Don't Believe the Hype

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

RELEASED IN 1985 and directed by Daniel Attias, "Silver Bullet" chronicles events in a small town in Eastern America when a ferocious werewolf starts picking people off one-by-one. Corey Haim and Megan Follows play the adolescent brother/sister protagonists, the boy being a paraplegic. Gary Busey appears as the amiable alcoholic uncle while Robin Groves plays the mother. Everett McGill is on hand as a prominent minister while Terry O'Quinn appears as the sheriff.Stephen King wrote both the novella and the screenplay and so the movie has the comic book vibe of movies based on King's works. The townspeople are unsurprisingly cartoonish, but the main family is well done, i.e. realistic. In any case, "Silver Bullet" seems quaint compared to the three werewolf flicks of 1981: "The Howling," "An American Werewolf in London" and "Wolfen" (of course the latter wasn't strictly a werewolf flick, if at all). Nevertheless, I appreciate the old fashioned take on the subject and the warmth of the family members. The werewolf is Grade B when fully revealed, but certainly formidable. The film conveys cinematic stereotypes, like the goodhearted drunk (or prostitute) and the corrupt civic leader, who puts on a fake smile for the community while being a savage beast within. Although there's some truth to these depictions, most of the time a drunkard is an alcoholic because his/her heart is desperately flawed. And the bulk of respected community leaders aren't evil incarnate. Yet I like the way the movie shows how everything is not necessarily as it appears. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 35 minutes and was shot in North Carolina (Burgaw, Leland, Wilmington, Castle Hayne and Carolina Beach). GRADE: B-/C+

A Stephen King written film based on his own novella "Cycle of the Werewolf" which he heavily modified into more of a parody of the book."Silver Bullet" takes place in a small peaceful town where one night a horrendous murder occurs. The local thought, including the sheriff's, was that the deed was done by a deranged killer. Meanwhile, our story follows a young paraplegic boy, played by teen idol Corey Haim, who receives a motorized custom-built wheelchair from his uncle, Red and sneaks out to take it for a spin during the night where he gets attacked by a hairy creature. He manages to escape and tries to warn everybody that there is a werewolf-like animal around town and that it's been the true cause of the murder. Convincing no one. he goes off together with his sister to try and find out who the werewolf is.The cast does a great job of giving life to characters from a small enclosed community that experienced an attack disrupting their peaceful and uneventful lifestyle. Gary Busey plays uncle Red with a level of craziness that fits his every-day persona perfectly, even ad-libbing parts of his dialogue that later remained in the final cut on King's decision.The script's final draft is written in a more comical way by Stephen King than his novella, adding a lighter tone to the events, even getting a few laughs during some scenes."Silver Bullet" is a decent 80's horror film that matches perfectly with that decade and is certainly a good addition to the werewolf horror genre.

"Silver Bullet" is an adaptation of a novella by horror meister Stephen King. King also wrote the screenplay for this film. And, it's a werewolf movie to boot.In the sleepy little town of Tarker's Mills where nothing ever happens, grisly murders begin to take place. First a railway worker is literally loses his head. Next a distraught but pregnant young girl Tammy Sturmfuller (Heather Simmons) is brutally murdered. Thirdly a young boy Brady Kincaid (Joe Wright) becomes the next victim. Brady was the playmate of Marty Coslow (Corey Haim) with whom teased Marty's sister Jane (Megan Follows) only hours before.The townspeople become alarmed. They believe the murderer to be some sort of madman however. Marty has reason to believe that the murderer is a werewolf. The townspeople form under Andy Fairton (Bill Smitrovich) and the dead boy's father Herb (Kent Broadhurst), a group that goes out into the night in search of the killer. They find him. Three of the searchers are murdered in the fog. Reverend Lowe (Everett McGill) and Sheriff Haller (Terry O'Quinn) try to calm the folks down.Marty, who is crippled and rides a souped up wheelchair built by his carefree uncle Red (Gary Busey) continues to believe in the werewolf theory. One night while setting off fireworks in an isolated spot, Marty is attacked by the werewolf but manages to put out his eye with a rocket (if you can believe it). Jane now convinced of the existence of the werewolf, searches for a man with an eye patch while collecting bottles for a bottle drive run by the local church. She finds him and.................................The identity of the werewolf is not hard to pick out even though his identity is revealed half way through the film. The real terror comes when he stalks young Marty. There is a fitting climax to the proceedings complete with a silver bullet.Lot's of blood and gore including a decapitation however, the actual murders are not seen, only the aftermaths. Still, its a scary movie.You have to wonder how the werewolf was initially infected, given that the murders suddenly materialize in the quiet little town without warning.

Silver Bullet may be based on King's Cycle of the Werewolf, but there are so many deviations and changes from the story, one could say that they're both stories about a werewolf in a small town and get away with it. It's probably best to experience both of them, as they cover some of the same story but differ in so many ways. Perhaps you can pretend that it's the werewolf version of Rashomon.Tarker's Mill, Maine. 1976. The Coslaw family is a mess, to be perfectly honest. Jane wants to get away. Marty (Corey Ham, The Lost Boys) fights with her and is dealing with being a paraplegic. And the parents, Nan and Bob, are always at odds.Things change once murder tears apart their town, starting with a railroad worker (James Gammon, the coach from Major League). Then, a depressed pregnant woman and Milt Sturmfuller are both killed and people start to worry. Once Billy Kinkaid is killed flying his kite (PS never fly a kite in a Stephen King story, witness Pet Semetary), the townspeople lose their minds.Despite Sheriff Joe Haller (Terry O'Quinn, The Stepfather!) and Reverend Lester Lowe (Big Ed Hurley from Twin Peaks) trying to calm everyone down, a mob goes into the woods to stop the killer. That said — the tables get turned and many of them die, including Owen the bartender (Laurence Tierney, a noted real life maniac who was in Reservoir Dogs and Film Threat's filmed version of the Tube Bar Red tapes).That Reverend isn't on the level though, as he dreams of a mass funeral where everyone turns into a wolf. He wakes up and begs God to stop the pain.The town may cancel the fireworks, but when Uncle Red (also another real life manic, Gary Busey) visits, he gives Marty a wheelchair/motorcycle he calls the "Silver Bullet" that can shoot rockets. The werewolf almost kills him later that evening, but he blasts it in the left eye. He soon realizes that the werewolf and the Reverend are the same person, so he begins mailing him anonymous notes saying that he should kill himself.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/06/stephen-king-week-silver-bullet-1985/