The Pack (2010 Film)
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''The Pack'' (french: La meute) is a 2010 Franco-Belgian horror film directed and written by Franck Richard. It stars
Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pià ...
,
Philippe Nahon Philippe Nahon (; 24 December 1938 – 19 April 2020) was a French actor. Best known films Nahon was best known for his roles in French horror and thriller films, including '' I Stand Alone'', '' Humains'', '' Calvaire'', ''The Pack'' and ''Ha ...
, Émilie Dequenne and Benjamin Biolay. The film is about Charlotte and Max who come across a restaurant. After Max disappears, Charlotte returns later to find him and gets herself trapped in a cage by the restaurant owner, who has a pack of cannibals with her. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010 and was first shown in North America at the
Fantasia Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
. The film has received generally mixed reviews.


Plot

A young female traveler, Charlotte ( Émilie Dequenne) gets into a fight with a group of bikers. After this, she meets Max, a hitchhiker. The two stop off at La Spack, a rundown roadside eatery run by a woman (
Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pià ...
), after whom the restaurant is named. The biker gang reappears and is chased off by the owner of the restaurant. Moments later, Max vanishes after heading to the bathroom. Charlotte elects to investigate at nightfall to the spot where Max disappeared. Charlotte later finds herself bound and caged, a prisoner of La Spack, who sees her as the next meal for her brood, a pack of ghouls.


Cast

*
Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pià ...
as La Spack * Émilie Dequenne as Charlotte *
Philippe Nahon Philippe Nahon (; 24 December 1938 – 19 April 2020) was a French actor. Best known films Nahon was best known for his roles in French horror and thriller films, including '' I Stand Alone'', '' Humains'', '' Calvaire'', ''The Pack'' and ''Ha ...
as Chinaski a retired cop. * Benjamin Biolay as La Spack's son *
Eric Godon Eric Godon (born 7 February 1959) is a Belgian character actor, director and writer. Recognisable by his burly appearance and deep voice, he is perhaps best known in English language circles, for his roles in ''In Bruges'', and '' The Missing'' ...
as Jean-Jean *
Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...
as The Gothic sham


Production

''The Pack'' is the debut feature of director Franck Richard. Richard said that he created the film as he had "liked genre films ever since I was a child"


Release

''The Pack'' was originally slated to have an outdoor screening of the film shown at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
on 17 May 2010. This idea was halted by the Classification Committee of the NCC, who did not want the film to be seen by people under the age of 16. ''The Pack'' premiered at Cannes for the press on 15 May and for the public on 17 May 2010. The film had its North American premiere at the
Fantasia Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
on 20 July 2010. Icon has bought the rights for the United Kingdom release of the film. The film was released as part of the Bloody Disgusting Selects line.


Reception

The horror film magazine '' Fangoria'' described the film as a hybrid of '' Calvaire'' and ''
Haute Tension ''High Tension'' (French: ''Haute Tension'', ; released in the United Kingdom as ''Switchblade Romance'') is a 2003 French slasher film directed by Alexandre Aja, co-written with Grégory Levasseur, and starring Cécile de France and Maïwenn, ...
'' stating that the film "unfortunately shapes up as one of the weakest in the past decade’s resurgence of French-language frights." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that ''The Pack'' "does fun things with its ranch-like setting, playful gore and creatures known as
ghoul A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...
s, yet it's too uproariously modeled on every latenight classic under the sun to feel fresh or dramatically apt." ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' wrote a negative review, saying that "Though certainly original, the creatures eventually revealed in Franck Richard's The Pack are far less entertaining than the game of guess-the-genre that the director deftly plays in the film's first third." The film was nominated for a Magritte Award in the category of Best Production Design in 2012.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pack (2010 film), The 2010 films French zombie films 2010s French-language films 2010 horror films French horror films 2010 directorial debut films 2010s French films