Big Bad Wolves

Although the box cover art prominently quotes Quentin Tarantino's blurb hailing this Israeli revenge thriller as the “best film of the year,” it's doubtful whether many will agree. Directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Popushado are unquestionably skilled craftsmen, but technique alone can't transform the grim tale of one man's obsession with punishing the monster who raped and killed his daughter into much more than a slicker variant of The Last House on the Left, Wes Craven's seminal 1972 shocker. Big Bad Wolves begins with its most compelling scene—a moody credits sequence during which an angelic little girl disappears while playing hide-and-seek with friends. But it soon switches to less subtle mode as the chief suspect in the crime—a nerdy teacher named Dror (Rotem Keinan)—is brutalized by the cops, leading to investigating officer Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) being dismissed from the force after a video of the beating appears online. But then the detective and the teacher are kidnapped by the dead girl's father, Gidi (Tzahi Grad), who invites the ex-cop to help him extract a confession by any means necessary. From here on, the level of sadistic violence escalates exponentially with gallows humor occasionally interrupting the nastiness before it's all resolved in a twist ending. One could read into Big Bad Wolves a metaphor for Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners, but ultimately this is little more than torture-porn. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (16 min.), an ASX TV featurette (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)