WolfCop

WolfCop
Directed by Lowell Dean
Produced by
  • Bernie Hernando
  • Deborah Marks
  • Danielle Masters
  • Hugh Patterson
Written by Lowell Dean
Starring
Music by Shooting Guns
Cinematography Peter La Rocque
Edited by Mark Montague
Release dates
  • 6 June 2014 (2014-06-06)
Running time
 79 minutes
Country Canada
Language English

WolfCop is a 2014 Canadian horror comedy film written and directed by Lowell Dean. The film was released to Cineplex theatres nationwide on 6 June 2014.[1] It is the first film chosen for production from the CineCoup Film Accelerator. It stars Jesse Moss, Amy Matysio, Jonathan Cherry, Sarah Lind, Aidan Devine, Corrine Conley and Leo Fafard. The plot revolves around an alcoholic small town cop who transforms into a werewolf after being cursed. However, he still possesses his human intelligence in wolf form and continues his work as a police officer even in wolf form.[2] WolfCop was released to UK DVD and Blu-ray on the 13 October 2014.

Plot

Lou Garou (loup garou is French for werewolf), an alcoholic cop in the small community of Woodhaven, spends most of his day either asleep at work or at Jessica's bar. When his friend Willie Higgins phones in a complaint of occult activity in the area of his gun store, the police chief sends Garou to investigate. After meeting with Higgins, Garou dismisses his concerns as the actions of heavy metal fans. Higgins again reports a disturbance, and the chief forces Garou to investigate. When he arrives at the scene, Garou finds occultists in the middle of a ceremony to sacrifice an upstart politician who was running on a platform of reform and anti-corruption. Garou is knocked out and wakes up the next morning in his bed, not remembering how he got there, though he has a pentagram carved into his stomach.

Garou's senses become extremely sharp, and his wounds heal near-instantly. As he investigates the case, he surprises Jessica and his coworkers, all of whom had written him off as lazy and incompetent. As he goes over his notes at Jessica's bar, she encourages him to drink more and invites him to join her privately. Before he can, two criminals part of a local gang sneak into the bar and attack him in the bathroom. Garou, who is in the middle of a transformation into a werewolf, easily kills one and drives off the other. Angry that they did not kidnap Garou, the gang leader stabs out the eye of the escaped gangster when he claims to have seen Garou transform into a monster. Meanwhile, Garou ends up in Higgins' house, handcuffed to the bed. Higgins explains that he captured Garou and restrained him for his own safety. Higgins later researches his condition, and they learn that occult ceremonies in which a werewolf is sacrificed can strengthen the magic of reptilian shapeshifters.

Garou and his partner, Tina, investigate the deaths at the bar and a series of seemingly unrelated armed robberies by a gang who wear pig masks. Higgins convinces Garou that he must be restrained at night, and Garou submits to being locked in the town's jail. However, when the police station receives a call for help, Garou, who has since transformed into a werewolf but has retained his human intelligence, dons his policeman's uniform and heads to the local supermarket, where the pig-mask gang have taken hostages. Garou savagely kills all the pig-mask robbers and heads toward a meth lab. Higgins cowers in the car as Garou again savagely kills several gun-wielding gangsters. When they return to the police station, Jessica seduces Garou while he is in his werewolf form, only to reveal that she is a shapeshifter and also the town's elderly mayor. Higgins also reveals himself as a shapeshifter and theorizes that Garou's alcoholism has made him stronger than their previous victims, all of whom they were able to control.

Garou is drugged and brought to a second ceremony, where he is to be sacrificed during an eclipse so that the town's ruling elite, all of whom are reptilian shapeshifters, can continue to hide their true identity and rule indefinitely. Tina arrives and confronts the police chief, who shapeshifts into the gang leader, and Higgins. Tina and Garou kill Higgins, Jessica, and the gang members, but the chief surprises them with a sneak attack. Weakened by the approaching eclipse, Garou is wounded when shot by the chief, but he realizes that alcohol is the source of his enhanced power. As Garou consumes a flask of alcohol, Tina impales the police chief on a sword. He uses it to also stab her, but before he can finish her, Garou shoots and kills the police chief. Garou and Tina limp off together, and Garou promises to drop her off at a hospital after he gets another drink.

