While the French have questionable taste in film (see Lewis, Jerry), they apparently know how to make a movie.

Well, at least Christophe Gans does, especially if you like a movie that incorporates multiple genres. Gans’ box office sensation, released in France earlier this year, Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte Des Loups), has come to America.

The film is definitely not for the faint of heart, or, sadly, the terribly sophisticated.

Oh, and if you don’t like subtitles, move along to the next ticket window. However, this film proves entertaining and, at times, breathtaking.

It’s impossible to watch it without utter abandonment of belief, for realism is not one of the film’s predominant characteristics. Fortunately, Brotherhood takes so many surprising twists and turns that the story remains enticing.

Brotherhood is based on a well-known French folk tale of an unknown beast ravaging a rural province’s countryside.

As the townspeople grow more and more afraid, news of the terror spreads all the way to King Louis XV and his court, forcing him to send one of his own scientists (Samuel LeBihan) and his Iroquois “blood brother” to track down the beast and stop the madness.

The film incorporates martial arts action scenes reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the gore of Braveheart (In the film’s opening sequence, at least 93 percent of the audience shrieked in disgust.). And the viewer teeters on the edge of his or her seat as the film takes on a Blair Witch Project “What’s going to jump out of the woods?” feel.

And, as if that weren’t all enough, there are even heavy romantic undertones. So yes fellas, it is a great date movie, no matter what she might think.

For those who don’t appreciate one of the many subplots or the action sequences, you can at least marvel at the luscious French mountain countryside.

Indeed, most impressive is the film’s cinematography. Gans captures the beauty of the French rural mountain area where the film takes place- it is so breathtaking that many will be yearning for a trip to France after viewing the film.

The only downside to this film might be that often the English-speaking viewer will be too caught up reading the subtitles to take it all in.

Brotherhood, while most likely not a candidate for best picture of the year, is pleasingly original and entertaining, and certainly worth viewing on the big screen.