History WesternAnimation / TheWolfHouse

''The Wolf House'' (original Spanish title: ''La Casa Lobo'') is a 2018 UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}an StopMotion animated film by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña. It is presented as a [[ShowWithinAShow fairytale-like propaganda film for a cult]] heavily based on Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony), a secretive organization founded by German émigrés, which became infamous for the internment, torture and murder of dissidents during UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet's dictatorship.

* AdultFear: Being unable to protect your children, as Maria is unable to prevent hers from burning in the house fire. [[spoiler:And then being active ''hunted'' by your children [[HorrorHunger when food runs low]].]]

* {{Grimmification}}: While this isn't a straight adaptation of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'', the film still takes some of its aspects (Maria finding and adopting two pigs, a "wolf" stalking the main characters from outside their house) and puts a much more sinister twist on them.

* CreepyChild: Pedro and Ana when there's no more food in the house.
* ChildrenAreCruel: [[spoiler:As soon as Maria can no longer provide for Pedro and Ana, the two turn against their mother and eventually try to kill her.]] Could be considered LaserGuidedKarma, as Pedro and Ana are in part this way because ''Maria'' imposed the Colony's values (never leave the house, never be disobedient) when teaching them to be human.

''The Wolf House'' (original Spanish title: ''La Casa Lobo'') is a 2018 StopMotion [[UsefulNotes/{{Chile}} Chilean]] animated film by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña. It is presented as a [[ShowWithinAShow fairytale-like propaganda film for a cult]] heavily based on Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony), a secretive organization founded by German émigrés which became infamous for the internment, torture, and murder of dissidents during Pinochet's dictatorship.

A disobedient woman named Maria (Amalia Kassai) flees the community after letting three pigs escape, taking refuge in an isolated house in the woods where she finds two pigs. Naming them Pedro and Ana, Maria imagines them as her children and they begin to grow humanlike attributes until they are completely human. As they live an isolated, idyllic life, a wolf stalks them from outside, imploring Maria to come back... but soon Maria realizes the wolf may not be the only thing she has to worry about.

* AdultFear: Being unable to protect your children, as Maria is unable to prevent hers from burning in the house fire. [[spoiler: And then being active ''hunted'' by your children [[HorrorHunger when food runs low]].]]
* AnimalisticAbomination: The wolf. [[spoiler: Arguably, the pigs, even though they don't ''stay'' pigs.]]
* AntagonistTitle: For 80% of the film's runtime [[spoiler: until the end]], the wolf stalking Maria and her children is the main antagonist.
* AntagonisticOffspring: [[spoiler: Ana and Pedro try to kill and eat Maria when they have no more food.]]
* AuthorTract: The end Aesop is essentially "BlindObedience is key and never question your community's leaders or try to escape". Justified, as it's an indoctrination film for a cult.
* TheBadGuyWins: Since in-universe the film is a propaganda film, the movie unsurprisingly ends with [[spoiler: Maria being taken back to the colony after admitting the wolf "was right", and the final narration mentions she continues living there, "helping" children from other parts from Chile to join the colony.]]

* BlindObedience: [[spoiler: In the end, Maria learns that this is the true way to go about life when the wolf saves her from her children.]] This is a deliberate EsotericHappyEnding, of course.

