The year is 1754. The place - Gevaudan - a remote region in Southern France where superstition reigns supreme. A young woman is stalked, attacked, and left to feed the wolves by a beast of enormous speed, size, and strength. An old man and his wretched daughter are accused of theft and witchcraft and hunted down by the local villagers in a torrential downpour. Two cloaked figures on horseback reveal themselves on the crest of the hill. Their eyes peer through the high collars that conceal the rest of their faces like the figure of death in an "Amadeus" poster. With the prolonged precision of a Sergio Leone western they stride toward the hunters. They halt. The more imposing figure of the two dismounts. He seeks the nature of the villagers’ grievance and sides with their victims. He stands his ground meting out justice with the swiftness of a jackal and the skill of Bruce Lee. Its not long before he makes Kung Fuey out them using the rain and terrain in his favor like one of Akira Kurosawa’s "Seven Samurai" in that movie’s famous finale. These are just a few of the more surprising element s that set "Brotherhood of the Wolf" apart from the pulp cinema of Europe with its unwieldy mix of horror, suspense, mystery, and camp.

Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos play the mysterious strangers, a naturist and his Iroquois sidekick, hired by the King to find the beast and bring peace to the far corner of his kingdom. Like Sherlock Holmes and his trusty Dr. Watson in "Hound of the Baskervilles," they plumb every nook, cranny, and cave gathering clues to find the source of the attacks. The sidekick relies on some good old ancestral American Indian mysticism and more martial arts to survive in hostile territory, while our hero finds himself a brothel of spies and Monica Belluci to supply some soft core fantasy. A mysterious one armed aristocrat and a cover-up by the throne become obstacles to the investigation and the consummation of true love.

"Brotherhood of the Wolf" is loosely based on an incident during the reign of Louis XV when sparks of revolution first began to kindle, but director Christophe Gans uses modern cinema as his frame of reference with a dose of Sergio Leone here, and Sherlock Holms there with his methodology of scientific inquiry. Gans’ major villain (no names - it would give too much away) even has an affliction, physical and psychological that dates back to the Lon Chaney (Sr.)/Todd Browning collaborations in the silent era. At least Gans knows how to steal from the best. It somehow all works thanks to imaginative pacing - at least for the first three quarters - and the sheer conviction of the actors.

Copyright 2002

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1939) - This, the first of fourteen entries with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, is the most cited version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic. Holmes is recruited to solve the mysterious deaths in the moors of the Baskerville estate. Also with Richard Greene and Lionel Atwill.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959) - Great atmospheric production from England’s Hammer films with Peter Cushing as the intrepid Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. Directed by Terence Fisher.

Some film references in "Brotherhood of the Wolf" can be traced to these two films.

"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) - The Sergio Leone western classic with Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale and Henry Fonda. A boy grows up seeking revenge for the murder of his father and finds it defending a woman targeted by the killers. Its operatic style. Leone’s operatic style is the thing here.

"The Seven Samurai" (1954) - Dir. Akira Kurasawa. The big fight in monsoon rain in the movie’s finale is a one of a kind battle whose influence can be see in the duel between the hero and the villagers.

"Enter the Dragon" (1973) - Any Bruce Lee or Hong Kong action film with martial arts would suffice but this one has a hidden fortress akin to the hideaway of a secret society in "Brotherhood of the Wolf."

"The Unknown" (1927) - Dir. Todd Browing with Lon Chaney (Sr.) and Joan Crawford.

Lon is a sideshow freak with a dark secret. His affliction is used as a plot element in Gans film.