Wolves of Wall Street - David DeCoteau (2002)

[Superwonderscope]

Un jeune étudiant (William Gregory Lee) débarque à New York afin de réaliser son rêve : devenir broker. Il intègre la prestigieuse société Wolfe Brothers menée par Dyson Keller (Eric Roberts), véritable prédateur de la finance. Mais les murs de cette société, qui recèle les meilleurs financiers de Wall Street, cache également les personnalités de ses employés : assoiffés d’argent, de pouvoir… et de chair.

 

Format 2.35:1 et dernière Production 2002 de David DeCoteau, les loups de la finance sont en réalité de vrais loups-garous, prédateurs ultimes. Réalisé sous une autre bannière que sa société Rapid Heart Pictures, le film n’en porte pas moins ses marques de fabriques.

 

On y retrouve un pack de jeunes acteurs excessivement bien foutus (dont Bradley Stryker, le blondinet musclé de The Brotherhood 1 et Final Stab), les scènes déshabillées en boxer lycra moulant (noir ou blanc, c’est toujours au choix, sachant que le gentil de l’histoire ne porte que du blanc). Toujours filmé en format Scope, esthétique très léchée, éclairages savants et caméra qui lèche les corps dénudés de ses acteurs et toujours prompte à capter le moindre morceau de boxer qui dépasse d’un sac de couchage.

 

Homoérotisme de routine avec son quatuor de jeunes mecs qui se déshabillent puis déchirent leur t-shirt pour se retrouver en sous-vetements côte à côte à ramper à quatre pattes comme des loups en meute... et un jeune gay vetu de latex qui sort comme par hasard d'une bouche de métro pour draguer le héros...

 

Les victimes sont pratiquement toutes féminines (hasard ou coïncidence?) mais on ne s'y trompe pas, la caméra s'en désintéresse complètement. La scène où les quatre brokers se déshabillent puis arrachent leur tshirt pour ramper en boxer lycra afin de renifler leur victime est à ce titre assez édifiante. La camera n'a d'yeux que pour la plastique des acteurs, fixant allègrement son objectif là sur une poitrine gonflée puis ici sur un postérieur masculin cambré, puis deux, trois et quatre postérieurs.

 

On y aperçoit aussi Eric Roberts uriner du sommet d'un building devant ses jeunes recrues afin de marquer son territoire puis recommencer sur le héros peu de temps après...histoire de montrer qui est le maître. La transmission du savoir loup-garou du maitre vers l'élève se fait entre hommes, par une morsure dans le cou et notre héros se voit affublé d'un tuteur qui va jusqu'à assister à ses ébats. Troublant, non?

 

On sent néanmoins que David DeCoteau n'a pas la même liberté de ton qu'avec les films sortant de sa société. Une romance entre le héros et la jeune tenancière de bar s'avère inintéressante. La présence d'éléments féminins, plus importants qu'auparavant, ne masque pas le fait que nos amis brokers finissent toujours par se retrouver en sous-vetements et pas leurs compagnes. Une scène assez amusante, quoique courte, apporte un peu d'épice : lors d'une crise de transformation, notre héros voit s'amener derrière lui un jeune homme vetu de latex qui sort d'une bouche de métro. Le sourire aux lèvres, il s'approche de lui pour le draguer...mais notre broker se retourne et lui saute à la gorge. Il y a plus simple pour déclarer sa flamme, quand même.

 

Le parallèle entre la meute de loups et l'équipe de brokers est plutôt bien trouvée, tant le comportement est quasi-similaire. Prédateurs du monde financier avide d'argent, de pouvoir, de sexe, les brokers se comportent en meute suivant leur mâle alpha dominant.

 

Le changement amorcé dans sa carrière depuis Brotherhood 3 se confirme ici : moins d'horreur, plus de sensualité : un film résolument tourné vers un marché plus jeune. Pas une trace de transformation lycanthrope,pas de geysers de sang, pas l'ombre d'un poil : rien, nada, nichts, nothing. C'est un poil dommage (voire deux!) et ce n'est pas le final précipité qui viendra aider le propos.

 

Wolves of Wall Street est sorti en DVD Zone 2 britannique. Il est hélas en format plein cadre (alors qu'il indique un format widescreen ), en VO non soustitrée, bénéficiant de la bande annonce (en Cinémascope) et une gallerie de photos.

