The body count has reached three figures and the people are afraid, very afraid.Įnter Gr»goire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a scientist, naturalist and all-round Man of Enlightenment who is sent to deal with the problem by Louis XV.Īlong with his monosyllabic Iroquois pal Manu (Marc Dacascos) he begins the investigation after a skirmish or two with local bad boys, during which Manu's supernatural skills in hand-to-hand/foot-in-mouth combat are amply demonstrated.īefore long he is embroiled in a local conspiracy that reaches right into the heart of the aristocracy and the Catholic Church, a putative love affair with the local aristo's sister and proto-feminist Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), and a side order of sex with the drop-deadly courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). In the Gevaudan region of France around 1766, a mysterious beast terrorises the inhabitants by dining on them from time to time. The heady, operatic imagery overwhelms the confusing story that plays out like a Wagnerian version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. How you react is entirely down to your capacity for eye-popping cinematic tricks, sumptuous costumes (carnivale romantique crossed with rock 'n' roll decadence) and the general air of all-or-nothing pot pourri that give similar escapist entertainments like A Knight's Tale or Moulin Rouge a run for their money.
Christophe Gans's movie is a kind of all-purpose, multi-genre blockbuster that collides Tim Burtonish Hammer histrionics with Matrix-style combat and tricks it out with Baz Lurhmann anachronisms.Ĭonsider a few random elements: a native American w ho fights like a Hong Kong martial artist a mutant creature that terrorises the inhabitants of an 18th century region in southern France a secret society that trades off religious idolatry and the muddied mythology of new-era comic books.īased on an apparently true account, the tale is embellished beyond comprehension by the wildfire imagination of screenwriter St»phane Cabel.
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