Cub (film)

Cub (original title: Welp) is a 2014 Belgian horror film and the feature film directorial debut of Jonas Govaerts. Funds for Cub were partially raised through an IndieGoGo campaign and the film had its world premiere on 10 September 2014 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[1] Filming took place during 2013 and stars Maurice Luijten as Sam, a young boy who goes on a camping trip with his fellow Cub Scouts, only to fall afoul of a bloodthirsty poacher.[2]

Cub
English language film poster
Directed byJonas Govaerts
Written byJonas Govaerts
Roel Mondelaers
Produced byPeter De Maegd
StarringStef Aerts
Evelien Bosmans
Titus De Voogdt
CinematographyNicolas Karakatsanis
Edited byMaarten Janssens
Music bySteve Moore
Production
company
Potemkino
Distributed byKinepolis (Belgium)
Kinology
Release dates
  • September 10, 2014 (2014-09-10) (TIFF)
  • October 19, 2014 (2014-10-19) (Belgium)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryBelgium
LanguageDutch

Story

Sam (Maurice Luijten) is a twelve-year-old Cub Scout who is frequently bullied by fellow Scouts and pack leader Peter (Stef Aerts). Fellow pack leader Kris (Titus De Voodgt) and chef Jasmijn (Evelien Bosmans) try to keep Peter and the others from dominating Sam, but are not always successful. When some of the pack's bullying causes them to lose their way in the mountains during a trip, Peter and Kris try to keep things light by telling the campers a campfire story about Kai, a werewolf thought to be living in that very forest. Soon after, Sam runs into a feral boy (Gill Eeckelaert) that he believes to be the actual Kai. He tries to tell the others, but is ridiculed for actually believing in the stories and even Kris chalks it up to Sam's overactive imagination. However what they are unaware of is that Kai is the son of a nameless poacher (Jan Hammenecker), who has liberally seeded the forest with various elaborate and deadly traps. Rather than caring that the campers would get caught in the traps, the father and son delight in the idea and soon the campers find themselves running for their lives.

Cast
  • Stef Aerts as Peter
  • Evelien Bosmans as Jasmijn
  • Titus De Voogdt as Kris
  • Maurice Luijten as Sam
  • Gill Eeckelaert as Kai
  • Jan Hammenecker as Stroper/Poacher

Reception

Critical reception for Cub has been mixed,[3] and the Belgian motion picture rating board received some criticism for giving the movie an "all ages" rating.[4] The Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen, the Flemish Boy Scouts organization, issued a statement where they condemned the "all ages" rating and cautioned parents to not allow their children to view the film.[5] The film's producers also expressed surprise at the rating and stated that they would not recommend Cub be viewed by anyone under the age of 14.[4]

English language reviewers have written predominantly positive reviews for Cub,[6] and Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting both praised it for its characters while stating that the film did have some weaknesses in its later half.[7][8] Variety gave a mostly positive review, commenting that they would have liked to have seen more character building for the characters of the poacher, his son, and Sam but that Karakatsanis’ overall filming technique was impressive.[9]

Awards

References
  1. "CUB the Movie". IndieGoGo. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  2. Brown, Todd. "Check A Trio Of Amazing Stills From Jonas Govaert's Belgian Slasher CUB". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  3. "Welp (Cub)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. TLB (15 October 2014). "Scouts waarschuwen jonge leden voor horrorfilm 'Welp'" [Scouts warn young members about horror movie 'Cub'] (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. Van Reusel, Jan. "Welp niet voor welpjes" [Cub not for Cubs] (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  6. Brown, Phil. ""CUB" (TIFF Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. "[Fantastic Fest '14 Review] 'Cub' Is Kinetic, Brutal and Graphic!". Bloody Disgusting. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. Whitney, Serena (20 September 2014). "Cub (review)". Dread Central. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  9. Harvey, Dennis (14 September 2014). "Toronto Film Review: 'Cub'". Variety. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  10. "'I Origins' Wins Best Pic at Sitges Festival". Variety. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
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