Lone Wolf

We've seen the story a thousand times before, quiet community, new kid in town, and then...squirrels start disappearing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure things out, Werewolf. What follows is a celluloid skidmark that would make J. Piquer Simon wince and scurry into the night mewling. I've seen bad porn movies...a lot. And what's more, most of them were better acted than this. Jiminy, even the casual walking shots were more forced than a Brian Dennehy sex scene. I guess you save money if instead of actors you just use some people you met in a bar after last call. Our heroes look a little long in the tooth to be highschool...hell, they look too old to have kids in highschool. The ages would be more distracting if the acting wasn't so heinous. It really belies description. All I can say is I long for the restraint of a young William Shatner. The more I think about it, I believe this movie was shot in Bizarro world, where such acting would be considered good actually. And when I say Bizarro world, I of course mean Canada. Mullets abound in this wretched little film. Be forwarned. Peace.

I remember this to be the first werewolf film I ever rented (but not the first one I ever watched; I was already familiar with Oliver Reed, David Naughton and "Eddie Quist" at the time, not in particular with their names, of course, but more with the werewolf films they're attached to). Ripe enough to tell right from wrong, but not aged enough to tell the difference between a good or a bad movie. So, I remember enjoying LONE WOLF back then, but as years passed by I knew I had to re-visit it eventually and re-evaluate things. Found me an old VHS tape of it and re-watched it. And boy, is this one silly and downright bad low-budget production at moments. Horrible 80's hair-do's and clothing. Horrible 80's hard rock music (it features a pretty awful rock band in the film, trying to struggle their way to fame but they never go beyond playing in the same club over and over again). Very bad acting from most of the cast members. A cast that's supposed to by playing teenagers in high school but they all look much older. Lots of colorful, oh-so-typical 80's lighting. Retarded attempts at humor on rare occasions. And so on and so on...

However,... the film does have two more or less redeeming qualities. One is that the plot is constructed as a mystery. Granted, it's painfully easy to guess who the werewolf is, but it is somewhat entertaining to see how the filmmakers are desperately trying to set the viewer off on the wrong foot numerous times. Secondly, there's the werewolf. And, yes, the film features a brief transformation-scene. Hooray for that! It looks a bit clumsy, but they did the best with the little means they had, and we get the works (teeth growing, pointy ears appearing, face stretching, claws bursting through fingers, hair growing). Other than this scene, the werewolf is previously shown throughout the movie mainly in brief close-ups (the eyes, the mouth, the teeth, the claws,...) or silhouettes. Fair enough. It all looks a bit fake, of course, but still neat to look at. There's a bit of gore too, stuff like hearts ripped out, a face torn in half and a guy getting his head ripped off. The film even has a little twist in its tail (sort of a surprise shock ending) that I totally forgot should have been coming because I was so amused by the dumbness of the rest of the movie.

I can't really recommended LONE WOLF to anybody, but it is a fun bad werewolf flick. I'd put it right up there with other late 80's straight-faced shenanigans like MINDKILLER (1987) and THE BRAIN (1988).

Low budget, horribly acted, dreadfully directed and featuring a bunch of thirtysomethings as high school students. Stereotypical 1980s fashions and musical styles abound. Ah, those were simpler days: the hair was big; a basic data search required genius-level computer skills; and anyone with a camcorder, a lousy script and a dream could make a direct-to-video werewolf movie.

This certainly isn't a good movie. It isn't even a competent movie. It may not even be a coherent movie. But its whodunit werewolf heart is in the right place; and there's corny fun to be had if you go in with the right expectations. Especially if you watch it with a good-natured group that's willing to enjoy the schlock.

Yes, this movie is objectively done badly, but it's that bad done fun, the characters are nice, the gore effects are cool and the werewolf definitely badass, plus there's a nice hard rock soundtrack. I prefer a small film like this to modern films of today.

My review was written in August 1989 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

This made-for-video werewolf feature is moderately interesting but unfortunately adds nothing to the lore of the lycanthrope.

Shot in Denver, pic unfolds as a whodunit with mostly students as suspects when a rash of killings breaks out in a small town. Police are slow to pick up on the clues, such as sightings of wild dogs near the murder scene. Young computer hackers decide to investigate on their own, leading to a surprise revelation of the werewolf's identity.

Gore content increases as film goes on (first few attacks are presented tamely) and a fair amount of suspense is built up. However, the cast members are a bit old for their roles, though heroine Dyann Brown is a beauty. Gimmick of building evidence to make each principal potentially the killer is fun.

Tech credits are okay, including unspectacular werewolf effects.