Cub (2014)

Jonas Govaerts has bigger balls than any cub that I've ever seen (not that I take friendly peeks at the actual balls of any animals). However, he does share a few striking similarities with young carnivorous animals. Just as a young lion might show viciousness at an early age, Govaerts unleashes a fierce aim-straight-for-the- throat-mentality right off the bat with his directional debut. This fierce young director from Antwerp, Belgium, is as hungry as a bear looking to catch his or her very first fish, or a wolf on the hunt for a rabbit! The appropriately named Cub is a nasty, violent bear of a film that shows no mercy when it comes into contact with its prey. Whether it be on the characters that he, and Roel Mondelaers created, or the viewers who sit down to see his film, Govaerts relentlessly scratches, claws, and bites without any signs of ever letting up. Well, until his film eventually comes to an end, of courseÂ…

Â…But up until that point, Govaerts shows the ruthless aggression of a young cub, but does away with the inexperience that comes along with being new to the game. His debut film shows no youth from a production standpoint, nor does it give off the impression that this is the first time that he and Mondelaers wrote a major screenplay together. Not only does Cub benefit from a wonderful tension- building score that takes notes from the likes of John Carpenter and Dario Argento, but it also looks crisp and clear aesthetically, courtesy of drawing inspiration from the movies of Steven Spielberg. This demonstrates that Govaerts has learned from some of the very best to ever create horror on screen, and that he successfully did his homework by mastering the tricks of the trade early on. The screenplay itself brings me back to my original point about Govaerts having bigger balls than any cub that I've ever seen. Boundaries are broken, childhood innocence is lost, and the most innovative death traps that this horror fanatic has seen in years are on full display!

Before Cub played at the Toronto International Film Fest's Midnight Madness screening, Govaerts felt the need to warn animal lovers that they might have to leave the theater due to what happens to a dog in the film. He goes on to defend himself by claiming that he is a cat-lover! This is the same generous fellow who said okay to the slogan, "Buy a trap. Kill a cub", for his crowd-funding campaign. The cubs that that this slogan highlights are the human kind who attend summer camp. Animals, children, summer camp instructors, police officersÂ…nobody is safe from the almighty balls located in the nether regions of this young director! A cool bit of information is that these clever filmmakers did not ask for crowd-funding for the purpose of funding the movie. They planned to put all the additional cash into creating awesome traps for our viewing pleasure. Have you ever seen a trap so cool that your palms suddenly felt the urge to slap each- other silly? It is uncontrollable. Do you believe that America's Saw movies are unbeatable? Think again!

A group of boy scouts venture into the woods with three adults and some additional fodder in the form of a few bullies and a police officer. Campfire tales reveal the legend of a feral child who roams the woods and it does not take long for the legend to become a reality. Little do the forest invaders know that this feral child is the least of their worries! A much more dangerous threat looms in the background waiting for the perfect chance to strike! The elements of a coming-of-ag

Fmovies: To begin this review , I must say that taking into consideration that this was the director's feature film debut , he did extremely well. The direction was the best thing about this film. Now , the issue of this film comes from it's script.It lacked focus. The story is simple enough : 12 year Sam goes camping , he his bullied by the other scouts and even by one of the scoutmaster (And his evil dog!) . When Sam tries to warn everybody that he saw a character from an Urban legend , Kai (an animal/boy who eats people) he his laughed at so Sam ends up developing a rather strange and disturbing relationship with Kai that would turn this Camping trip into a living nightmare! So the story is fairly straightforward as you can see but the issue is the writers felt necessary to add small layers/subplot to it that makes it more complex then it should. I can go on to much details or I will spoil the films.Let just say that the director gave Sam a mysterious background that raises a lot of questions but none of them are answered by the end of the film. For me ,personally, Cub is very good up to it's last 10 minutes.Great atmosphere, great direction,great acting by it's lead actor but the above issue I have with the film gives us an ending that leaves things to the viewers imagination. Your personal enjoyment of that film will come to this at the end : If you like to have a clear ending to your film , I am afraid you will be disappointed by Cub but if you are the type of person that loves a film to end in an ambiguous sort of way I believe you would find much to like in that film. Outside of this , Cub do a lot of things right. So if you are up for a very dark little film that has a very strong and shocking yet confusing ending you could do much worse then this trip to the wood. I give Cub a 6 out of 10

