Werewolves shooting guns. Who would have known that such a simple concept could be so great? It's one of those things that I didn't even realize I was missing from my life until it presented itself to me in Wolfcop. I guess I'm pretty easy to please. Unsurprisingly, Wolfcop is a pretty ridiculous movie that doesn't really reach for anything beyond the mashup promised in the title. Not that you'd expect it to. But it's made with enough care and has a goofy enough sense of humor to be a winner in my book. Also, it's the perfect length - Wolfcop knows what it is and doesn't overstay its welcome at a scant seventy-some minutes.
Our titular wolfcop is Lou Garou (Leo Fafard). Garou starts out as drunkcop - as in the kind with a permanent five o'clock shadow who brings a fifth with him everywhere he goes and unabashedly drinks from it at crime scenes. The small town police force he's a part of (a captain, Garou, and the overachieving Tina) are getting geared up for the annual "drink n' shoot." This event sees the townies get wasted and go hunting for a regional mythical beast out in the woods. Sounds safe, right? But there have been a series of vicious crimes lately, culminating in the murder (staged as an overdose) of a local politician. But when Garou goes to investigate another potential crime out in the woods, he runs afoul of some satan-worshipping folk, and blacks out. When he awakens, he has a heightened sense of smell and hazy memories of a bloody (and hairy) evening the night before.
Not all that surprisingly, he's been turned into a werewolf (nights only). But it has the unintended side effect of making him a better cop. Not only does his lycanthropy make him unleash his aggression on the local criminal element, he's also motivated to figure out just what happened to him, and why.
Also, he's a werewolf that shoots guns.
You pretty much know from the title if Wolfcop is going to be for you. It's got a goofy tone and isn't too concerned with developing it's characters or anything. The story is actually better than it needs to be, but again, it's not the film's strong suit. If you are looking for nuanced, realistic characters or a well-told story, Wolfcop may not be for you. But if you want to see a werewolf in a cop outfit tear off a guy's face, check it out! (It's a pretty good effect.)
Wolfcop delivers the goods horror-wise. The gore is solid (other than the occasional CGI splatter) and the transformation is well done and mostly practical. And even though it's a relatively low budget film (south of one-million), the transformed wolfman looks decent. It's a little cheesy, but the story demands that he's able to move around (and shoot guns!) a lot, so it's easy to understand that he's more man- and less wolf-like. The bluish color spun me for a loop at first, but after awhile the whole look/vibe won me over. There's some other satanism/shape-shifter business in there too that is pretty fun. But Wolfcop is more horror/action-comedy than anything, and never really tries to create tension or anything like that. It's pretty much just shooting for a fun vibe, and it succeeds in that respect.
Wolfcop is a capably made film - none of the filmmaking techniques are going to blow you away, but it's a solid effort from writer/director Lowell Dean. There are some cheesy bits here and there (the wolfman sex scene is particularly groan-worthy), but it seems pretty obvious that the film is in on the joke. From an acting standpoint it's pretty good as well. Leo Fafard is the titular wolfcop - it's not a dramatically demanding role (although it may have been demanding to be in the makeup chair for hours on end), but he can pull off both the hungover/dejected guy and the angry wolfman with equal believability. As much as a wolfman can be believable, I guess. But my favorite character was Willie Higgins, played by Jonathan Cherry... he's this kind of hickish townie conspiracy theorist who thinks he's discovered the occult connections to Lou Garou's predicament - and for a while, the film plays like a buddy action film between the two. They have good chemistry, and Higgins is easily the most comedic character in the film. Higgins has an energetic way of delivering his lines and good comic timing, and is fun pretty much whenever he's onscreen.
So Wolfcop is a pretty good time, provided you are looking for ridiculous horror-comedy. If you are the type to sneer at low-concept mashups, Wolfcop won't win you over. But it's just plain fun, and doesn't have any pretensions about being anything else. Plus, its got a werewolf shooting guns!
I would recommend this film.
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