Silver Bullet (1985) Review

Ah, Gary Busey. You salty dog you! Making a Stephen King adaptation--you fox!

As anyone can see, I'm being rather sarcastic. A Stephen King flick? Not the best career move in the world, good buddy. King adaptations are rarely very good, from The Mangler series (which, in order of the three films, featured Robert Englund, Lance Henriksen, and Reggie Bannister, FYI) to the Children of the Corn sequels, things don't tend to go too well. Luckily, this time, they weren't too shabby.

This film, like so many other horror flicks from the '80s, is very simple. A young boy in a wheelchair and his sister try to find a werewolf, eventually gaining the aid of their Uncle Red (Gary Busey). That's about it... We do get a bit of the werewolf's side, which I'll get into later, but yeah...

The acting in this film isn't very bad, just average at best. Corey Haim as the wheelchair-bound protagonist is a cute kid who you really don't want to see die... much... and who is continually harassed by his sister basically for being a cripple, when it comes right down to it. This is where the only real bad acting comes in. Not Megan Follows, but Tovah Feldshuh (she can be seen in Lady in the Water as Mrs. Bubchik), who provides her voice as the sister Jane, but older, narrating the story. Her performance is truly cringe-worthy, and really took from the movie a bit. If the filmmakers had gone without narration, it would have been a lot better.

The Buse is in top form here, playing a lovable, rebellious uncle with fine enthusiasm for the role. The man is funny, let's face it, and he is good at being funny. And with an uncle like him, who gets drunk and builds really fancy wheelchairs, what more can a handicapped kid ask for?

I'm sure many would like hear about the werewolf now, so here it is: pretty freakin' nice. The transformation even vaguely reminded me of An American Werewolf in London, and the resulting creature, while he does look a bit like he belongs in Planet of the Apes, is a fine addition to the likes of The Howling, the previously mentioned An American Werewolf in London, and the original Wolfman. My only complaint regarding the werewolf is the killings, which are less than amazing. A baseball bat? Really?! Fucking Jason Voorhees can do that, bring out the motherfucking jaws, bitch! --Which he does do, but come on, a bat?!

Other than that, I don't have much to say about Silver Bullet. It's a good King flick, the script is fine, and the direction is average. Also, I found a nice little similarity between this and The Scarlet Letter, which I won't get into here for the sake of spoiling the obvious, but let's just say that there is some good depth here and there minus the terrible writing stylings of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Directing: 6/10
Script: 7/10
Story: 8/10
Acting: 6/10
Scare Factor: 5/10

FINAL SCORE: 32/50