Bullet Points: Brotherhood of the Wolf

I have been talking about my love for Brotherhood of the Wolf far longer than the existence of this website. It checks a lot of boxes for me; historical film, martial arts action, Native American* hero, and a creature that isn’t afraid to kill some people. Everything about it screams “Chad Cruise movie” and it 100% is!

Synopsis: In 18th-century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent to the Gevaudan province at the king’s behest to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.

• Woes of Revolution: The film starts by showing us the narrator nearing the end of his life as the French Revolution is really getting out of hand and dudes are getting their heads lopped off. We don’t know who exactly this fella is yet but he starts going on about Fronsac, Mani and their adventures in the Gevaudan province in France.
• The Beast of Gevaudan: There was actually a real beast which killed approximately 100 people in the Gevaudan region. All accounts suggest it may have been a very pissed off wolf but that sure isn’t the direction they went with this movie. It kills peasants like it’s going out of style and when Fronsac and Mani are finally on the case, the only things they can find about it is that it has some sort of iron teeth. The death scenes are pretty mysterious as to hide the truth of the Beast but we see that it kills women and children indiscriminately and later scenes show us it has a human counterpart running the show.

• Women: There aren’t many women in the film but the two that stand do so for a couple of reasons. Marianne was played by Emilie Dequenne and she becomes the target of Fronsac’s affection. Adorable isn’t the right word to describe her but it’s as good a one as I can think of. Even her brother, Jean-Francois (Vincent Cassel) sees it as he has his creepy sibling vibe going for most of the movie. The incredibly talented Monica Bellucci also adds a great deal to the film as a not-so-common whore that Fronsac spends some time with.
• Fighting is fun: Whenever you question what to put next in your film, just have Mark Dacascos kick some ass. Fronsac and his partner Mani show up to the village and it isn’t five minutes later and they’ve already been in a couple of scrapes. Most of the film is just Mani kicking everyone’s ass and we’re left wondering what kind of skills Fronsac has in his arsenal.

• Hunting the Beast and Monica’s great tits: Multiple times during the film, the soldiers sent by the King and anyone able to carry a rifle make their way into the forest to hunt down that murderous bastard. At the same time, Monica Bellucci has a great pair of tits on her.
• Setting the trap: It’s not easy for Fronsac and Mani out there as everything seems to be working against them. The elites of the region all seem to be cahoots against them and it isn’t until they can pull off some serious Dutch in Predator traps that they finally get some shit accomplished against the Beast. Also, what a sweet ass scene that is. We finally get a payoff of sorts with Mani and the Beast gets some comeuppance for all the folks he killed.

• The Final Showdown: You just know from the moment that Vincent Cassel comes on screen that he is going to be a bad guy. What you don’t know when you start Brotherhood of the Wolf is how can Samuel Le Bihan ever come close to being as cool as Mark Dacascos. Well, in the final 20 minutes or so of the film, he does his best to exceed all expectations and become the kind of badass that would be doing this type of work. I mean, the final bit of film is so damned cool that I don’t want to spoil any of it by telling you just how many people he kills. It’s a big number….

The Verdict: Brotherhood of the Wolf is an absolute awesome viewing experience. The action scenes are top notch and the story is full of all sorts of weird shit that makes it feel unique compared to anything else out there. It also helps that Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos kill it in their roles as investigators of the King of France. The characters they meet along the way help to enhance the story without taking away from how simple it all is. The movie is probably a bit too long for my taste and it feels like the ending lasts an hour but it sure is a remarkable hour! The Beast is deadly as can be but our heroes have some tricks up their sleeves and you can’t go wrong with letting Mark Dacascos roundhouse kick some fools. This has always been a tough one to find but it is definitely worth it.