CUB (2014)

 

(a.k.a. WELP; director/co-screenwriter: Jonas Govaerts. Co-screenwriter: Roel Mondelaers.)

Review

In this above-average Dutch/Flemish film, a boy scout troop, shepherded by two scout masters (Kris and Peter) and one of the scoutmasters’ girlfriends (Jasmijn, played by Evelien Bosmans), head into the woods for a weekend trip. When the site they’d reserved, located near a town (Casselroque, an homage Stephen King’s fictional Castle Rock), is made unavailable because of two go-kart-riding thugs (Marc and Vincent), the scout troop goes deeper into the forest.

One of the scouts is a twelve-year-old boy named Sam with a “traumatic and violent past.” Peter, Jasmijn’s boyfriend, and a sadistic scoutmaster with vicious bull terrier (Zoltan), mocks Sam. Peter is not the only threat to Sam; there’s also two bullies, enabled by Peter’s attitude, who pick on Sam.

Watching all this from within the darkness of the trees are a feral boy (whom Sam names “Kai,” after a local werewolf); and his hulking, poacher father (Stropper), who wastes no time in killing those who cross his path.

Small, unsettling incidents start. Eventually, the scout troops figure out they’re being stalked by Kai and Stropper, via clever traps and blunt-force violence, even as Sam and Kai form an amiable bond.

CUB works on most levels. The theme, tone and color palate complement each other, most of the key characters are well-sketched and -acted, the action and situations are well-paced, the kill scenes and traps are creative and often cruel, and the ending rings true, even if I hoped for more character background (Stropper, Kai) and a less bleak finish. Fans of Rob Schmidt and Alan B. McElroy’s WRONG TURN (2003) and the don’t-go-in-the-woods subgenre might well enjoy this one as well.