La meute

But then again we would have missed out on a very suspenseful and very good beginning of this movie. But somewhere after one third of the movie it changes gears drastically ... and unfortunately it looses almost all of its drive. Movies that change "lanes" or "gears" are not uncommon (the original From Dusk til Dawn being the most recognizable), but in this instance it just does not work in favor of the movie.

It should have stayed with the humor and pace it established at the beginning instead of trying to experiment too much. Sometimes a few glimpses of that shine through in the latter part of the movie. Still not enough to make this worth-while and a very disappointing ending concludes the whole thing. A shame then, but maybe the director can and will come up with something better next time around.

I wonder whether the script for this one was complete before filming began or whether they just made things up as they went along. The film is a tonal mish-mash, falling into three distinct segments of notably varying seriousness, starting as a coarsely comic affair it then moves into dark "woman in peril" territory, ending in the realms of loopy siege horror. Fortunately things are underpinned by a fine lead, inspired villain and constant dark ambiance that is rather chilling at times. We follow the attractive young Charlotte Massot, driving across France when she picks up a long-haired hitcher. Stopping off at a roadside restaurant they narrowly miss getting raped before Charlottes new friend goes missing and things get worse from here. The film combines numerous backwoods horror tropes into one tasty brew, geographic isolation and cultural isolation with all character bar the heroine being rather strange, threat of being raped, threat of being eaten, broad characters and wonky dialogue, all dealt out with mania that never winks at the audience, no matter what the cliché. Handy performances give this one a big leg up, Emilie Duquenne is a delightful lead, tough but convincingly frayed when things get nasty, and affectingly traumatised when her ordeal gets nasty. Eric Godon gives suitably greased up and shifty vibes as the hitchhiker, while Philip Nahon plays things broad as a dirty minded cop. Highest marks go to Yolande Moreau as physically imposing, fearsomely tough restaurant owner La Spack, homely looks and unwieldy size hiding creepy malevolence and impressive vigor. Director Franck Richard largely plays things unflashy but has some imaginative flair, the film is focused less on action or big setpieces than mood, with plenty of time spent highlighting the grim and grimy art direction, bleak surroundings and atmospheric outdoor conditions. Some gore, though the gore scenes are around just long enough to be appreciable rather than dwelt on. Score and sound design brood, erupting in industrial pounding when events really hot up, a good complement to the visuals. Tighter handling would have helped this one, also some better dialogue but altogether I had a great time. Well worth a look for loopy backwoods/hicksploitation horror enthusiasts.

Viewed at the Festival du Film, Cannes 2010

One of the best things about the Festival is how everyone who loves film, whether it's for fun or profit, often piles into a cinema for a shared experience, whereby you get folks of all nationalities and tastes often watching a film they normally might not bother with. The Pack is a perfect example.

This is a cross-genre horror film that also wants to make some social comments, especially about the how and why of the creatures, hence my use of "meandering" in the summary. As has been mentioned by a previous poster, it starts as one film, changes to another and then goes a different way. At the same time, the elements do work, perhaps better individually than as a whole. Even so, The Pack is fun and it's nice to see a European horror film get a good reception.

The usual genre rules are there: Don't pick up hitchhikers, don't stop at a desolate restaurant run by a weirdo, don't get caged up in the basement as a snack for locally marauding monsters. In fact, maybe give all of France and Belgium a miss?

There are the obligatory jumps and shocks, some black humour, the requisite gore and the final last standard. In that sense don't expect anything new from The Pack. But at the same time there is a sure hand on the tiller, except for this meandering, which could have been sorted out at script stage. It doesn't damage the film as more as weaken the effect it could have. But my criticism is more the disappointment of how a good film misses being great, so on that basis The Pack was given a very good reception and makes for some enjoyable thrills, chills and spills.

After watching "Martyrs" and "The Inside", it's easy to understand why one would dub the French Horror films as the sickest, vilest and most sadistic. The Pack, on the other hand, isn't as shocking or as well-made (well made as opposed to good, as I didn't really like The Inside).

The build up is actually rather nice, regardless to a pretty much non- existent exposition. It starts up as another Torture-Porn/Occult film. Unfortunately everything goes downhill from there. The story is simple and not original, with some details having very non convincing explanations. The screenplay and script are lacking, and the ending seems extremely non related to the plot, leaving the audience not bewildered as much as annoyed and feeling cheated. The cinematography, shooting and effects are simply cheap, making the low budget very apparent. I didn't mind the voldermort's nose looking "monsters", I did mind the painfully obvious and visible masks...

However, I must say the characters were very good and the acting was excellent, especially by the supporting cast (i.e the three bikers). Also, an excellent soundtrack! Do these make the film worth watching? Not really. This is one of the very very very few times when I agree with IMDb's rating. Good looking actresses and fine acting can be found in countless other films, and this one simply isn't good (in my opinion of course).

'tough girl' Charlotte is also a bit of a daft twit, who doesn't mind picking up hitchhikers, even falling asleep while allowing him to drive, snoop in her belongings, and take her to an out of the way backwoods diner. When he disappears into the restroom of said diner and never returns, she's hellbent on finding this complete stranger. And that's far from the last mind-blowingly stupid decision she makes. Furthermore, while it was nice to see French horror mainstay, Philippe Nahon playing a local policeman in the movie, it only served to remind me of other more quality horror films. Ones that this movie can't help but fail in comparison to. The creatures are visually striking but that's pretty much it.