The Pack - DVD

Movie: On a drive through the French wastelands, young Charlotte (Emilie Dequenne) meets hitchhiker Max (Benjamin Biolay), from whom she hopes for some entertainment but also some protection from a motorcycle gang pursuing her. When the two stop at a secluded inn, Max briefly takes his leave to go to the bathroom - but he doesn't return. Charlotte is worried, but the search for her companion remains unsuccessful. Worse still, the innkeeper (Yolande Moreau) knocks the young woman out and she wakes up in a cage, tied to a strange contraption. For Charlotte, this begins a horror trip that soon takes a terrifying turn.

With The Pack, director Franck Richard has delivered an extremely odd horror mix. The film starts off like your typical Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style hillbilly horror, then briefly slips into SAW territory, only to take a whole new turn. Especially the last twist, which transports the movie more into the realm of fantasy horror, is likely to divide opinions. But exactly the seemingly absurd mixture, filled with partly very strange dialogues, makes The Pack stand out from the crowd and provides a little breath of fresh air in the horror genre.

The actors can also convince. Emilie Dequenne (Pact of the Wolves, The Lighthouse Keeper's Wife) and Yolande Moreau (Séraphine, Micmacs), who breaks from her previous choice of roles with obvious relish, make the absurd proceedings worth watching even in its weaker moments. There are also some well-executed shock moments and gory interludes. However, the film had to endure some cuts for its 18 rating. This is annoying, but it must be said that these cuts were at least quite neatly executed, so that they are only partly noticeable. True fans, however, will of course reach for the uncut rental version!

The French horror film has repeatedly enriched the genre with some great contributions in recent years. With films like High Tension it can not take The Pack, but the good actors, the atmospheric images and the surprisingly absurd staging make the film for fans of the genre, who like to go on slightly more unusual paths, well worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The gloomy-dirty atmosphere of the film is well transported to the screen by the coherent color scheme. The sharpness could be much better, especially in the numerous dark sequences, but overall the whole is quite on a good level. The sound in the French original seems a bit more harmonious, while in the German soundtrack the dialogues are louder, but also mixed more front-heavy. However, the well-used sound effects and atmospheric ambient sounds provide here and there for pleasant goosebumps feeling. Good!

Extras: In addition to the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider, the DVD still has a nearly 40-minute making of with optional German subtitles to offer. In addition to the typical interviews filled with mutual praise, this documentary worth watching also shows, among other things, how a wayward horse held up the entire production or how a hut that looks very run-down in the film was built with great attention to detail on a location that is difficult to access. In addition, it becomes clear in a very interesting way how different the age ratings are in France and Germany. So director Franck Richard is very surprised that his film, which was released in Germany only shortened from 18 years, has received the unexpectedly high rating from 16 in his home country, where he had expected a much lower release.

Conclusion: The Pack is a somewhat odd horror thriller that turns out to be a mix of hillbilly torture horror and monster movie, which works very well in places, but sometimes only to a limited extent. The technical realization of the DVD is appropriate for the atmosphere of the film, the bonus material is not rich, but well worth watching. For friends of the somewhat absurd horror also in the shortened 18 version quite worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp