HAS French horror had its day? It went through something of a boom a few years ago thanks, in the main, to films like Switchblade Romance, Inside and Martyrs.

To a lesser extent, Xavier Gens’ Frontier(s) was also effective – focusing on culture and race as a reason to go down the kidnap-torture-kill route.

Now, The Pack (La Meute) has attempted to add itself to this list.

Tagged as a rural survival horror, it follows Charlotte (Emilie Dequenne) as she picks up hitchhiker Max (Benjamin Biolay).

They stop off at ‘back-end-of-beyond’ cafe, La Spack, and encounter a trio of bikers – whom Charlotte had previously ignored – before the cafe owner (Yolande Moreau) scares them off with a shotgun.

When Max goes missing, it would be common sense for a virtual stranger like Charlotte to report it to local cop Chinaski (Phillipe Nahon) then be on her merry way.

Sadly, the girl who can seemingly handle herself decides to investigate on her own and ends up imprisoned in a cage and branded with a hot iron.

She, and another captive, are then strung up outside, at night, for ‘the pack’ to feast on.

So, who is this ‘pack’? Well, according to the story, they are mutated humans (possibly miners left in a mine following a disaster – this part is unclear) who climb out of a slagheap behind the cafe at night and feast on human flesh.

The final half hour of a brisk 81 minute running-time doesn’t help the film as inconsistencies begin appearing. The creatures – a weird hybrid of the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth, the underground dwellers from The Descent and The Predator – seem to pick and choose who they want to eat despite them being blood-thirsty cannibals.

Also, on more than one occasion, Charlotte could make an escape and live out her life in peace. But that ending wouldn’t help the narrative, nor would it be an aid to the ‘twist’ at the end.

Having become the latest in a long line of gore-filled French horrors, some of the death scenes are quite well done, including one in which a door stands between a biker and one of The Pack.

Ultimately, Frank Richard’s film is one of the weakest to have emerged from across the Channel and lacks any real scares with tension only provided by the soundtrack.

The Pack (18) is due for release on DVD on July 4 (£15.99)