"Brotherhood of the Wolf": Two gay-subtext romances in 18th Century France, with sleaze, blood, Satanism, Catholics, and c*cks

Link to the n*de photos

For movie night this week we saw The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which actually came out in 2000, but it resembles the sleazy second-features they used to show at the drive in, when you were falling asleep and couldn't pay much attention to the plot, or try to distinguish the charaters.  These movies have an unnaturally bright color pallette and unnervingly loud noises to keep you awake, impenetrable dialogue because no one's really listening, lots of fake blood, and lots of bedroom stuff, with women who act like they're in a Hai Karate commercial

Hai Karate was an old cologne advertised as making you so attractive that you have to use karate to fight off the hoardes of clawing, screaming women desperate to get ahold of your goods - and this was a good thing?  I got a bottle for Christmas one year, but was afraid to use it. 

I was wide awake (for most of it, anyway), but I still didn't get the plot.  I know that it's the 1750s, and a wolf is terrorizing the people of Gévaudan, France, the modern department of Lozère, a thinly populated, mountainous region about 250 km from Marseilles.  

Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel le Bihan, top photo and left, and n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends), the king's naturalist, and his Iroquois "companion" Mani (Mark Dascascos, below) are dispatched to track down and kill the wolf.  They have a gay-subtext relationship:

Host: "Let me show your servant to his quarters."

Fronsac: "He's not my servant.  He'll be staying in the room with me."

Host: "But there's only one bed...never mind."

 A gay-coded young Marquis (Jérémie Renier, right) is also interested in Fronsac: "Tell me about Paris.  What are the latest fashions?  What's going on in the theater season?"

There are 200 wikipedia pages devoted to 18th century French playwrights, but the only ones I recognize are Dennis Diderot, Voltaire, and Pierre Beaumarchais, who wrote operas later in the century.  

After examining some victims, Fronsac declares that the Beast is much too big to be a wolf, but they don't believe him, and go on a wolf hunt (corpses piled high).  He insists, and is fired and sent home.  But the Marquis believes him, so they go on their own Beast-hunt.

Meanwhile Fronsac gets three girlfriends: the winsome daughter of his host; a middle-aged lady at the adult emporium, who reads Tarot cards; and a young woman in male drag who participates in the hunts.  But Bob said that it was just two; the male drag lady is also either the daughter of the host or the Tarot card lady.  He didn't know which.   

The beast turns out to be an African creature in a stegasaurus suit. It appears to be controlled by an evil guy (Vincent Cassell) who has a shriveled arm with long fingernails, making him look like half a drag queen.  He may be the brother of Fronsac's first girlfriend, but also wants to do stuff with her. 

More after the break

On RG Beefcake and Boyfriends: Vincent's d*ck, recent photo.

Fronsac, Companion Mani, and the Marquis find two groups controlling the Beast, in addition to the shriveled arm guy.  They don't seem to be related in any way, and in fact they have opposing goals. 

First they investigate a group of barbarians from an unnamed ethnic group, who hold dog fights and human fights.  The men also have fun stabbing each other while laughing, and the women twist and gyrate furiously like one of those green-skinned aliens on Star Trek, or a Hai Karate commercial.  

I think one of the barbarians is played by Nicolas Vaude, whom Google Images thinks is this guy.

Under their dog fighting arena is a room full of magical symbols and Satanic objects, and under that a gigantic cave where the Beast is kept.  They never explain why Barbarians would want to kill people with the Beast, or else the explanation was too nonsensical to remember.

Armed with this new information, they go on another Beast hunt, but the Marquis has his arm broken off, and Companion Mani is captured and killed (he can take on 20 men, but 21 is too many).  

Left: More Jeremie Renier.

Seeking revenge Fronsac finds that there's another group controlling the Beast, with no connection to the Barbarians:  some of the nobles and priests of the region, wearing red robes and animal masks. They're ultra conservative Catholics, hoping that by killing people, they can convince the King to cracck down on the debauchery that has infested France.  I'm not sure how that would work, but that's what they during one of their rituals.

Fronsac is captured and poisoned by one of his girlfriends.  He dies and is buried, but comes back to life to get revenge on the Ultra-Conservative Catholics.

Then he and one of his girlfriends set sail for Africa (oddly, France did not control any of Africa in 1751, except for Goree Island in what is now Senegal).  They invite the Marquis to come with him, but he has to stay home to help the province recover from the decimation of its population (his official reason), or he doesn't want to be a third wheel (the real reason).  Fifty years later, he tells the story as he is arrested during the Reign of Terror (when the aristocrats were rounded up and executed).

 Beefcake: Some shirtless guys, and Mani's backside

Gay Characters: Fronsac has gay-subtext romances going on with both Mani and the Marquis.  

The title also promises gay content: Brotherhood of the Wolf.   There is no brotherhood.  The French title is Le Pacte des Loups, "Wolf Pack," but there's no wolf pack, either.

My Grade:  It's a late-night movie feature, not meant to make sense. I'm surprised that MST3K never riffed on it.  B

See also: "Werewolf Castle": Mostly Gay Actors, Mostly Shirtless Scenes, and a Dead Wife

Redding Munsell: Soap opera kid, gay angst author, werewolf victim, fierce flower fan. With some adult acting coachs and co-star d*cks

Azriel Dalman: Young Percy Jackson, Mr. Martin, and Garrett Graham celebrates Pride, tells gay kids "It gets better." With n*de costars

The Lost Medallion: Gay-Positive Actors in a Fundamentalist Movie