Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded it with a 3/4-star rating, writing: "I would be lying if I did not admit that this is all, in its absurd and overheated way, entertaining." James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" also rated the movie three stars out of four, saying that it "has something in it to appeal to just about everyone" and that it is "daring in its approach and successful in its result - assuming the result is to provide pure entertainment to the viewer." Michael Atkinson of "Village Voice" wrote "It's easily the most disarming and inventive movie made for genre geeks in years." Harry Knowles of "Ain't It Cool News" wrote that this film is "exciting, alluring and thrilling", whereas "Empire" gave the film a three-star rating out of five stating that "An undeniably handsome creation, but its excessive length and surplus of directorial flourishes merely exacerbate the emptiness of an initially promising plot". Lisa from "Variety" gave a positive review mentioning that "a little Sergio Leone here, a little "Sleepy Hollow" there and, uh, martial arts-style confrontations are all deftly melded in "Brotherhood of the Wolf", an attempt to elucidate the French urban legend of the Beast of Gevaudan. This is a home-grown French actioner that wears its sincere desire to entertain on its flamboyantly tailored sleeve".