I’m not going to lie, when I first heard about Out Come the Wolves, I immediately thought of Rancid’s seminal 1995 album with almost the exact same name. That’s just how my punk rock-saturated brain works, but as irrelevant as that connection is, it proved to be quite fortuitous. It piqued my interest, and when I learned who directed the film, that sealed the deal for me. It was made by the same guy who directed Pyewacket, one of the best supernatural horror movies way too many people have never heard of, so I knew I had to check this one out. I requested a screener as soon as I could, and now that I’ve finally seen the film, I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed.
Out Come the Wolves was directed by Adam MacDonald, and it stars Missy Peregrym, Joris Jarsky, and Damon Runyan. In the movie, Sophie invites her best friend, a guy named Kyle, to spend some time with her and her fiancé, Nolan, at her family’s secluded cabin in the woods. She wants Kyle to meet Nolan and teach him how to hunt, but it soon becomes clear that she’s created a not-so-subtle love triangle.
Nolan is uncomfortable with Kyle and Sophie’s close, sibling-like relationship, and when Kyle learns that the couple has gotten engaged, he becomes visibly disappointed. But despite these tensions, the two men still head out to hunt the next morning, and while tracking some deer in the wilderness, they come under attack by a pack of wolves. Kyle manages to make it out fairly unscathed, but when he returns to the cabin to tell Sophie what happened, she insists that they go back and look for her fiancé. And unsurprisingly, soon after the two friends arrive at the site of the attack, the wolves return as well.
With only three characters, Out Come the Wolves stands or falls largely on the strength of its lead trio. Even one subpar performance could sink the entire film, but thankfully, all three of these actors are fantastic. They have great chemistry together, and they completely nail the various relationships they have with one another. In particular, you’ll really believe that Sophie and Kyle are old friends, and the on-again, off-again tension between Kyle and Nolan is almost palpable.
Then, when the wolves make their presence felt, these performances get even better. All three actors make you believe that they really are facing a life-or-death struggle with nature, but hands down, the best of the bunch is Missy Peregrym. She plays Sophie, and she proves herself to be a legit cinematic badass. I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say that she just might make you stand up and cheer for her in the movie’s final few scenes.
On top of all that, Out Come the Wolves also features some awesome survival horror. Instead of CGI, the film uses real wolves, so the story has a verisimilitude most animal attack movies only wish they could achieve (I’m looking at you, The Last Breath). There’s no denying that these people really are staring deadly predators right in the face, and director Adam MacDonald manages to squeeze every possible ounce of tension out of these life-threatening encounters.
You’ll be on the edge of your seat before the first wolf takes a single step towards its prey, and when the action finally kicks into gear, it’s pretty awesome. These animals tear into their victims with absolutely no mercy, and that ruthlessness makes for some genuinely intense attack scenes.
Along similar lines, the gore in Out Come the Wolves is also too-notch. Adam MacDonald lets the blood flow pretty freely, and the aftermaths of these vicious maulings are not for the faint of heart. In particular, there’s one shot at the end of the film that looks like it comes straight out of a George Romero zombie flick, so if you’re a fan of practical blood and guts, you’re going to have a great time with this movie.
All that being said, I did have one issue with the film. Like I mentioned before, it uses real wolves, not CGI animations, and that’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Yes, it adds a tangibility and a believability that’s often sorely lacking in this subgenre (at least these days), but it also presents some unique challenges.
The director can’t have these animals actually bite the actors, so aside from a few fun exceptions, he has to use nifty editing techniques to make it seem like they’re tearing these poor people to pieces. That makes the action a bit hard to follow at times, and even worse, it limits what we actually see on screen.
Sure, there are a couple of times when Adam MacDonald shows us the wolves tearing into their victims’ flesh, but for the most part, either the bites and rips happen just outside the frame or we see way too little of them. I really wish we could’ve gotten these attacks in all their bloody glory, but I understand why we didn’t.
Out Come the Wolves isn’t a $200 million studio tentpole, so it can’t have realistic-looking animals and smooth, completely visible action. The filmmakers had to choose one or the other, and given that limitation, I think they made the right choice. The action we do see is still super fun, and when you combine that with the great characters, you get an awesome animal attack flick that’s well worth your time.
Out Come the Wolves is set to hit theaters and VOD on August 30.