WolfCop (2015) Review

Starring: Leo Fafard, Amy Matysio, Sarah Lind, Corinne Conley, Jesse Moss, Jonathan Cherry, Aidan Devine

Director: Lowell Dean

Writer: Lowell Dean

Running time: 79 minutes

Rated: Not rated (contains adult language, graphic violence, sexual situations, nudity)

Reviewed by Michael Juvinall – Horror Society

WolfCop is available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Video on March 10, 2015 from Image Entertainement

The horror/comedy WolfCop from writer & director Lowell Dean (13 Eerie) took a much different path getting made than most other films do. The filmmakers made a movie trailer first, before they shot the entire film in order to use to sell the picture. After they had a trailer, Dean and his producers entered WolfCop into the Canadian Cinecoup Film Accelerator contest. For this competition, all you needed was a trailer, which they already had to compete against hundreds of other Canadian filmmakers for the chance to win $1 million dollars towards the production of your film and the opportunity to have the filmed shown in Cineplex theaters throughout Canada. Armed with a totally unique film concept and the unrelenting drive of a core group of filmmakers, WolfCop shredded the competition at Cinecoup and eventually won the million dollar prize.

Lowell Dean and his crew took that prize money and shot WolfCop during the next several months. The film then premiered to great acclaim in Canadian theaters during the summer of 2014 and now the film hits home video in the U.S. on March 10^th. It’s a great story for a great film and nobody deserves the accolades more than Lowell Dean and his crew.

WolfCop tells the story of small town alcoholic cop Lou Garou (Leo Fafard) who only likes one thing as much as booze, and that’s women. Lou is no stranger to going on a bender and waking up in strange places, but one night while on a call in the woods outside of town, Lou blacks out only to awaken the next morning feeling completely different. He soon realizes that he IS different. He can hear things he never could before, his eyesight is much better, and his sense of smell is out of this world. Lou also discovers there is a pentagram carved into his chest! Lou soon realizes that he has been cursed and on the next full moon he transforms into a werewolf.

Rather than fight his new affliction, Lou embraces it. He uses his newly acquired werewolf strength to fight crime, as WolfCop. When a series of supernatural occurrences begin to happen, Lou, along with his partner Tina (Amy Matysio) must work together to investigate what is happening to their town before it’s too late.

WolfCop has to be one of the most fun films I’ve watched in a long time. While admittedly, it’s not the best film out there, it truly epitomizes what a cult film should be and WolfCop is destined to become a cult horror film for the ages. The concept alone of a werewolf cop fighting crime is enough to sell the film and that’s really all it needed to become an award winning film.

Dean has made the film in a retro 1980’s style that’s done right for a change. There are so many inside werewolf jokes in the film that I actually lost count while watching. You’ll have to keep a sharp eye out if you want to catch them all.

One of the best things about the film is the practical werewolf effects by special makeup artist Emersen Ziffle. I’m so glad that Dean decided to go old school and use Ziffle to create the WolfCop creature effects for the film as they truly are impressive.

The acting in WolfCop is top notch as everyone does a fantastic job in their roles. Leo Fafard is awesome as the alcoholic Lou Garou and really does a great job of making the audience empathize for his character. He’s not a great guy and he has a lot of problems but I think that people will be able to relate to his everyman, down to earth persona. Amy Matysio also pulls in a great performance as Lou’s partner Tina. There also is a hint of a relationship developing between the two towards the end of the film. Sarah Lind is hot in her role as the sexy bartender Jessica with a dark secret that Lou/WolfCop falls for.

Not everything in WolfCop comes up smelling like roses. There is a story arc that didn’t really work for me, but I won’t spoil what it is. Luckily, it didn’t ruin the main premise of the movie and there is so much to like about the film. There are a couple of scenes in the film that will have people laughing out loud and talking about the film long after it’s over. The inter-species sex scene with WolfCop and the sexy Sarah Lind in a jail cell is so outrageous that it has to be seen firsthand.

So if you’re a fan of the werewolf film sub-genre like I am or just looking for one of the coolest and most fun films you’ll watch all year long then you have to give WolfCop a go, and remember as the theatrical poster says, “He’s Dirty Harry…only hairier.” It’s also no secret that the producers have given a WolfCop sequel the green light so we have that to look forward to in the near future. Check this one out for sure!