Director Lowell Dean’s indie horror actioner “Wolfcop” is probably one of my favorite superhero movies of the year. While it’s a loving tribute to horror schlock, it’s also an unabashed superhero movie filled with mythos, a bonafide origin, and even a customized vehicle that our titular wolf cop travels around to maul bad guys in. You’d think wolf puns and a Dirty Harry-esque vigilante with claws would be a complete and utter misfire, but director Dean embraces his premise and offers up a great horror action comedy.
There’s just so much more here than a simple wolf cop. Leo Fafard plays Lou, a small town officer with a major alcohol problem who wiles his days away at the local pub, while crime runs rampant in his town. A local meth dealer is attempting to rule over the town with his coordinated robberies, as a local politician begins campaigning for more law in a place where police are short handed. After being called out to interrupt a weird ritual, Lou is knocked unconscious and awakens to discover that he’s undergone some unusual changes overnight. Much to his horror, Lou realizes that he’s been cursed with lycanthropy and, during a full moon, changes in to a horrific werewolf.
This interferes with the local gang syndicate’s plans to snuff out any and all politicians and police officers seeking to uphold the law. “Wolfcop” garners a very admirable sense of humor about itself, reveling in its gimmicky title and premise, while also delivering on some great action. For a movie that’s considerably low budget, director Dean stages some excellent transformation sequences that give Wolfcop a unique appearance. Director Dean opts for the anthropomorphic werewolf in the vein of Lon Chaney, giving his beast a consciousness and developing an anti-hero that I definitely wanted to see more of.
At a slim eighty minutes, “Wolfcop” unfolds a unique narrative about shape shifters, a legacy of werewolves, and a small town’s secrets that indicate Lou’s sudden transformation and wolf-like urges may not entirely be accidental. Director Dean shows great restraint with his character, unleashing him in proper turns in the narrative where he goes full beast, and begins striking down crime left and right, including a trio of armed robbers named the piggies. Fafard’s performance, matched the with the tongue in cheek humor, and thick mythology make “Wolfcop” fantastic cult fodder worthy of a loyal fan base, and I hope we get to see him kick ass again very soon. Perhaps–Wolfcop in the big city?