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Werewolves of Wallstreet, July 5, 2004

Reviewer: LadyNaava "LadyNaava" (Sunny California) - See all my reviews

 

 

When pretty boy Jeff, decides to move to New York to get a job on Wall Street, he is shocked and amazed when he hits the big time and gets a job at Wolfe Brothers. Wolfe Brothers, ran by charismatic Dyson, seems like a dream job...Or is it...? His boss seems to have some unusual habits... Well, aside from urinating off of buildings he seems like a perfectly normal boss to me, (Grin). LOL. Things get strange, when Dyson begins hitting on his girlfriend, and the pack decides to make Jeff one of THEM. Can Jeff make it out alive? Or is he destined to be, just one of the pack.

 

I liked this film a great deal. Especially the first part. I thought the ending was a little bad, (I love how the werewolves just stand around to be killed), and I felt that Jeff was a bit of a jerk to the pack alpha, whom I felt was a fairly nice guy for a monster.

 

I would've reworked the ending differently, perhaps having Jeff go on the run or ran the pack or something. The ending seemed rushed and made no real sense.

 

Peeves? I was kind of bored at the beginning but this film really picks up. Rated R for nudity, sex, and violence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who knew stock brokers were so dramatic?, December 1, 2004

Reviewer: longshotex "longshotex" (USA) - See all my reviews

 

 

This is the funniest horror movie I've ever seen. Were they really werewolves? They seemed more like cannibals. But did they actually eat their prey? Every time a little actual HORROR began the scenes ended. And I'm not really sure why two guys would gang up on one girl, strip down to their matching underwear, begin a threesome, and then eat her. Why not save time and eat her with their clothes still on? The best part was when all the wolves were killed with a single ball point pen. Oh Lord how I laughed. The acting was bad and the direction was horrible. They used the same shots over and over again and it got really boring. If this movie wasn't so corny I wouldn't have skimmed through to the end. I have seen worse movies though. I give it two stars because it made me laugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wall Street's Meat Market., December 9, 2004

Reviewer: A. Gyurisin "www.blueduckreviews.com" (The Flatlands of Illinois) - See all my reviews

 

 

Greed is the ultimate theme of this film, and horror (with a slice of homoeroticism) director David DeCoteau realizes this early on and decides to build a film without the costumed monsters of the normal horror genre, but instead with suit wearing professionals that look and act just like you or I. He brings this essence of realism into the film by never quite giving us the werewolf, but showing us how too much power, money, and corruption can "transform" a person just like the classic werewolf. I felt several times that I was watching a rendition of a "wolf in sheep's clothing" because we never actually see the wolves, instead we are shown the corporate suits that seem just like you and I. While DeCoteau does a great job of building the issue that greed is bad, he completely misses the target known as story. I can honestly say that this film has none to speak of.

 

To build a good story you must first have a solid foundation. In this film there were two foundations, Jeff Allen and the Wolfe Brothers. With these two focal points firmly placed, DeCoteau attempts to build a frame and put siding on his story, but ultimately fails. After consistently unfunny "wolf" jokes, DeCoteau uses the simple technique of flashback to give us the (sorry for the pun) meat of the story. Those points that we missed because Allen was "blacking out" are shown in random, sporadic, and chaotic flash points. Most of them are hard to follow and show either too much or too little of the story. After the first set of these flashbacks, I just didn't care anymore. For this film to truly succeed, I think that it needed a linear story for the audience to follow instead of random crumbs littering the floor. This would have helped to build a stronger main character, a stronger relationship between Allen and Annabella (to explain the ending), and more sinister villains ... if you can call them that. The technique was ok for the first time, but only added to a film that was quickly loosing momentum.

 

So, we had a failing story, what else went wrong with this film? Outside of Eric Roberts, which seemed like he was in a world all his own, there just seemed to be unanswered questions littering the open spaces of the film. Annabella's ex-boyfriend's death seemed to be a fly in the pan, while her meeting with Dyson (Roberts) left me questioning her loyalty. Who, or what, were these men anyway? Were they cannibals or werewolves? I would assume by the title of this film, Wolves of Wall Street, that it would be a simple answer. I was wrong. Even with the monotonous "wolf" innuendo, I couldn't quite guess. I think the trouble that I was having was the full moon science. How could there have been a full moon every night? I know that it couldn't have been every night, but it felt like it during this film. Perhaps if DeCoteau would have focused a bit more on the science of this film (perhaps watch a couple werewolf films) and less on his male actors removing their shirts in unison revealing their heavily muscled bodies, we could have had a better film. But, I am no director, so what am I to say.

