Hungarian actor Robert Bronzi has made a nice action movie career for himself based in no small part on his resemblance to the late, great Charles Bronson. Following up on his over the top, Bronson inspired gems, Death Kiss and Escape From Death Block 13, Bronzi returns in Mark Savage’s 12 To Midnight. This time it’s personal? Well, yes. But also, this time we have werewolves!

As both a Bronson fan and a werewolf afficionado, I was grinning from ear to ear when I first saw the trailer for this one. It goes without saying I was ecstatic for the opportunity screen and review this film. Did it live up to my lofty expectations?

Read on for my review!

Synopsis

A detective, despondent over the murder of his wife and forced to resign, is brought back to the force when a new serial killer begins taunting him … who turns out to be a werewolf.

Mark Savage directed the film. It stars Robert Bronzi, Tito Ortiz, Sadie Katz, and Daniel Roebuck.

Check out the trailer below!

The Setup

The first ten minutes of 12 To Midnight will have you flashing back to some great action films of yesteryear. Think Cobra or Dirty Harry  or any number of classic 80’s buddy cop movies. We’re off to a good start! Bronzi is introduced as a no nonsense, tough as nails cop, who may or may not have time to bother with the rule book. Already mourning the loss of his wife – victim to brutal murder – some bloody convenience store heroics land him a fat suspension to boot.

Down and nearly out, Bronzi finds comfort in boozing and brooding. But when bodies start piling up, the police can’t afford ot keep their best detective sidelined…even if he does appear have a personal connection to the killings. Bronzi’s back on the case. Can he solve the mystery of his wife’s murder and stop the killer before he…or it…kills again?

A Fun Mashup

Let’s face it: this isn’t Ghandi or Gone With The Wind. If you’re scouting for Academy Award winners or the next indie arthouse film festival gem you’re barking up the wrong tree. However, if you love a good action yarn reminiscent of the old Cannon Films days, there’s a lot to love here. Bronzi, for his part, dopplegangers Charles Bronson nicely. Like many Bronson characters, he’s a man of action and few words, and that suits him well in 12 To Midnight. He says what needs to be said and gets some good one liners in along the way. Bronson would be proud.

Werewolf films are a dime a dozen and you can probably get fifty cop films for that same ten cents. But a hard boiled cop film that’s also about werewolves? Now we’re on to something! It’s a fun concept. There’s not much of a budget here, but they make the most of it. Bronzi is obviously front and center, but you also have some nice supporting performances from Daniel Roebuck (Stream, Rob Zombie’s The Munsters) and Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6). Tito Ortiz, ex MMA fighter and action film mainstay, also makes a memorable appearance.

Not Quite A Classic

As fun as this movie is on the base level, it’s also somewhat frustrating because of some potentially great, missed opportunities that could have been. Revenge should be the driving force behind a film like this. Revenge for Bronzi’s wife’s murder. Thematically it doesn’t really materialize, even though it’s implied that these are serial killings. Daniel Roebuck’s character even comments that the killer wants Bronzi in play, but these connections between cop and killer are never fully made. Properly executed, this could have been epic.

Along similar lines, Bronzi plays a detective here and you see him gathering evidence in various scenes, but his character never really gets the chance to put it all together in a satisfying reveal for the audience. It’s a shame, too, because the mystery of who the werewolf is hangs out there like an itch just waiting to be scratched. Unfortunately, that reveal also falls flat.

The creature design is somewhat disappointing. The initial transformation you see is pretty cool, but overall the makeup and costume would have been much better kept in shadow and left to the viewer’s imagination. The creature’s not quite cool enough to be front and center, so you wind up seeing much more than you want or need to here, unfortunately.

Final Thoughts

12 To Midnight is an enjoyable, mockbuster action romp, that harkens back to the glory days of video stores past. If you ever kicked back and enjoyed the latest Seagal, Van Damme, Chuck Norris, or Charles Bronson offering on a Friday night, you’re going to dig this. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Charles Bronson may be gone, but his spirit lives on in the form of Robert Bronzi. Pass the popcorn!