Cub (Welp)

(2014) ****

It is the first day of Cub Scout summer camp and 12-year-old Sam is late. This does not bode well with his three camp counselors who are ready to travel to a remote camp site in the Ardennes region. Upon arriving Sam is hazed for his tardiness. The counselors include the nice one, the bully with requisite jerk-dog, and a neutral female. The kids are all snot-bags who delight in tormenting Sam. On route to the camp site the counselors enhance the experience by telling tall tales about a werewolf that lives in the forest who eats children. Gullible Sam takes these stories to heart. Arriving at their destination they run into some local assholes that lay claim to the Cub Scout camp site. As a result the Cub Scouts are forced to go deeper into the forest to find a new spot. The sheriff warns them that travelling deeper into forest is dangerous however like every crazy old man in every Friday the 13th movie he is summarily dismissed.

Fascinated with the werewolf stories Sam wanders off to find the lycanthrope but instead stumbles across a feral child wearing a creepy wooden mask who has sprinkled the forest with Rube Goldbergian traps designed to kill anyone who enters. No one believes Sam, of course, and his stories of the feral child are met with derision and more hazing. Believing everyone to be in danger Sam takes it upon himself to rescue everyone from certain death. 

This terrific Belgium film could have been another generic slasher but instead it is a strange and captivating tale that is completely unpredictable. It is a brutal story that ignores horror movie tropes and has no problem killing off children and animals. The booby-traps are clever, including a bee-hive death that must be seen to be believed. The film has a 80s-vibe synth score that perfectly sets the tone of this dark tale. Well worth your time.