The Night of the Wolves - DVD

Movie: Quebec in 1665: petty crook Joseph Côté (Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge) is supposed to be hanged for a few minor offenses - most notably, getting involved with the wrong man's wife. But with a ruse, Joseph manages to escape and hides out in the lordship of Seigneur de Beaufort (Gilles Renaud). He is mistaken by the residents there for a recently murdered Jesuit priest who became a legend when he won a battle against a werewolf years ago and has since roamed the country as a werewolf hunter. And as this very priest, Joseph is then gleefully welcomed by the villagers, as werewolves have been rumored to be roaming the area again for some time. When he actually seems to get caught in a werewolf attack one night and returns injured, everyone believes that he too will now become a werewolf and wants to make him harmless before it comes to that. But as Joseph suspects that the truth is quite different and that young Marie Labotte (Viviane Audet), to whom he has lost his heart, is in grave danger, he must once again escape from captivity and actually become a werewolf hunter - easier said than done.

The Canadian fantasy-historical thriller The Night of the Wolves is a somewhat uneven mix of horror film, historical thriller, comedy, romance and fantasy film. The fact that this mix only works to a certain extent may be due to the fact that the fantasy or horror aspect, which is supposed to be the focus of a werewolf movie, is rather lacking and thus the audience's expectations might be disappointed. Otherwise, however, the genre mix is an absolutely entertaining work, in which especially the camera work and the equipment, but in most moments also the actors can convince.

The atmospheric images, but especially the landscape shots taken in Canada, and the loving decor ensure that the viewer can easily lose himself in the story. The humor, which seems to be a bit forced, can only convince to a certain extent, but this can only change a little bit that the story itself is quite exciting.

The werewolf effects, if they are ever to be seen, are kept rather simple and will certainly not win any special effects Oscar. But somehow they fit into the slightly weird overall picture and only marginally spoil the fun of the film. If you're looking for real werewolf action, you'll probably be rather disappointed by The Night of the Wolves. But if you appreciate simple historical entertainment with humor and a touch of fantasy, you will definitely have fun here. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: In terms of technology, there is really nothing to complain about here. The picture is very clean, the color scheme atmospheric to the story and the beautiful images come thanks to the good overall sharpness, which also knows how to convince in the many dark moments, well. The audio is rather subdued for long stretches, but in many a scene, atmospheric ambient sounds and good surround effects create a very exciting sound atmosphere. Good.

Extras: Apart from the trailer and program tips from the provider, there are unfortunately no extras to the film.

Conclusion: The Night of the Wolves is an entertaining mix of fantasy, adventure, romance and comedy, spiced up with a tiny bit of horror. While this mix does seem a little half-baked at times, the good set, atmospheric visuals and convincing cast certainly make up for these shortcomings. With a little more werewolves this home cinema premiere could have convinced for good. So the whole thing remains entertaining entertainment for friends of historical fantasy films, which will certainly see thanks to the good technical implementation over the missing bonus material. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp