Whenever we at JustPressPlay review a History Channel feature that isn’t about World War II, we’re kind of taken aback (yes, still) at their deviation from their well-established norm. Yes, the channel has branched out from its “All Hitler, All Stalin, All the Time” regime and has begun to include random specials and shows on other topics. The Universe was still fair game; that is after all the ultimate history course in a way, you can’t find history older anywhere else. However, shows like Monsterquest are a far cry from what the channel should really be allowed to call, in any way, history. The Real Wolfman isn’t a genuine branch of that show, but the concept driving it and the utter failure to divine anything new in its duration make it a despicable lowpoint in HC’s programming. Somewhat timed to coincide with the theatrical release of the new Wolfman film, this little feature attempts to go deep inside history and figure out just what killed all those French peasants in the town of Gevaudan all those years ago.
The answer? Well that’s exactly the problem. Unlike Monsterquest, where there is no answer, this answer, or at least the one the two nitwits in this special ultimately settle on isn’t new or even slightly groundbreaking. What’s even more irritating? There’s an entire film, which covers much if not all of the same theories in this special, with a strong narrative, great action scenes, and well, the exact same answer to the mystery. The other film in question is The Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacte des loups), a well-shot French film from back in 2001. At times the script is laughably bad (at least when translated to English), but the mystery is compelling and the fight scenes memorable.
Okay, there are lots of films that cover the same topic, what’s the big deal?
The Real Wolfman takes its time under the premise that a detective and cryptozoologist from the states are actually bringing something new to this investigation. Was it a church plot? A device to keep the lower-classes in check? What was the monster? Was someone controlling it? The entire time they make it seem like they’re unearthing new clues in Gevaudan; that the dots they’re connecting could only come through the Mulder-like insistence of the nutjob who uses the Chupacabra as proof of the Wolfman’s existence and the Scully-like adherence to the idea that there must be a sensible explanation to the pattern of deaths only makes the special that much more unbearable.
They’re both right. The animal was by no means a normal inhabitant of France’s forests, and the animal’s attacks were anything but random. Thanks for figuring that out guys. What did they figure out? Nothing. Nada. Their theory has long been established and the truth has been known for a good long time. Their insight at the museum in France? Not an insight at all. Just another stop on the Gevaudan Wolfman tour route.
You might be interpreting my ire as someone who went into this unbelieving that they’d have the gall to call this 90-minute farce an “investigation”. However, it was only after finishing it that I had the inclination to watch The Brotherhood of the Wolf, whose plot I faintly remembered to be similar. Yeah, turns out Brotherhood of the Wolf is about this same wolfman and takes place, you guessed it, in Gevaudan. There’s a difference between being ignorant of previous investigations and willfully putting out a film intent on exploiting another studio’s big budget release. Had the couple involved in this search for truth not been an annoying moron (the cryptozoologist) and a fame-hungry detective (because you’d have to be to reinvestigate something everyone already has the answer to), it might have been more bearable. As is, the feature is a 90-minute waste of time. I too think it’s a fascinating subject, but that doesn’t warrant flying two idiots to France to rehash what everyone in that town already knew.
"The Real Wolfman" is on sale March 16, 2010 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Laurie K Miller. Starring Ken Gerhardt, George Deuchar.