Cast

Cast in credits order:

Production

Filming began in October 2013 in Regina, Saskatchewan and surrounding area.[4] It is Dean's second feature having previously shot 13 Eerie in the same location. The film is set to rely on "retro-style" practical effects instead of computer-generated imagery.[5]

Reception

Cosplay on the Montreal Comiccon 2016

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 67% approval rating based on 18 reviews.[6] Bloody Disgusting gave WolfCop a positive review and stated, "A perfect storm of creature action, the occult, gore, intrigue, humor, and lycanthropic puns, WolfCop is destined for cult glory."[7] Bruce DeMara of The Toronto Star rated it 1.5/4 stars and wrote that the film's humor never rises beyond the French pun used for Fafard's character.[8] Leslie Felperin of The Guardian rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "You can't help but warm to this old-school Canadian horror-comedy about a law enforcer with a snout for crime".[9] Craig Anderson of Fangoria rated it 4/5 stars and wrote, "While Wolfcop does tend to overreach, and too-often falls back on its predictable buddy-cop formula splatstick shtick, it's still plenty fun".[10] Andrew Mack of Twitch Film wrote, "It is a mix of horror and comedy that does not take off right away but builds momentum to a satisfying conclusion."[11] Scott Hallam of Dread Central rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "If you enjoy a horror-comedy that’s just out for a laugh and never takes itself too seriously, you'll enjoy WolfCop."[12]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Saskatoon, Saskatchewan instrumental heavy psych band Shooting Guns and Toby Bond (who officially joined the band shortly after). The band composed 76 minutes of original material for the score and released the WolfCop Original Soundtrack on vinyl and limited-release cassette through One Way Static (Belgium) in Sept 2014 (the soundtrack was also released digitally in Sept 2014 through RidingEasy Records (Hermosa Beach, CA). After selling out of the first 1000-copy vinyl pressing in under 2 months, One Way Static repressed the vinyl soundtrack in Summer 2015 and RidingEasy Records also pressed a 7" vinyl EP, featuring Shooting Guns' cover of Lawrence Gowan's Moonlight Desires as the b-side, appropriately retitled Doomlight Desires.

Here is a quote from Shooting Guns on the process for scoring the soundtrack:

"Locked in their studio during a -50 cold spell during one of Canada’s harshest winters on record, Shooting Guns gave themselves a crash course in composition and enlisted the talents of Toby Bond to create a cinematic score locked to every second of this action packed party movie. Not only is this the loudest album that the band has released yet, it's their first movie score soundtrack, first concept album, and it features more guitar solos than all their previous work combined." [13] [14]

Sequel

In an interview with Fangoria, director Lowell Dean confirmed a sequel to the film.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Everett-Green, Robert. "Is social media the answer for Canada's indie filmmakers?". The Globe And Mail. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Miller, Mark L. "AICN HORROR talks with Lowell Dean about his new horror comedy WOLFCOP!". Aint It Cool News. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Cooper, Patrick (March 9, 2015). "'WolfCop' Himself, Leo Fafard!". Bloody Disgusting.
  4. ↑ McEachern, Terrence. "Wolfcop begins filming in Regina". Leader-Post. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Craig. "Q+A: Director Lowell Dean on his CineCoup Top Five Finalist WOLFCOP". Fangoria. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "WolfCop (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Cooper, Patrick. "[BD Review] Don't You Dare Miss 'WolfCop'!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  8. ↑ DeMara, Bruce (12 June 2014). "Wolfcop as horror/comedy mostly howlingly bad: review". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (21 August 2014). "Wolfcop review – a gory hoot". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Craig (6 June 2014). ""WOLFCOP" (Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Mack, Andew (12 June 2014). "Review: WOLFCOP, The Hairy But Tangled Canadian Horror Comedy". Twitch Film. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Hallam, Scott (2 June 2014). "WolfCop (2014)". Dread Central. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Jim Ginther, Shooting Guns
  14. ↑ "WolfCop And Jason Voorhees In Horror Subscription Box of Dread March 2015". Dread Central. February 26, 2015.
  15. ↑ LOWELL DEAN: It’s good! I’m actually working on WOLFCOP 2 as we speak.

External links

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