EXCLUSIVE: Lowell Dean Talks Highly Anticipated Sequel ‘Another Wolfcop’!

Two years ago Lowell Dean delivered one of the coolest werewolf films in history. That movie was Wolfcop, and it wasn’t just brutal, and it wasn’t just hilarious… it was pretty much everything a werewolf fan could want out of a werewolf film.

The movie features some amazing special effects, riveting performances and the kind of werewolf everyone can get behind: one who wears a badge, knocks down enough poison bottles to keep Betty Ford’s corpse warm and still has the wherewithal to make sure the streets get properly swept, if you know what I mean!

Knowing all this, we couldn’t have possibly been any more excited when we recently learned that Dean is back with another film and… well, Another Wolfcop!!

Lowell, being the chill character he most definitely is, was happy to sit back and answer a few questions for us. We’re more than stoked to share that little Q&A with you!

Addicted to Horror Movies: Tell me about how the sequel came to be. Last time we talked you sounded optimistic that a follow up could be on the horizon. Now it’s here – so how did we go from optimistic to Another Wolfcop?

Lowell Dean: It was always our intention to turn WolfCop into a franchise. Right before we released the first film, CineCoup decided  to put the “WolfCop 2: Coming Soon” title in the end credits – which made me both nervous and excited. I immediately started writing WolfCop 2. Over the next two years, we revised the script and raised financing… It was a long road, but I always knew deep down it would happen.

ATHM: Are we going to see the same tone from the sequel, or will this film deliver a bit heavier in humor, or edge, or conflict, for that matter?

LD: The sequel has more humour. I approached Another WolfCop as a direct continuation of the first film, which itself had a tonal shift in the middle when WolfCop is “born”. It’s just inevitable – when WolfCop is on screen things get more ridiculous! For Another WolfCop, I wanted the whole film to feel like the 2nd half of the first film. Fast paced and a little out of control. There is still plenty of gore and horror in Another WolfCop, but by and large it’s more of an action comedy this time around. That was the plan, at least!

ATHM: I imagine you’ve got to be pretty ecstatic that fans loved Wolfcop so much that a sequel was eventually birthed. Tell me how you respond to all the praise, and for that matter, how you respond to those who voice displeasure with the first film. Every good flick has to have its haters – do the negative comments ever get to you, or are you just enjoying riding this wave?

LD: To be totally honest, I expected way more negativity. I knew WolfCop was a weird idea going in, and I wanted to embrace that and run with it. Of course there are negative reviews and comments are out there, but  I feel like the majority of people get what we were going for, especially genre fans. We got a lot of love, so I was relieved. You don’t make a film called WolfCop for yourself, you make it for people to watch and have fun with. So I’m overjoyed anytime someone tells me they dug it.

ATHM: There were a few scenes in the first film that proved to be surprisingly graphic, and there was some great practical effects work to help make that possible. Are we still going to be gifted those tangible effects, or did this sequel get sucked a bit further into the digital effects realm?

LD: Like the first film, we only used digital effects when necessary. There are certainly more VFX in the sequel because everything had to be bigger and crazier, but there are also WAY more practical effects. Another WolfCop has literally five times the practical effects of the first film.

ATHM: How about the cast? Was everyone excited to return to this story? The first flick was so damn fun, watching it I couldn’t help but feel like the performers had a really good time working on the first film.

LD: I can’t speak for the cast, but I think they had fun on the first film! I know I had fun working with them. My favorite part of directing is working with actors. In a film like WolfCop we do a lot of improvisation, which I think many actors really respond to. We carried that tradition over into the sequel. We follow the script, but time permitting we’d always do a least one or two improvised takes in every scene.

ATHM: Are there larger theatrical plans for this sequel?

LD: The producers are still figuring that out. We have plans for a Canadian theatrical release, but I’m not sure about the rest of the world. Fingers crossed!

ATHM: We haven’t seen a great werewolf franchise. Literally, we’ve never seen a great werewolf franchise… unless you want to travel back to early Universal days, and even then the crossover films create something of a blur – as though the Wolf Man wasn’t exactly leading us through his specific tale exclusively. Are you going to be the first filmmaker to actually give us an excellent werewolf franchise? (For the record, I love The Howling, but the sequels… well, I don’t want to stir up a headache thinking of those stinkers)

LD: No pressure! Personally, I feel like the Universal Wolf Man had a pretty solid run – if you include all his other cinematic appearances. My hope and dream is that WolfCop continues. I’ve been vocal that I have ideas for at least two more WolfCop films that I’d love to write and direct. I also think WolfCop would make a killer TV show. I’d love to do that, too. But we’ll see. In the end, it all depends on if there is a demand for it. If people embrace Another WolfCop, I’m sure they will get “Another… Another WolfCop”.

ATHM: Can you give me an idea when the masses will be able to see this one, and better yet, will we media folks be forced to trek far across the land to hit festivals in order to see this one in timely fashion, or will the PR folks get some screeners out there to those of us craving a look at the film?

LD: Another WolfCop will be released in early 2017. I don’t have a specific date yet, but that’s the current plan. Our Fantastic Fest screening was actually a “Ruff Cut”. I was nervous to show it there since we are still in post production and working on music and VFX… but you can’t turn down the opportunity to screen at Fantastic Fest! It was a great time.

ATHM: Lowell, it’s always nice to chat with you. I can’t think of a nicer guy to strike big with an outlandish but amazingly wonderful little franchise. I wish you absolutely nothing but immense success, brother. I sincerely mean that – and I’ll be rooting for you all the way!

LD: Thank you very much, Matt! I look forward to talking again soon – be it for WolfCop 3 or something new!

Be sure to keep up with Another Wolfcop right here, and while we wait on the official trailer for Another Wolfcop, dig on the beautiful cut for Wolfcop!