good time. If you want something that's more interested in delivering straightforward werewolf thrills, however, then you need to look at the many other titles that don't want to mix together lycanthropy, police movie tropes, and a multitude of Canadianisms. You'll have plenty to choose from, while fans of this very adult version of Paw Patrol will have to just wait and see if Dean decides to deliver a trilogy.

7/10

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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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Shudder Saturday: Dark Match (2024)

A wrestling horror movie may not sound like a lot of fun, but I suppose if you like wrestling and/or horror then you may get something from it. That would be the theroy anyway, and the presence of Chris Jericho certainly shows that writer-director Lowell Dean wants wrestling fans to have fun with this. I'm not sure they will.

A group of wrestlers are signed up for a job by their pretty useless manager (Rusty, played by Jonathan Cherry) that will leave them fighting for a small crowd in the middle of nowhere. The pay seems decent though, but only until everyone figures out exactly what is going on. This isn't just a series of wrestling matches. It's all designed to appease a cult and progress their nefarious plan. 

Aside from Ayihsa Issa and Steven Ogg, who I am picking as nominal leads here, Dark Match suffers from the fact that too few of the characters are worth caring about. Cherry plays his part with gusto, and he's fun, but you don't care about him. Mo Adan, Sara Canning, Michael Eklund, Stephanie Wolf, Jonathan Lepine, Justin Lawrick, and even Jericho himself don't have enough to work with in order to stand out. Okay, the latter gets a scheming panto villain moment here and there, but it's not any fun. And this film should have at least aimed to be fun.

Despite the fact that I am not into wrestling, I see why people are drawn to it. The athleticism, the showmanship, the ongoing soap opera that sets up so many different battles with different stakes. Those who are really into it tend to be DEEP into it, which is why no 94-minute movie could hope to compare. There's no attachment to anyone here, despite some of their recent history being mentioned or hinted at, and that means it's hard to really feel invested in any of the wrestling matches.

Dean does okay with his budget and resources, I guess, but it doesn't take long to notice that the two main sets are the wrestling ring and a dressing room area. Things are shot clearly enough though, and the action is visible and easy to follow, if also disappointingly dull.

I didn't find this painful or overlong, but I did spend a lot of time just waiting for everything to be wrapped up so I could end it and get on with the rest of my day. And the ending was pretty dire, considering it just reminded me of a Tenacious D music video. So I won't ever want to rewatch this, and I cannot think of anyone I would highly recommend it to. Issa, Ogg, and Cherry are the highlights. Everything else is just a bit . . . blah.

3/10

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