There's little coherency in Cub, it's supposed to be a horror but half of the film is one kid getting harassed. In attempt to create any thrill it relies too much on convenience plot devices such as traps placed just in the right spot as plot demands it or the so called monster appears literally out of nowhere. If there's a message to be had here, it should be not to leave your impressionable kids with unprofessional scout leaders. Pretty much the same thing since Friday the 13th.

The story follows Sam, a very unfortunate boy who is on the receiving end of substandard treatment from his peers and supervisors. He and his scout unit go into a forest for camping, only to find that there are others await them. It's a very straightforward plot, and to its credit the film tries to include child negligence issue, but the approach is too heavy-handed to be effective.

Its worst barrier is the illogical thinking and action of the characters. These people, even the adults, don't seem to be functioning that well. Sam himself is a bit passive and finicky, the film wants the audience to sympathize with him, but it's hard to relate since most issues can be resolved with basic communication skill. I've seen horror movies with bland plot device of odd kid who cries wolf, Cub takes it even further till the point of exhaustion.

Pacing isn't that smooth either, almost two third of the movie is Sam getting yelled at and the rest of characters fumbling around. It does have some good scares or tense atmosphere at times, although these moments are few in between the banters and also unrealistic at best. The cinematography is decent, the film admittedly has several presentable shots, especially during the day with good lighting. However, the sequences in night time are sketchy, which is unfortunate since last act happens entirely in darkness.

There are gruesome events, these are mostly for shock value. If it tries to reach any fundamental message, Cub simply doesn't have the direction to convey it. The film doesn't even offer plausible motive, back story or explanation. Things just happen, and it wants you to be okay with that.

Truly, the real horror is how anyone would let their children roam the forest of haunted past guided by a couple of unqualified leaders. Keep your children save.

Cub fmovies. This movie will not give you something new. It is typical not many scares, but it keeps you interested till the end.

People go into the woods and they try in a way, to come out alive. Although it is a typical slasher movie as many said, it has a nice angle, not a lot of blood or nudity and sex. It focuses on the characters mostly and the story. This helps you get more involved with the movie and sympathize with the characters.

The cinematography and the directing is descent and the script keeps you till the end. But don't expect a lot of blood and scares. It has a kind of old time flavor horror movies; it gives you the thrills not much gore. If you want to see a lot of gore and blood watch another movie. Also the music is eerie.

The ending is very interesting and the psychological aspects of it, will make you wonder for a bit.

Cub was a captivating movie, filled with building but nicely crafted suspense. I felt at times that the plot was somewhat predictable, but I still enjoyed myself throughout the movie. The movie itself remains true to the horror genre, whilst mildly delving into the themes of puberty and social acceptance. The movie also packs a satisfying amount of gore, and doesn't blow all of it's atmosphere on pointless jump scares.

The movie does, however, follow some trends and themes set by other movies (which removes from it's originality in my opinion). Most of the characters are also very easy to dislike.

Overall, I would say that this movie is enjoyable and worth a watch, and I applaud it for it's independence and how refreshing it is compared to some of the current horror films around.

For a start, I love movies set in the woods. It's probably my favourite horror movie location so I knew I was going to love this movie from the moment I first saw the trailer - and it didn't let me down when I watched the full movie.

This is a brilliantly entertaining horror movie that is incredibly well made and really scary! The performances in the movie are all really good and the script was very compelling, leading to a fantastic, classic horror movie ending. The cinematography and direction are exceptional and I think Jonas Govaerts is a director to watch out for in the horror genre.

I loved it!!!