* ChildrenAreCruel: [[spoiler: As soon as Maria can no longer provide for Pedro and Ana, the two turn against their mother and eventually try to kill her.]] Could be considered LaserGuidedKarma, as Pedro and Ana are in part this way because ''Maria'' taught them the values of her cult (never leave the house, never be disobedient) when teaching them to be human.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: As it is lampooning the values of [[TruthInTelevision the real life Nazi-led cult that the in-universe cult is based on]], when Maria imagines the children to be more "beautiful", they transform from brown-haired children to cherubic children with blue eyes and blond hair. She also mentions how the community withheld medicine from "the dark-skinned children" because they were considered stupid and inferior.
* DeliberateVHSQuality: The opening segment, which is made with live-action footage.
* DerangedAnimation: ''Yeah...'' [[spoiler: doubly so when the Wolf is outside and Maria's children turn against her]].
* EnfantTerrible: [[spoiler: The children.]]
* EnvironmentalSymbolism: The house is an EmpathicEnvironment that shifts to reflect Maria's emotional state. It actively un- and re-builds itself as the camera moves around.
* EyeColorChange: When Pedro and Ana eat the honey, their eyes turn blue. Starts as InnocentBlueEyes, becomes CreepyBlueEyes when they [[spoiler: start turning against their mother]].
* {{Grimmification}}: While this isn't a straight adaptation of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'', the movie still takes some aspects from that story (Maria finding and adopting two pigs, a "wolf" stalking the main characters from outside their house) and puts a more sinister twist on them.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Maria is a good-hearted, if not disobedient, blonde young woman. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with her children. They become more monstrous when they gain blond hair.]]
* HorrorHunger: [[spoiler: When they run out of food, Maria's children slowly turn against her and eventually try to eat her.]]
* MediumBlending: The film uses StopMotion, 2D wall-painted animation, and paper mache to create the constantly shifting atmosphere of the house.
* MinimalistCast: Other than the figures seen briefly in the introduction, it's just Maria, Pedro & Ana, and the wolf.
* TheOner: The film is shot to look like the camera is continuously moving through the rooms of the house in real time.

** The wolf is not just a cult leader, but specifically former Nazi and child abuser Paul Schäfer. The in-universe cult is also all but stated to be the real-life Colonia Dignidad.

* SignatureStyle: The film uses wall-painted animation, which was implemented in the directors' former works, [[https://vimeo.com/5202050 Lucía]] and [[https://vimeo.com/5214935 Luis]].

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[spoiler: Pedro and Ana plot to kill and eat their mother once they have no more food]].
* UnreliableNarrator: Since the story is in-universe propaganda masquerading as a fairy tale, the narrator tries to frame his cult as a perfectly harmless commune when it clearly isn't (especially since it's based on Colonia Dignidad, a real life cult led by a former Nazi and child abuser).

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: As it is lampooning the values of [[TruthInTelevision the real life Nazi-led cult that the in-universe cult is based on]], when Maria imagines the children to be more "beautiful", they transform from brown-haired children to cherubic children with blue eyes and blond hair. She also mentions how the community withheld medicine from "the dark-skinned children" because they were considered stupid and inferior.

* TheBadGuyWins: Since in-universe the film is a propaganda film, the movie unsurprisingly ends with [[spoiler: Maria being taken back to the colony after admitting the wolf "was right", and the narration at the end mentions she continues living there, "helping" children from other parts from Chile to join the colony.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: Since in-universe the film is a propaganda film, the movie unsurprisingly ends with [[spoiler: Maria being taken back to the colony after admitting the wolf "was right", and the narration at the end mentions she continues living her, "helping" children from other parts from Chile.]]

* EsotericHappyEnding: The film ends with [[spoiler: Maria returning to the clutches of the wolf after he saves her from her children.]] Considering the film in-universe is made by a cult leader to indoctrinate viewers, it's a lot less happy for the audience than the characters.

* NotSoDifferent: When Maria escapes and adopts the two pigs as her children, she tries to be a good mother to them, but it's eventually made clear that the cult's doctrines have become so ingrained in her that she ultimately treats her children no better than the cult treated her.

* RealityEnsues: Living an idyllic life with her children in the woods seems like a dream for a while, until you run out of food.

* SurrealHorror: The film uses StopMotion to show constantly shifting visuals, giving a surreal and dreamlike atmosphere that makes everything seem all the more unsettling.

* SurrealHorror

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/la_casa_lobo_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I hope you will learn to appreciate our colony just a little bit more...]]

--> As shepherd of this community I hope to dispel the horrible rumors that have stained our reputation.