BELGIAN HORROR: LEFT BANK (LINKEROEVER) (2008) and CUB (WELP) (2014)

LEFT BANK (aka LINKEROEVER) (2008) d. Pieter Van Hees (Belgium)
CUB (aka WELP) (2014) d. Jonas Govaerts (Belgium)

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Tonight’s double feature takes us across the ocean to Belgium, a land renowned for lace, beer, chocolate, waffles, and a small but notable number of horror titles, including two films we’re going to be discussing tonight: Pieter Van Hees’ LEFT BANK from 2008 and Jonas Govaerts’ CUB (aka WELP) from 2014.

Fool's Views (8/1 – 8/31)

As July rolled around, I found myself totally overwhelmed with my NASM personal training certification studies, trying in vain to memorize muscular insertion points (no, that’s not a euphemism) and which amino acids were essential and which weren’t. I finally had to call for reinforcements.

For the first time in the history of the H101 blog, other people's names were on the byline for the reviews, but happily those names were none other than Matt Wedge and Jason Coffman, two of the wickedest scribblers to be found, both of whom happen to live in my own darn zip code. (insert obligatory “Chicago’s horror community rocks” shout-out here.) My load was lightened, my personal views ebbed slightly, the reviews slowed to a trickle and then….

I passed that f*****g test. And life got a little better. I mean, I had to start memorizing lines for Greenbrier Valley Theatre’s production of Hamlet the next day, but I could actually justify watching a few movies JUST FOR FUN. Like, you know, BATMAN and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and MISSION-FRICKING-IMPOSSIBLE.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Some people never go anywhere without their HORROR 101. These people usually die before the credits.

CUB (aka WELP) (2014) Blu-ray Review

Cub (aka Welp) (2014) d. Jonas Govaerts (Belgium)

A group of Antwerp cub scouts head off for an outing in the Ardennes mountains (Wallonia, the southeast section of Belgium, along the French border), with their two leaders: the kindly Kris “Akela” (Titus de Voogdt) and his younger, rougher sidekick Peter “Baloo” (Stef Aerts). As with any assembly of lads, there are alliances and enemies, but “special project” Sam (Maurice Luijten) – a boy with a vaguely alluded-to dark past – is the clear outcast of the bunch; teased and antagonized, with only Kris, the gentle Dries (Louis Lemmens), and kindly and attractive camp cook Jasmijn (Evelien Bosmans) in his corner. To exacerbate matters, Sam catches sight of what he believes to be campfire story figure “Kai,” a feral lycanthrope-like youth residing in the woods, preying upon interlopers. Is the legend real, or is Sam’s overactive imagination – as his fellow scouts believe – leading to madness? More importantly, who’s setting all the intricate mechanical (and lethal) booby-traps in the woods?