Director: Philippe Gagnon
Screenplay: Stéphane J. Bureau, Pierre Daudelin
Producer: Real Chabot
Starring: Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Mirianne Brulé, Viviane Audet, Gilles Renaud
MPAA Rating: 14A
Running time: 100 min.

(3.5/5)

New France. 1665. Joseph Côté is on the run from colonial soldiers after escaping a public hanging in Quebec for being a womanizer and getting it on with the wrong lady. In his escape through the countryside, he comes upon a dead body and with what he finds there, turns himself into a Jesuit priest. He comes upon Seigneurie de Beaufort where he discovers a group of men who are waiting for their future wives to arrive from France. Dressed in priest’s robes, the men welcome Côté with respect and regale him with tales of Father Brind’amour, the werewolf hunter. At first unconvinced, Côté discovers, first hand, that the men aren’t lying and when night falls, the small township is overrun by werewolves.

The set-up for Philippe Gagnon’s The Hair of the Beast suggests that this is a horror film alas, fans looking for genre goodness will be greatly disappointed as Gagnon’s film keeps the wolf action at bay and when it does make a full fledged appearance towards the end of the film, the creature is of great disappointment (largely due to the budgetary constraints). It’s clear to see why Gagnon’s film incorporates the creature as it adds a dimension to the story however, it’s not necessary as for the most part, Stéphane J. Bureau and Pierre Daudelin’s scrip is an effective period piece that provides a good look at life in 17th century New France.

Though The Hair of the Beast makes good use of the supernatural aspect, keeping it mostly at bay and building tension by holding the idea of a beast at a distance, when it enters thriller mode, the film loses step and the results are mostly disappointing. Though the first beast attack as Côté and the men sit around the fire is exciting, the rest of the beasts appearances leave a lot to be desired.

The performances here from a collection of well recognized French Canadian actors is a nice bonus. Even with a bad wig Gilles Renaud is a formidable nobleman and mastermind whose path one doesn’t want to cross. Côté’s love interest Sophie is wonderfully brought to life by Mirianne Brulé who creates a character that is strong willed and largely unafraid and then there’s Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge in the role of Côté, the sweet talking womanizer who sweeps in and saves the day.

Whether its period accurate is beyond me but it is wonderful to see a period picture set in the Great White North and though it doesn’t focus much on the day to day activities of frontier living, there’s enough insight to keep the film interesting. Also a surprise is the amount of comedy peppered throughout, a nice reprieve from the run-of-the-mill thriller.

Sometimes confused as to what it wants to be, The Hair of the Beast manages to be better than the sum of its parts and Gagnon delivers an entertaining period thriller well deserving of a rental.

The Hair of the Beast is available on DVD and Blu-ray on January 25th.

DVD Extras: The film includes a making of documentary. Sadly, this feature is only available in French.