Cub (2014)

Directed by: Jonas Govaerts

Country: Belgium

Movie Review: The first scene of the Belgian horror flick, “Cub”, shows a woman in the woods frantically running from a devilish creature that eventually ends up grabbing her by the neck. After stir our curiosity with this premise, “Cub”, directed and co-written by the newcomer Jonas Govaerts, falls in a spiral of brutal scenes where graphical violence is remorselessly spewed at the sound of tense sonorities. Taking into account its genre, this could have been positive if the plot itself along with most of its characters weren't so coarse. Sam, an unquiet 12-year-old kid, spends a weekend in the woods, joining his group of Cub Scouts leaded by three inappreciable adults: the reasonable Chris, the self-indulgent Jasmijn, and the unbalanced bully, Peter. They spread the rumor that a half-human half-beast creature inhabits the forest, being responsible for numerous deaths that led to the closure of an old factory nearby. What was taken as a joke by the rest of the campers, was confirmed by the bullied Sam. He effectively sees this werewolf of the forest, named Kai, and creates a heinous bond with him. Their first victim was Peter’s pit-bull - put into a bag, left hanging from a tree and beaten up to death with sticks. As the story moves forward, we are taken to Kai’s father, a huntsman that takes pleasure in setting up ingenious traps in the woods, causing the death to his passing victims in a variety of atrocious ways. What could have been nice surprises, ended up being disclosed at an early stage, and the film is turned into a contrived mess where we can’t find anything particularly satisfying after digging into it. It’s all depicted with a stirring madness, but ultimately, “Cub” becomes corrupted by its own naivety and inconsistencies.