Bark at the Moon: ‘LONE WOLF’ (1988) Revisited – Retro Review

I have always been into werewolves and as such I am always on the lookout for great werewolf movies. While I love the better-known ones such as The Howling, An American Werewolf in London, and Ginger Snaps I have also run across a few that most people don’t know about that I enjoyed a great deal as well. I remember catching Lone Wolf on cable one night when I was in college back in the day and I really dug it a lot. I hadn’t seen it in a long time and the other night as my wife and I were trying to figure out what to watch I suggested checking it out as she had never seen it.

So, did Lone Wolf hold up as well as I remembered, or did it deserve to be put down with a silver bullet?

Keep reading to find out…

Synopsis

A werewolf terrorizes a small town, tearing anyone it comes across to pieces. The authorities claim that wild dogs are responsible for the deaths, but bad boy, wannabe rocker Eddie and his friends know the truth and are the only ones who can stop the werewolf once and for all before it wipes out the entire town.

It may not be a perfect movie, but I love Lone Wolf. Yes, it was obviously made on a very small budget, and the acting is questionable at times, but it has something that a lot of horror movies don’t these days, and that is heart. In a lot of ways, the bad acting and low budget works in its favor as there is just something about them that makes the movie more enjoyable in my opinion. I think that it has an interesting premise, some cool death scenes, and to be honest, a decent-looking werewolf that looks a thousand times better than any werewolf created by CGI effects. This movie is living proof that you don’t have to have a ton of money to make an awesome film or to create a cool looking creature as long as you have talented, passionate folks who care about the project they are working on.

Written by Michael Krueger (Mindkiller, Night Vision) and directed by John Callas (Bobby’s World, No Solicitors), Lone Wolf is an underrated treat if you ask me. If you look up reviews for it online most of them are negative and brutally slam the film, but I have to completely disagree. It does have its flaws (one of them being the fact that I am not sure if the characters are supposed to be in high school or college as they are honestly too old to play either), but they didn’t stop me from enjoying it in general as I was able to overlook these problems. I’ll admit that it isn’t the greatest movie I have even seen in my life, but at the same time it is far from the worst and doesn’t deserve all the hate that gets online. It’s one of those movies that rocks if you don’t take it too seriously and just go into it expecting a fun movie that doesn’t make you think too hard.

While it may not be the most original idea ever, I still enjoy the premise. Who doesn’t love a movie that features a werewolf running around tearing people to shreds? It kills quite a few people as well, and the film has a decent body count, which is always cool. As I said earlier, I also like the fact that you don’t know who the werewolf is and have to try to figure it out as the movie progresses. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I think that the werewolf’s true identity is a nice touch and I honestly wasn’t expecting this person to be the culprit (at first anyway, I was able to figure it out as the movie went on the first time I saw it). If you’re in the mood for a bloody werewolf flick with some mystery thrown into the mix for good measure, then you’ve come to the right place and won’t walk away disappointed afterward.

I also appreciated the fact that the movie had some light comedy as well. There is an awesome scene that has stuck with me for years that takes place at a Halloween costume party at one point that is nothing short of hilarious that involves the werewolf jumping up on the stage as they are announcing the winners of the costume contest that is comedy gold. This bit makes me laugh every time I see it and I think that it is just a brilliant idea.

I think that Lone Wolf is a hidden gem. Sure, there are some scenes-such as the rock concert bits-that are a little cheesy and some of the dialogue leaves a lot to be  desired, but overall, it is a fun little movie that most werewolf fans will love. I think that it is a bit underrated and I always have a blast when I watch it. If you are in the mood for a fun little werewolf flick, then I highly recommend that you check it out when you get the chance. You won’t regret it.