 

Speaking of the actors, Eric Roberts went above and beyond for this film. It impresses me that he puts so much emphasis on these little films, especially knowing whom his little sister is, and by placing this emphasis he carries this film on his shoulders. This isn't hard considering whom he is working with. The actor who plays Jeff Allen, Mr. William Gregory Lee, looked like he was acting his way through this film. You could literally see the Drama 101 seeping from his sweat, and it was embarrassing. The rest of the wolves...sorry...brokers were basically eye candy for the women whose husbands picked this film up after every copy of Mona Lisa Smile was gone. Nobody helped bring this film to the next level except for Mr. Roberts. The rest were pure dribble.

 

Finally, I would like to add that if I pay my money to see a horror film, I would actually like to see some horror. There was literally no blood in this film. You would think that with a box showing men with shadows of wolves walking down the street, blood would be second nature. This is not true. It isn't until the end that you actually see blood for the first time, and by then it is so quick (or you are so bored) that it doesn't matter. I needed some scares, some moments of genuine fright, some ... dare I say it ... horror for this film to work. Instead what I found were cheap actors, horrible editing with crappy flashbacks, and no actual horror as far as the eye can see.

 

Overall, it was a disappointment. While I was not expecting anything extraordinary, I would have thought that somebody (outside Eric Roberts) would have cared about this project, but I guess I was wrong. I needed more solidity with the story and a more focused director to help guide me through the piles of mess that the actors created. I needed help, but nobody listened to my yelp.

 

Grade: * out of *****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***-BARFF-F-F-F-*****, July 26, 2005

Reviewer: Dion Voorhees "lost soul" (the Midwestern USA) - See all my reviews

 

I can barely stand to even think about this suicide-inspiring example of a "movie" and so I will be brief. Have you ever watched Cinemax at around midnite? I'm sure you have, and at some point, you probably happened upon a lame-o, slow-motion-shot-filled soft core porno flick...with me so far? Good. Now, imagine that the whole soft core porno flick had, like, one or two girls in it, and then featured nothing else but a bunch of shirtless guys crawling around on the floor and then trying to act like they were extras in 'Boiler Room'... then Eric ('Best Of The Best', brother to overrated actress Julia) Roberts shows up with some Just-For-Men grey hair dye slathered on his filthy head and talks some lame trash...then nothing happens for awhile...then something stupid happens...and then the credits roll...and you now have maybe an inkling of what a waste of your precious life's minutes this thing is. The only thing even hinting at clever in this "effort" (yeah, right) was an all-too-brief and useless cameo by Troma, Inc. superstar Will Keenan. But there are no werewolves. There is no real story, or acting. There is nothing that will make you forget the pain of watching this. RUN AWAY FROM IT AS FAST AS YOUR LITTLE LEGS WILL GO!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So bad I was laughing, April 4, 2005

Reviewer: R. Wolfen (somewhere) - See all my reviews

 

 

When the handsome young stock brokers started taking off their clothes, stripped down to their tight black shorts, and crawled on their knees with their hard bodies and bulbous rears well exposed, I knew I was watching a David DeCoteau film. The fact that it wasn't a film just short of being soft core gay porn didn't confuse me in the slightest. The scene made no sense, and DeCoteau finds the strangest reasons to strip his boys down into their underwear.

 

I will admit that the inclusion of Eric Roberts had me wondering, but all I really wondered was: WHY? He couldn't have been that desperate for money. He's still acting. Maybe he isn't making the kind of money his sister is, but still...the guy's earning a decent living.

 

Regardless, this movie had the stench of horror written all over it - and not the good kind of horror. The climax was so silly I was...well I repeate myself here...laughing. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it.

 

Thank goodness for "On-Demand" from your local cable carriers, I suppose. I never would have seen this "gem" otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disappointed, October 31, 2003

Reviewer: J. Martin "ffej26" (Lisle, IL United States) - See all my reviews

 

 

As a fan of David Decocteaus films The Brotherhood trilogy, Voodoo Academy and others I was very excited to see Wolves of Wall Street. However, I was very disappointed. Everything that made the previous films so campy and great are completely gone. This film takes itself way to seriously. It's about a young man who gets a job on Wall Street and then is turned into a werewolf, but we never get to see any werewolves. They all remain in human form acting like werewolves. Theres no blood, no scares, nothing. There's only one scene with guys in their underwear which David has made his trademark in all of his previous films. The only thing that it has going for it is the acting. The acting is by far the best of his films, thanks in part to Elisa Donavan from Clueless and Sabrina and Eric Roberts, an acadmey award nominated actor.

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