Silver Bullet (1985)

The Stephen King quest continues and next up is the little known...

Until I began this epic quest of deciding to watch everything put to celluloid that Mr. King has ever written or been involved in, I hadn't heard of half of them.  This was one that I hadn't heard of but one that immediately took my fancy.  I was interested to see Stephen King's take on the werewolf genre (without having to go through the effort of reading a book).  Plus, when you see a movie with the late great Corey Haim (bes tchild actor ever maybe) and Gary Busey, and even Lawrence Tierney attached, then you get the feeling that it's going to be a contender.

The movie starts off with a decapitation followed by a howl into the night.  Good way to start a movie.  Like a lot of King works, it's set in a small town.  Right away we feel sympathy for Corey Haim's character Marty.  His disability seems like somewhat of a hindrance to his family, and despite being a little nuisance with pranks, he has a good heart.  An instant likable character.  You know who else is likable though?  The big bad wolf.  It doesn't take the rascal long to claim a second victim by ripping a pregnant woman attempting suicide to shreds.  The townsfolk begin to get concerned about the mutilated bodies showing up and Marty, his sister and alcoholic uncle set out to find the beast responsible for the slayings.

The family drama adds depth to the movie, so it's not just simple werewolf mauls citizenry.  The performances are outstanding, especially from Corey Haim, Everitt McGuill and Gary Busey as you'd expect.  The kills are frequent and there's enough tense build up to make them a sweet pay off.  The werewolf may look dated to some, but for those of you like me who love the man in suit monsters with limited FX will love our dear canine villain.  Overall, an enjoyable film that horror fans should check out.