The Pack (2010)

As backwoods horror films go this isn't great. Gaping holes in consistency, some nonsensical behaviour, and some low level moments are found in this film.Benjamin Biolay seems to pose more than act, suggesting perhaps he should stick to singing and beautiful women. The award winning Emilie Duquenne is introduced driving whilst nodding to music. She looks so uncomfortable doing so that this sequence almost signals that the film to follow is not going to exactly be top notch. And it does turn out a bit of an amateur affair. It is possible to see how this would have been a first class movie if they had spent more time on the editing and generally reworking the script, and recast.There are some better aspects as it does feel like the auteur is a lover of this genre. Yolande Moreau fills the screen and creates most of the madness. Some of the lines from the generally entertaining dialogue are great. The music and soundtrack is excellent and well chosen. A surprisingly weedy Matthias Schoenaerts looks hilarious in his brief cameo as a goth.A mediocre production that seems to have some good ideas and love behind it, and the film does provide some decent moments and Yolande Moreau.

LOL! I have to laugh at the many silly plot holes this movie suffers from, but I will give it points for grizzly humor and a chilling atmosphere. I spent most of the movie questioning why the characters were doing the stupid things they were doing, but what would a horror movie be without a lot of characters doing stupid things that put them within the grasp of some inconceivable horror along the way? The story situations are preposterous, disjointed, and inexplicable for the most part, but there is a serious creepy factor to the film over-all that almost makes it worthwhile (but not entirely). All-in-all, this film has a decent creep-out factor. Also, there is a great joke told by the film's main protagonist in the initial tavern scene.

But then again we would have missed out on a very suspenseful and very good beginning of this movie. But somewhere after one third of the movie it changes gears drastically ... and unfortunately it looses almost all of its drive. Movies that change "lanes" or "gears" are not uncommon (the original From Dusk til Dawn being the most recognizable), but in this instance it just does not work in favor of the movie.It should have stayed with the humor and pace it established at the beginning instead of trying to experiment too much. Sometimes a few glimpses of that shine through in the latter part of the movie. Still not enough to make this worth-while and a very disappointing ending concludes the whole thing. A shame then, but maybe the director can and will come up with something better next time around.

I wonder whether the script for this one was complete before filming began or whether they just made things up as they went along. The film is a tonal mish-mash, falling into three distinct segments of notably varying seriousness, starting as a coarsely comic affair it then moves into dark "woman in peril" territory, ending in the realms of loopy siege horror. Fortunately things are underpinned by a fine lead, inspired villain and constant dark ambiance that is rather chilling at times. We follow the attractive young Charlotte Massot, driving across France when she picks up a long-haired hitcher. Stopping off at a roadside restaurant they narrowly miss getting raped before Charlottes new friend goes missing and things get worse from here. The film combines numerous backwoods horror tropes into one tasty brew, geographic isolation and cultural isolation with all character bar the heroine being rather strange, threat of being raped, threat of being eaten, broad characters and wonky dialogue, all dealt out with mania that never winks at the audience, no matter what the cliché. Handy performances give this one a big leg up, Emilie Duquenne is a delightful lead, tough but convincingly frayed when things get nasty, and affectingly traumatised when her ordeal gets nasty. Eric Godon gives suitably greased up and shifty vibes as the hitchhiker, while Philip Nahon plays things broad as a dirty minded cop. Highest marks go to Yolande Moreau as physically imposing, fearsomely tough restaurant owner La Spack, homely looks and unwieldy size hiding creepy malevolence and impressive vigor. Director Franck Richard largely plays things unflashy but has some imaginative flair, the film is focused less on action or big setpieces than mood, with plenty of time spent highlighting the grim and grimy art direction, bleak surroundings and atmospheric outdoor conditions. Some gore, though the gore scenes are around just long enough to be appreciable rather than dwelt on. Score and sound design brood, erupting in industrial pounding when events really hot up, a good complement to the visuals. Tighter handling would have helped this one, also some better dialogue but altogether I had a great time. Well worth a look for loopy backwoods/hicksploitation horror enthusiasts.