I do not know why but every time I see or here a mention of 2001 cult classic BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, I hear the sound of Duran Duran lyric ‘hungry like the wolf…’ Now there are no obvious links. Psychologically there are likely to be some broad connections. They both mention wolfs. Both are about a primitive sense of humanity. Both have sharp highs and deep lows. Yeah I am reaching I know. Studio Canal have decided that the 2022 restoration of the director’s cut deserves an outing on disc and we are here to see if they are right. So director Christophe Gans, stars Samuel Le Bihan, Jérémie Renier, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci return. With a physical Mark Dacascos, alongside, for our enjoyment.

Louis XV is a man less of the people and more of his ideals. But when an isolated district of south-central France is haunted by the “Beast of Gévaudan”, well he has to act surely. 100 people lay slain, mostly women and children no less. These cadavers are hard to hide and so as panic sweeps the region, Louis sends a select group of military minds to solve it. They see that they need a scientist and adventurer Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) and his martial-arts-trained Iroquois blood brother Mani (Ducascos) to find and kill the beast.

This was on release a wet dream for cineastes. They could watch an action film, in a language other than English, that mixed Hong Kong, French and American styles. Fighting, fearsome creatures with blood splatter and sexy French ladies. All this, while seeming credible to their cause of being ‘broad minded and cultured’. What they found was a very good action film, with paper thin depth and a sense of swagger that translates to its cult regard. On the Blu Ray version (we saw) we didnt get too much of this. More a selection of back of the set how we dids, that are often just the usual without a touch of reverence that is deserved.  I enjoyed that fact I could see both directors cut (the better of the two) and the original cut that is less sharp than it was. Now you likely want to know how the UHD faired. I didn’t see it and wished I had. I reckon it is amazing. The Blu ray is good and the film is the best thing about the whole set.

UHD+BD Extras:
UHD and BLU-RAY 1
* BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF Director’s Cut (2022 restoration)
* Audio Commentary with Christophe Gans
* Audio Commentary with Vincent Cassel & Samuel Le Bihan
* NEW Trailer

BLU-RAY 2
* NEW Interview with Christophe Gans & Jean-Baptiste Thoret
* The Guts of the Beast
* Behind the scenes
* Deleted Scenes:
o The Fight
o The Crow
o Fronsac and Sardis
o The Frozen Lake
o The House Tessier
o Montage
* La Legend: a programme on the origins of The Beast
* Theatrical Trailer
* Restored Original trailer

BLU-RAY 3
* BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Theatrical Cut) unrestored
* Interview with Christophe Gans by Jean-Pierre Jackson
* Featurettes:
o The Extras
o The Studies of Fronsac
o Mise-en-scène
o Emilie and the music
o Thomas D’Apcher
o Jérémie Rénier and the horses
o Special effects
o Make-up