Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

The era we are currently living in is one where good Horror films and unfortunately few and far between. Good Werewolf movies are also few and far between. One has to wonder why so few Werewolf films are good. After all, the Werewolf, a half-man, half-wolf creature is probably one of the most famous monsters. There have been some truly good Werewolf films though, such as the original Howling (notice I said original, not any of the sequels), An American Werewolf In London, and Silver Bullet. 1996's Bad Moon (based on the novel Thor, about a dog on the trail of a Werewolf) is nowhere near the greatness of those movies, but it still manages to be a decent, if overly forgettable Werewolf romp that sports an array of entertaining effects.


Story:


Janet (Mariel Hemingway) receives a call from her brother Ted (Michael Pare) who is returning home from an expedition in the Amazon jungles. Janet, her son Brett (Mason Gamble), and the family dog Thor visit Ted in his motor home and he drops by their house for a while. Ted doesn't seem to be doing well, his girlfriend was killed during the Amazon expedition and things just aren't working too good for him since his return.

Things get scary at the neighborhood once Ted arrives though, as horribly mangled corpses begin turning up. Janet becomes suspicious of what Ted might be up to and upon searching his motor home, finds some disturbing things, including photographs of his dead girlfriend, all mangled, and some strange artifacts and a book with drawings of what appears to be a wolf-like creature. Adding to the uneasyness is Thor's attitude towards Ted, which gets more and more hostile. Eventually it's realized that a Werewolf is the culprit behind the gruesome killings. Guess who the Werewolf is?


Bad Moon is a very average movie and is predictable right from the start, I mean, right from the very beginning we know who the Werewolf is (I won't give it away but you'll know just who it is) and the movie itself is generally flat, but it's not a total loss, sporting a nice array of special effects that make it worthwhile.


Eric Red takes the directing helm and does a decent job, creating a nice isolated atmosphere, capturing some nice scenery, and he gets some good shots of the Werewolf as well. I especially liked his use of fog, good work there. Red however just fails to add a sense of excitement, the movie just doesn't feel dynamic. That's not to say it was boring, it just simply was not that exciting to watch. The human characters are okay but with the exception of Brett (a likeable child character in a Horror film, who would've thought?), you never really get attached to a particular person. Red does handle the Werewolf sequences pretty well though. Overall Red is a decent director.

The acting is only okay, Hemingway & Pare both have alright chemistry but neither is given much to do really (although Pare is pretty creepy in his role). Mason Gamble's performance is probably the best in the film, he's likeable and gives a believeable performance. The acting is nothing special but for this type of film it's acceptable.

The special effects are easily the film's strongest point though. The Werewolf design is honestly amongst the coolest I've seen. The Werewolf looks very realistic and menacing and looks just like a real wolf merged with a human being. The animatronic effects for the Werewolf were also extremely well-done and had some nice fluid movements. The blood/gore content is surprisingly high too, with lots of bloody slashes and some nasty-looking mangled corpses. The computer transformation effects were pretty poor though, but otherwise, the movie excels in the effects department and the special effects are easily the film's strongest point.


Overall Bad Moon is a strictly average movie, not bad, not great, just plain average. It does sport decent acting and great Werewolf effects (minus the CGI), as well as some nicely done Werewolf sequences, but it just fails to impress overall. Not a total loss though, there are certainly worse Horror films out there. If your bored on a rainy day with nothing to do and you come across this movie on TV, give it a shot, just for the cool special effects.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age