The first Wolfcop was a refreshingly unique and charmingly lowbrow indie Canadian horror comedy, an instant cult hit that appealed to the midnight movie crowd with a throwback 1980s aesthetic. The sequel, aptly titled Another Wolfcop, delivers on its promise to be more of the same — but is that a good thing?
Another Wolfcop once again follows alcoholic policeman Lou Garou (Leo Fafard) in the sleepy Canadian town of Woodhaven, which he's called on to protect from a conniving businessman, Stanley Swallows (Yannick Bisson). The townspeople rejoice when Swallows vows to reopen the local brewery and grant them their very own hockey team, but all is definitely not what it seems. Will Lou, his partner-turned-chief Tina (Amy Matysio), and his goofball best friend Willie (Jonathan Cherry) save the day before the whole town falls prey to Swallows' nefarious plans?
Gleefully stupid, with fart jokes, dick jokes and boob jokes aplenty, Another Wolfcop is likely to appeal to a certain subset of horror fan that like their jokes raunchy and their gore of the splattering variety. It's creative and well done for its limited budget, and more of a comedy than the original film, but some of the running jokes don't totally land — like the fact that the brewery produces a mysterious substance that causes those who imbibe it to suffer bouts of deathly gas. It's a juvenile joke good for a chuckle, but gets a little old by the time honorary Canadian Kevin Smith, playing the town mayor, falls prey to the drink's ill effects.
There's just such an oversaturation of this type of horror film, particularly in today's post-Stranger Things world. The neon-lit bar showdown, the canted angles, the John Carpenter-esque soundtrack, the over-the-top body horror played for laughs — today's indie horror films use these elements to excess. When the original Wolfcop debuted in 2014, paying homage to the 1980s in genre film was still a novel idea; we're now reaching the point where the material has to be incredibly strong to pull this off without feeling lazy. Even its main antagonist, a black-hearted businessman with diabolical plans to destroy the small town way of life with corporate developments, feels overly familiar.
The film hints at another sequel during its end credits — Wolfcop III will need to pull a few more tricks out of its sleeve if it's going to stand out from the crowd.
(A71)Another Wolfcop once again follows alcoholic policeman Lou Garou (Leo Fafard) in the sleepy Canadian town of Woodhaven, which he's called on to protect from a conniving businessman, Stanley Swallows (Yannick Bisson). The townspeople rejoice when Swallows vows to reopen the local brewery and grant them their very own hockey team, but all is definitely not what it seems. Will Lou, his partner-turned-chief Tina (Amy Matysio), and his goofball best friend Willie (Jonathan Cherry) save the day before the whole town falls prey to Swallows' nefarious plans?
Gleefully stupid, with fart jokes, dick jokes and boob jokes aplenty, Another Wolfcop is likely to appeal to a certain subset of horror fan that like their jokes raunchy and their gore of the splattering variety. It's creative and well done for its limited budget, and more of a comedy than the original film, but some of the running jokes don't totally land — like the fact that the brewery produces a mysterious substance that causes those who imbibe it to suffer bouts of deathly gas. It's a juvenile joke good for a chuckle, but gets a little old by the time honorary Canadian Kevin Smith, playing the town mayor, falls prey to the drink's ill effects.
There's just such an oversaturation of this type of horror film, particularly in today's post-Stranger Things world. The neon-lit bar showdown, the canted angles, the John Carpenter-esque soundtrack, the over-the-top body horror played for laughs — today's indie horror films use these elements to excess. When the original Wolfcop debuted in 2014, paying homage to the 1980s in genre film was still a novel idea; we're now reaching the point where the material has to be incredibly strong to pull this off without feeling lazy. Even its main antagonist, a black-hearted businessman with diabolical plans to destroy the small town way of life with corporate developments, feels overly familiar.
The film hints at another sequel during its end credits — Wolfcop III will need to pull a few more tricks out of its sleeve if it's going to stand out from the crowd.
