Tis the season – Brotherhood of the Wolf – Le Pacte des Loupes

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“The Brotherhood of the Wolf” plays like an explosion at the genre factory. When the smoke clears, a rough beast lurches forth, its parts cobbled together from a dozen movies. The film involves quasi-werewolves, French aristocrats, secret societies, Iroquois Indians, martial arts, occult ceremonies, sacred mushrooms, swashbuckling, incestuous longings, political subversion, animal spirits, slasher scenes and bordellos, and although it does not end with the words “based on a true story,” it is.

via The Brotherhood Of The Wolf Movie Review (2002) | Roger Ebert.

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16 Comments

    • October 24, 2013

      Me too! A slightly horrific fairytale from left field…

  1. October 23, 2013

    I better look for this! Put me down for quasi-werewolves (whatever they are), aristocrats (if they are villains), Iroquois warriors, secret societies – oh heck, I’ll just take the whole sampler. Thanks for the info.

    • October 24, 2013

      Okay Mr. Archetype, prepare to have some frolic with paradigms… I think you will REALLY enjoy it.

  2. October 23, 2013

    LOVELOVELOVE this movie. Check in all reason at the door, settle down and enjoy a truly madcap ride!

    It also features what must be the…happiest brothel I’ve ever seen, and what must be the finest kill I’ve ever seen (a fan as a weapon? count me in!)

    • October 24, 2013

      It truly is Halloween eye candy – I LOVED it too!

  3. George Kaplan
    October 25, 2013

    I’ve known about Brotherhood of the Wolf (great title) for years but now I really want to see it! Thanks Vickie!
    Apropos of nothing, have you ever seen Donnie Darko (original theatrical cut)? I LOVE that movie: stunning use of sound, cinematography, and editing, a bewitching blend of Love, time travel, paradoxes, mental illness, dark humour, pain, creepy high school choreography, hypocrisy, Strangeness and Beauty. The use of music is stunning too. The Killing Moon (Echo and the Bunnymen), Under the Milky Way (The Church), and Head Over Heels (Tears For Fears) have never sounded so good, but the killer is a cover of Mad World used in a context that tears my heart out EVERY TIME. Not only that, but the cast, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Beth Grant, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Katherine Ross etc. is eclectic and rarely better. An off-kilter film for Halloween that actually *takes place* partly on Halloween! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…you’ll say “what was that?!” I adore it. Ahem. Could you tell?!

    • October 26, 2013

      Have I seen Donnie Darko??? Mais bien sûr! Is it fabulous? Oui. Did it pre-date Jake’s nose job? Most certainly. 😉

  4. October 26, 2013

    I liked the film very much.Just by kind of thing in fact.Yes George great title.

    • October 26, 2013

      Brotherhood and Donnie – both riveting, both appropriately scary for this time of year, and both fantastical in concept… Right up your alley 🙂 .

      • October 26, 2013

        Vickie,Yes loved Brotherhood of the Wolf.I have seen Donnie when very tired and did not have much of a reaction to it to be truthful.I have some substantial time off work now so might try again.

      • October 27, 2013

        Enjoy your time off — and thank you for the marvelous Halloween stories!

      • October 27, 2013

        Vickie,yes I will.Apart from family matters I have four or five stories to complete.

  5. October 26, 2013

    it`s an ambiguous martial arts, French pre-revolutionary drama, with wigs, Satanic secret societies run by werewolves, scantily clad peasant maidens, creepy, dodgy aristos chanting to Beelzebub in dank, draughty castle cellars, and it`s a fantastical, exhilarating, energizing, amphetamine fueled stylish period thriller. What more do you need. it`s John Woo meets Laclos. great stuff.

    • October 26, 2013

      “John Woo meets Laclos.” Very nicely put!

  6. November 8, 2014

    Oh, haven’t seen this! Must put it on my list! I scent delicious man meat…

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