By Adam Ruhl
It seems like it's Canada night for PCB reviews of Fantasia Festival films. I've got two amazing films from north of the border to share with you. Let's take a look!
Wolfcop
dir: Lowell Dean
Canada
runtime: 79 min
He’s a wolf. He’s a cop. He’s Wolfcop! Lou is an alcoholic
small town police officer who’s turned into a werewolf. That sentence alone is
enough to determine if Wolfcop is the movie for you. If it is, keep reading, because
it’s a great fun horror, comedy, gorefest.
Director Lowell Dean takes this goofy premise and plays it up for
maximum gross out effect.
The wolf transformations are startlingly well done. He changes
by way of some good old-school practical effects that recall early 80’s wolf
movies. Even the change itself is over the top; the first time it happens you
will choke with disbelief and perhaps a little revulsion.
The rest of the characters are there to basically service
the wolf gags. A couple of love interests, a conspiracy theorist side kick Willie
(who actually gets some of the best lines), and a town full of unlikely
gangster types round out the cast. There is a robbery gang that dresses up like
pigs in a good tongue in cheek moment. Wolfcop is willing to go where other werewolf movies will not and the result is one of the best monster mashes in years. By the time it descends
into wolf softcore porno you’ll know this is a unique viewing experience you
won’t find anywhere else.
Patch Town
dir: Craig Goodwill
Canada
runtime: 83 min
Patch Town is a fantasy world where babies really do come
from the cabbage patch, and then they are turned into toys and sold off to
little girls. When the girls grow up the toys are stolen back, returned to
human form, and made into factory workers at the toy factory. This is where
former toy Jon and his wife Mary find themselves; unable to have their own
children or choose their own life. Jon has a plan though, he has stolen a child
from the cabbage as his own and is running away with his new family to find his
‘mother’, the human girl that abandoned him as a toy all those years ago.
Patch Town is a wild, whimsical dystopic tale that recalls
films like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, with similarly wildly colorful characters.
It is an adventure and a musical with quite a well written numbers to help
advance the plot. Director Craig Goodwill presents a visual feast, full of lush
setting and beautifully cinematographed sequences. Jon (Ron Ramsay), is a non-traditional
hero who really is the heart of the movie, he’s so charming that you can’t help
but root for him in his quest.
Funny and endearing, Patch Town is great for all ages. Of the Fantasia Festival titles I’ve seen, it’s got some of the
most mainstream appeal.
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