Movie Spotlight - "WOLFCOP"

Recently I had the pleasure of watching a movie that I had been waiting for months to see. Wolf Cop is a new movie that is a total throwback to the glory days of crappy films. They went for an 80's vibe and totally nailed it. Like somewhat of the bastard child of Teen Wolf mixed with a bad cop flick, it's hard to not feel nostalgic when viewing this masterpiece/turd. All the information you need to have to determine if you want to see this is quite simple. He's a wolf. He's a cop. He's Wolfcop. If that doesn't grab you right there, you should probably pass on this.

 But here's the setup anyway.

We start with some hooded figures in the woods performing some sort of ritual. 

We flash ahead to our main man, down and out cop Lou Garou (a little foreshadowing there), as he stumbles around drunkenly on the job, and everywhere else. He's has the potential to be a good cop. He just seems to have lost all motivation, given up on life, and turned to a lifestyle of lecherous debauchery. One morning when Lou wakes up he discovers a pentagram has been carved into his chest. He has no recollection of how it got there. Later, while doing his business at a urinal, his urine transforms into blood and he begins transforming for the first time. This is a well done scene, with cool practical effects. Especially disturbing is that we are shown his pecker transforming to its werewolf version. Very unique. The transformation is complete. He is Wolfcop. His police cruiser he modifies and turns it into the Wolfmobile. Ridiculousness ensues. Lou finds himself tail deep in an ages old conspiracy that may prove too much for the now highly motivated officer of the paw. I mean law. 

Wolfcop has a definite Canadian feel to it as well. That vibe that underlies shows like Corner Gas. It's fun. It's somehow understated. The acting is good. The movie is well made and well directed. They aren't breaking any new ground here, except maybe the werewolf penis thing, but Wolfcop is a fun little travel back in time for fans like me, that enjoy B-Movies. I also read that Wolfcop 2 is in the works. Happy happy joy joy.

Movie Spotlight - "It Came Without Warning" (1980)

"It Came Without Warning" has a very interesting story. Released in 1980 it is a combination of sci-fi/horror/slasher.

The basic premise is that there is an 8 foot tall blue skinned alien with a giant bulbous head that is hanging around in the woods near this lake hunting people down for sport. He throws little frisbee like discs that have teeth and creepy looking feelers and if they land on someone the feelers penetrate the skin and begin to suck the blood from the victim, unto death. It is rather silly but the effects are kind of cool. They achieve a rather gross effect in which it appears that ketchup and mustard are pouring out of the frisbee alien attached to the human. There is the pre-requisite group of young people that are heading out to the lake for a fun filled time, led by an extremely young David Caruso in his first feature film appearance. He is also wearing some shorts that would make Daisy Duke blush. It doesn't take long for the action to get going and the happy group of youths are turned unhappy in short order. We see numerous deaths and near deaths at the hand of the alien, who is shown mostly in shadow and obscured until near the end of the movie. His appearance is actually more effective when left in the shadows. Not the greatest looking monster, but not bad overall. This movie features several name actors for a B-Movie, though they are past their prime. Martin Landau is a former army guy named Sarge, who is the local crazy that tells all the townsfolk about the alien, to no avail. Jack Palance is a hunter that is on the trail of the alien. Palance is in good form in his part. Just crazy enough to get the job done. Cameron Mitchell and Larry Storch also make short appearances in this film, like I said, not bad for a small budget. The other noteworthy item is that many say that the basic story for "Predator" was lifted from this movie, then tweaked a bit. I don't know if that is true, but there are definite similarities. What is interesting on this front is that Kevin Peter Hall plays the giant blue alien, and years later also portrays the Predator. Without Warning is decent entertainment that drags through a somewhat slow middle section. Overall it is worth a viewing as long as your expectations are tempered going in. Not classic, but kind of fun for fans of this type of cinema. Captain Creepy hopes everyone enjoys Without Warning.