Movie Review: Wolfhound (Volkodav)

Directed by Nikolay Lebedev, 2006

IMDb listing

Pros: good acting, decent special effects, entertaining

Cons: cliche plot

A former slave goes after the men who destroyed his village. He becomes a guard for a princess who’s been targeted by the man who killed his parents. 

I heard about this film via Ross from the youtube channel Accursed Farms. He did a Ross’s Game Dungeon’s review of Requital, a game featuring Wolfhound. When Ross said you should watch the movie if you own a sword, well… who doesn’t?

If you’ve seen Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja or a number of other sword and sorcery based films you’ll know what’s about to happen in this Russian film when men attack the young protagonist’s village. As soon as I saw his pregnant mother I knew this would be a revenge plot. And it is. It’s significantly better - and more interesting - than the 80s films I mentioned though, which is important as it’s over 2 hours long. 

Wolfhound has a pet bat that helps him out a few times, which reminded me of The Beastmaster. I’m curious how they got it to act the way it did, and hope no bats were killed or maimed to get the footage they needed (it starts the film with a torn wing so it can’t fly).

As a character, Wolfhound has a lot of compassion for his fellow men, going out of his way at times to help others, which I enjoyed seeing. Often these heroes are only in it for themselves. In fact, there’s a whole undertone of ‘love will save the world’ that seems hokey considering the violence that rules this place. So I loved that his actions were repaid at the end.

The princess was well played. She’s kind of feisty, doesn’t want to be coddled, but also recognizes her duty to marry an enemy to forge peace. She’s practical in the face of her destiny. I thought the slow romance between her and Wolfhound was really well handled.

The sets and costumes were fantastic. 

At the beginning I thought it strange that they didn’t explain how Wolfhound escaped from the mines, but it’s brought in as backstory at a point where it doesn’t slow the plot, which made me happy.

The special effects at the end are decent. They kept them to a minimum, which probably helped. 

Like Ross, I can recommend this to anyone who has a sword hanging on their wall or next to their bed. ;)

Shout-Out: Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko

The definitive English language translation of the internationally acclaimed Russian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.

Our life is brief . . .

Sasha Samokhina has been accepted to the Institute of Special Technologies.

Or, more precisely, she’s been chosen.

Situated in a tiny village, she finds the students are bizarre, and the curriculum even more so. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, it is their families that pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.

[Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey]

Book Review: The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Pros: great characters, interesting mystery, some new spells and creatures 

Cons: 

Three years after the events of The Twilight Watch Anton Gorodetsky is sent to Scotland to help investigate the murder of the human son of a potential Russian other, by what appears to have been a vampire. It’s quickly apparent that more’s going on than murder, and that whoever’s behind the murder isn’t afraid to use humans as canon fodder.

This book refers fairly often to the events in the previous books in the series, so if you haven’t read them if a while, a quick skim is in order. 

As with the previous books this one is separated into three sections. It was cool seeing Anton work in different locales and dealing with new members of the watches. He’s an interesting character and the supporting cast grows a bit in this book while bringing back several characters from the previous books.

The mystery surrounding the hole in the twilight and Merlin’s spell kept me guessing even as other new spells were explained and used, and some new creatures - specifically different types of golems - show up. The book also had some Others using more technology with their magic, which was cool to see.

I enjoyed the book. This is my favourite urban fantasy series and I’m glad to be reading it again.

Shout-Out: New Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Sergei Lukyanenko's Watch series is one of the first urban fantasy series I read, and it remains one of my favourites, even though I've not had time to read the fourth book (Last Watch) patiently waiting on my shelf.  Starting with Night Watch, they should be read in order, as some aspects carry on to the following books.

I saw last year that there was a new book, but it was only available in English in the UK.  Well, in April it's coming out in North America, so I'll finally have to read book 4 so I can get to book 5.  If you like dark stories with a Russian setting, give these a try.

Walking the streets of our cities are the Others. These men and women are guardians of the Twilight, a shadowy parallel world that exists alongside our own. Each has sworn allegiance to one side, fighting for the Light, or the Darkness. But now, beyond the continuing struggle comes a peril that threatens their very world. . .

At Moscow airport, Higher Light Magician Anton Gorodetsky overhears a child screaming that a plane is about to crash. He discovers that the child is a prophet: an Other with the gift of foretelling the future. When the catastrophe is averted, Gorodetsky senses a disruption in the natural order, one that is confirmed by the arrival of a dark and terrifying predator.

From the Night Watch headquarters Gorodetsky travels to London, to Taiwan and across Russia in search of clues, unearthing as he goes a series of increasingly cataclysmic prophecies. He soon realizes that what is at stake is the existence of the Twilight itself--and that only he will be able to save it.