Silver Bullet

Starring: Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim, Megan Follows, Terry O'Quinn, Leon Russom, Joe Wright
Directed by: Daniel Attias
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A werewolf terrorizes a small town.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big fan of Stephen King, although I'll be the first to admit that films adapted from his books are really hit-or-miss. Silver Bullet is certainly goofy, cheesy, and feels low budget... but I somehow still found myself enjoying the movie. If you go into it with an open mind and are willing to embrace it for what it is, it's a fairly enjoyable little film. If you take it too seriously, you'll certainly be disappointed.

It's fascinating that this film was rated "R" - this certainly doesn't feel like a film geared towards mature audiences. Sure, the werewolf violence is often gruesome, but this is really a story about a kid in a wheelchair, trying to fight a werewolf. This feels like the perfect PG-13 film. It felt like that was the audience it was really designed for, and the movie is much more enjoyable if you look at it like that. You can see teenagers enjoying the 80s adventure and living vicariously through the kids in the film. When this movie is aimed at adult audiences, I can see why there might have been a disconnect and why people may not have appreciated the movie. I was able to mentally straddle the line between PG-13 and R, so I ended up having a pretty fun time of it.

I like werewolf movies, in general. It's fun to watch a small town like this being terrorized by a werewolf. Under the full moon, everyone is at risk. But, the real tension mounts in the daylight- the werewolf is probably not some stranger, but someone you know. I loved those scenes as well. The mystery of who the werewolf in was a fun one, and even if it wasn't overly difficult to guess, it still made much of the movie intense. The special effects definitely felt lower quality, even taking into consideration the time period in which the film was made. That being said, it was still fun seeing some of the gorier deaths that take place in this film. Those were needed, to justify the R rating.

The cast wasn't exactly great, but it was fun seeing them anyway. Corey Haim made a good protagonist. Say what you want about him, but audiences were able to identify with him. It was clever of King to put his protagonist in a wheelchair. It added to feeling of vulnerability for that character. I loved seeing Gary Busey here, just because the guy is so crazy. I'm not sure what his approach to the character was, but there were so many moments when his more eccentric side emerged. I can't exactly claim it was a good performance, but it was an entertaining one. It was fun seeing Terry O'Quinn in a small supporting role. The rest of the cast is forgettable- about what you'd expect from an 80s horror movie.

I am well aware of the flaws in Silver Bullet, but I still had fun with this horror movie. It's certainly not a great movie, but it was entertaining in a goofy, cheap way. That worked in this case. There have been some really bad Stephen King adaptations, but I'm happy to say this isn't one of them.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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