LONE WOLF (1988)
The plot summary on IMDb refers to the characters in this film as "college students." I'm calling shenanigans. They act like high school brats. If they aren't squabbling over girls, they're fighting in the hallway. Plus, the teachers reprimand them like they're teenagers. All of this is compounded by the fact that they are - easily - the oldest teenagers I've ever seen in a b-movie. I mean, they could double as their own parents. Clearly, Lone Wolf is a ditzy flick, but that's part of the charm. It's also notable for being, like, ridiculously obscure. As of this writing, it's still not on Blu-ray. You can forget about finding it on VHS, although I'm sure it's out there. Somewhere. I shouldn't bury the lede; this is a fun werewolf romp. The identity of our lycanthrope is a mystery until the ending. The suspects? Mostly nobodies, but the main dude is worth talking about. He might even be worth starting a new paragraph.
Eddie (last name redacted...he's too cool for that) is the poofy-haired singer of a rock band. He's dangerous. And he has convinced the owner of the only club in town to let his band play every night, seemingly. For weeks on end! Did I mention that this was a ditzy flick? I'll skip to the vital details, the most salient points. Our werewolf looks awesome. Plain and simple. The first shot we see in Lone Wolf is the monster's bloodied claw transposed over a full moon. Again, awesome. The highlight of the whole ordeal is a beheading at the winter's ball. My words don't do the scene justice. You had to be there. This is a 4-Z'Dar powerhouse, but it's not without pockmarks. I'm man enough to admit that I checked the clock a couple of times during the third act. If the pacing was a bit snazzier, Lone Wolf would be unstoppable. It very nearly eclipses other werewolf movies from this decade that are held in high esteem. Don't sleep on it if it ever makes the jump to more accessible physical media.
Random trivia! According to myth, Lone Wolf was the last film that O.J. Simpson watched the night before he killed Nicole Brown Simpson. Um, allegedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment