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Stephen King's Silver Bullet [1985]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Silver Bullet is a generic, by-the-numbers Stephen King film with a Stephen King screenplay adapted from an earlier novella. Back in the innocent days of 1976--the age of innocence gets later every year--the town of Tarker's Fall finds itself in the grip of mass hysteria when something starts tearing people apart. Only a crippled child Martie (Corey Haim) works out the truth, which is that the new pastor is a werewolf. Eventually he manages to convince his supercilious sister Janey and his unreliable drunk Uncle Red (Gary Busey) and there is the usual confrontation involving a silver bullet melted down from the children's religious jewellery; the title also refers to the boy's motorised wheelchair. The film neglects interesting possibilities--the lynch-mob mentality that takes over the town fizzles after the major vigilantes are killed, the pastor tries to justify the killings to himself--in favour of stock ultra-violent confrontations and extended metamorphoses; its major strength is a familiar King theme, the helplessness of being a child in a world full of people who will not listen to you.

On the DVD: The DVD comes with a director's commentary by Daniel Attias and dubbed versions in German, French and Italian. The soundtrack has Dolby sound which brings out the stylised fairy-tale elements in the score and the widescreen picture is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio. The sometimes muddy-looking night-scenes are balanced by brisk pastoral daylight scenes that have their own innocence. --Roz Kaveney


A GREAT HORROR FILM
Review date: 2007-11-04 Rating: 8 out of 10

The town of Larker's Mill is threatening with a lot of strange missing person cases. As the town celebrates it founding day, one of the townspeople is killed. Sheriff Joe Haller (Terry O'Quinn) is under pressure from the town to solve it, and he sets out to investigate. An eccentric builder, Uncle Red (Gary Busey) arrives in town to visit his nephew, Marty, (Corey Haim) a crippled teenager who is confined to a wheelchair. A third animal attack reels the town, forcing Haller to put in a curfew. That still doesn't stop the killer, only this time it is Marty's best friend, Brady (Joe Wright). His father (Kent Broadhurst) organizes a town search party to go into the woods to find the killer, but they mostly end up being killed. Only a few survive, which cancels the rest of the town's celebrations for Independence Day. Uncle Red announces that he has to go back, leaving Marty by himself. That night, he sneaks out and shoots off some fireworks and finds out that the killer is a werewolf. Wounding the werewolf, he asks his sister Jane (Megan Follows) to go around town looking for people with an eye-patch. Only one person has one, Reverend Lowe (Everett McGill). Convinced that he is right, Jane agrees to help him solve the mystery in the town and find the real killer werewolf.

The Good News: I really like this werewolf movie. It does have a lot more suspense than most werewolf movies. To me, the part that really made me jump was the hunting party in the woods. There is a few people wandering around with flashlights in a fog-covered forest, with the fog coming up to their waist. They start to hear very low growling, which is the growling werewolf, then each one is killed by a very cleverly placed jumps to signal their ends. It is spread out for several minutes, making the scene pretty long scene with ample jumps and kills. It does have a creepy atmosphere to it, as does the rest of the movie after the discovery that the killer is a werewolf. The attacks are all carried out in a scene that provides at least a good, cheap scare. Normally, films aren't necessarily content to doing the thoughtful scare and the cheap one, but this film walks a very fine line between the two and includes the both of them together in a very entertaining way. The two do go hand-in-hand together and the creepy effect they have is almost irreplaceable. I believe that this may be King's second best adoption. Keep in mind that by this I mean that of all the movies that have been made based on his books, I think only 'The Shining' eclipses this one. That is not to say that this is the best story, but is in fact one of the better films made from his ideas. Even the identity of the werewolf was a bit of a shock the first. It does take a while before it becomes very easy to guess who it really is. His attacks are very brutal. The film has some great-looking gore and some pretty bloody leftovers from the attacks. They were really bad and messed up, leaving nothing to be desired and a treat in itself for the bloodhounds.

The Bad News: The werewolf itself is not in the least frightening or all that scary. The wolf is a badly made-up version of the one from 'The Howling' and comes off not in the least bit threatening. Even worse for it is that the werewolf is one the screen for so little time that it looks like it does have a very cheap design. It's nothing a few more snipes and cuts could've cure, but the result on film is a terrible looking werewolf. Another strike against it is that there was no reason for the film to be around. There was no storyline for the wolf's existence. It simply was, that was it. There was no territory invasion that he was trying to repel, no acting out to understand why the curse was in him, almost real motive for the werewolf was given. All werewolf films have a motive for the werewolves, and in King's novella, he had a really great motive. It was a shame that it was never transported over into the film.

The Final Verdict: If the werewolf were given a motive of some sort, this would be among the top werewolf films of all time. As it stands, this is still a really great film and is one of the better films made from Steven King. Definitely worth a look for werewolf fans as well.


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Reviews


GREAT HORROR FILM
Review date: 2007-10-26 Rating: 8 out of 10

By today's standards, the werewolf effects are pretty basic, but the story is reasonably lighthearted despite the rolling heads and savaged corpses.

The identity of the werewolf is unknown, but the inhabitants of the small US town know that he/she walks amongst them. Imagine their surprise when the vicar sprouts fangs and tries to eat the congregation.

GOOD FUN HORROR

A fun, low-key horror
Review date: 2006-10-20 Rating: 8 out of 10

Silver Bullet is my favorite of Steven King's horror adaptations (yes, I do like this better than The Shining) . King even penned the screenplay himself (from his short story 'The Cycle of the Werewolf'), but since he was also responsible for the awful Maximum Overdrive, that's no solid proof of quality. But it a damn cool movie.

What makes it so different and unique is that it's horror movie told from a child's perspective (though I admit that the retrospective narration seems out of place) and has a brother/sister dynamic that's quite cute and makes you really care for the characters.

Corey Haim plays Marty Coslaw, a young boy who is confined to a wheelchair for reasons unknown. His older sister Jane is forced to take care of him and throws tantrums whenever the mum and dad take Marty's side (which is always). But the chair doesn't stop Marty from being mischievous. Especially when his manic, reckless Uncle Red (a fat Gary Busey-absolutely brilliant, as always) builds him a motorized wheelchair/bike called the Silver Bullet.

There is killer in their small town who strikes every month when the moon is full. The townsfolk gradually become more and more weary as autumn rolls on and Marty takes a personal offence when his best friend is murdered, his best girl is run out of town and a fireworks display is cancelled. Then he witnesses what the killer really is. But who is going to believe a kid's story of a werewolf? Despite the red-herrings, it's easy to figure out who it is before the main revelation. But it's still a fun mystery.

Filmed with the little-used JDC-Scope process, Silver Bullet has brilliant cinematography by Armando Nannuzzi and a wonderful score by Jay Chattaway. There's not much horror to it, but I don't think it was ever the intention to dwell on the violence. Even though I would call this film suitable for kids (despite the 18/R-rating) it's still way better than the PG-13 junk we get these days.

The film is also notable for Everett McGill (so evil as the baddie in Under Siege 2), an under-rated and under-used actor in a typically eccentric role as a charismatic Reverend. Doesn't he look like a cross between Christopher Reeve and David Hasselhoff?

A perfect Halloween movie or any night with the curtains drawn and lights off.

The DVD is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital Mono sound. This Region 2 version improves on the US DVD by including a trailer and Director's Commentary.

Very underrated werewolf movie
Review date: 2006-05-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

I first saw Silver Bullet in the cinema in 1986 when it was released. It was kinda dumped into cinemas without much marketing and was four years behind the big grossing werewolf films of the 1980s - The Howling and An American Werewolf In London. The result was that it did not perform at the Box Office. That is a shame because it is a little gem of a film, and is a better film than An American Werewolf in London. In fact it is up there with The Howling as the best werewolf film of the 1980s.

What makes Silver Bullet so good? It is based on Stephen King's short story The Cycle Of The Werewolf. King himself wrote the screenplay. The cast are very good in their roles and bring the tale to life with a result that you care for, and can identify with the characters as the tale unfolds. Corey Haim gives probably his best performance as the young crippled lad, Marty who has to face life (and a werewolf) in a wheel chair. Megan Follows turns in a great performance as his resentful sister Jane who is also the films narrator. Gary Busey is very good as Marty's sympathetic but alcoholic uncle. Sterling support from other actors such as Quest For Fire's Everett McGill who is superb as the town's creepy minister and Terry O'Quinlan who plays the town sheriff.
This film version of a Stephen King book succeeds so well because it brings King's book to life on the screen in a way that so many other film adaptations of King books fail badly to do. It combines the horror with the realistic depiction of everyday life. Friendship, loyalty, drunkeness, pettiness, and bigotry all feature among the townsfolk. The support crippled Marty gets from family and friends contrasts with the attitude of his girlfriend's slob of a father who thinks that cripples sponge off the welfare and should be put down....
This film succeeds where so many fail and that is to place Stephen King's warts and all depiction of humanity up there on the screen.

The horror is well catered for, scenes with the werewolf are scary and gory. The beast itself is a huge monstrousity, well brought to life by SFX whizz Carlo Rambaldi who created ET.
I do have a criticism of the dvd though and that is the mono sound. I am disappointed that if they could not put the film into 5.1, then the distributor could at least have given it a surround sound soundtrack.

I do though recommend the film to anyone who likes the genre, plus any fan of Stephen King's books who would like to see a decent adaptation up there on the screen.

The Best Werewolf Movie Ever
Review date: 2005-04-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

Everyone may hate on Silver Bullet if they want. The facts are, I've been watching this movie honestly since I was 5 yrs old, and it is still my favorite movie at 17. I agree the dvd might not have any extras but for Silver Bullet to be made in 1985 it is good. And also the werewolf wasn't that bad. For someone who haven't seen this movie. It is a little more mystery suspense, than horror. This movie will make you jump a couple time and it will also crack you up. If you can check out the trailer.
This movie is about a handicap boy in a wheel chair(marty), who friend gets killed. When marty suspects that it was a werewolf(reverend) the werewolf trys to kill him. After hitting the werewolf in the eye with a skyrocket he used that as proof that the werewolf was the reverend. Marty tell his sister jane, and they both try to convince their acholic uncle(red)that a werewolf tried to killed him. After somewhat believeing him marty and jane get their uncle red to turn their necklaces to a silver bullet. And on halloween they stayed home that night and the werewolf attacked, but was eventually killed by marty and the silver bullet.
PLEASE WATCH THIS MOVIE U WON'T REGRET IT !!!! 9.99/10

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Gary Busey
Corey Haim
Everett McGill
Robin Groves
Megan Follows

Creators:
Gary Busey (Primary Contributor)
Everett McGill (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Momentum Pictures
Manufacturer: Momentum Pictures
EAN: 5060021175168
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2001-10-22
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1985-10-11
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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