Moon of the Wolf

"Moon of the Wolf" is a good example of a an early 70's made for TV horror film. This werewolf saga succeeds admirably due to the efforts of the cast, some good location shooting and a better than average screenplay (for TV at least). Actors like David Jansenn,Bradford Dillman and Barbara Rush do their professional best to put this story of lycanthropy in the south across and it manages to be both interesting and somewhat exciting despite some cheesy make up effects. It is a good way to pass an hour or so, and for my money is just as captivating as the kind of PG-13 horror fare that is ground out today to entice teenagers to go out to the multiplex.

After several locals are viciously murdered, a Louisiana sheriff (David Janssen) starts to suspect he may be dealing with a werewolf.

Films like this one (as well as "Dark Night of the Scarecrow") prove that once upon a time, movies on television could actually be good. Today, that may be true, but in my opinion far less often. (The SyFy channel single-handedly lowers the bar on made-for-TV movies.)

This film introduced me to the term "loup-garou", a type of werewolf that is common in the culture of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. I do love how a plot point is that the townspeople do not know the term or even how to say it, with "loukarook" and other variations being used.

This also taught me about the fictional "Seibert's syndrome", an offshoot of blackwater fever. That fever releases hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. Pretty sure that the guy allegedly suffering from it in this movie does not know what he is talking about.

Sure, the werewolf (when we finally get a good glimpse) is a bit cheesy. But that is fine by me. Give me a well-crafted 1970s film over today's version of werewolves any day of the week. I would rather see a guy with a decent five o'clock shadow running amok than Taylor Lautner and his washboard abs sulking.

Creepy little tele-movie concerning a highborn Louisiana family with a dark secret. After a local girl is found mutilated in a nearby bayou, local sheriff (Janssen) must use all his detective skills to solve the crime. His investigation leads him to an old flame (Rush) and her aristocratic brother (Dillman) who are both keen for the culprit to be caught, but for different reasons. Everyone's a suspect including the local medical examiner (Beradino), who can't seem to determine the cause of death, while the paranormal activity leads to more mysterious victims. Tense, with a sometimes unsettling mood, the southern tones and textures make this an offbeat little suspender that belies its meagre TV budget.

The leading trio succeed with their characterisations and experienced feature director Petrie constructs an intelligent plot woven with effective twists and surprises. Appropriately, the romantic undertones between Janssen and Rush fail to flourish, and so the core narrative never loses momentum. Able support from Lewis, Dano and Chandler in particular, as the oafish yokels, suspects and victims, add capable depth to the cast & characters. Decent cinematography, apt dialogue and some effective chills ensure the end product is beyond the typical mid week tele-movie experience, and although the make-up effects are 'limited', this doesn't undermine the picture.

Lycanthropy devotee or not, the occult themes shouldn't deter you from investing 74 minutes in this modest mystery, entertaining despite its small screen threshold.

The setup never fails ... a murder in a small town leaves the local sheriff stumped, and he travels around investigating and finding several suspects among the townsfolk. The sheriff is your typical kind-hearted, beer-swilling Louisianan kind of guy, and the list of suspects includes the murdered girls brother (the angry redneck), the town's doctor (the local professional with a dark secret), a Mr Rodance (the wealthy, mysterious businessman who owns half the town) and his sister (the slightly unhinged female lead who becomes the Sheriff's love interest).

Yeah, it's all fairly standard, but it's also quite entertaining in a formulaic kind of way. For at least the first half of this film, there's really nothing to suggest that a werewolf is responsible (unless you're familiar with werewolf folklore and know what 'loup garou' means). This is in fact a typical small-town crime melodrama, one of many which were made for TV in the seventies, and it's shot and played out in exactly the same style as these movies. But it just so happens to have a werewolf in it.

It's an interesting idea, and executed reasonably well. The quality of acting and so forth is pretty much what you'd expect from a TV movie -- competent enough, but nothing special. It's also a fairly short movie, as at 75 minutes it's not even feature length. This is to the film's credit, and it certainly managed to keep me engaged for that length of time, which is more than I can say for many of the similarly low-budget werewolf movies I've seen. The story unfolds at a good pace, and leads to a suitably thrilling (but not too over-the-top) climax. It's all decent enough, not great, but it doesn't try to be.

All in all, this is your average werewolf B-movie which I'd recommend to werewolf enthusiasts if you happen to get a chance to see it. Hell, there are worse ways to spend an hour and fifteen minutes.

This made for TV movie, starring the late David Janssen and Barbara Rush is not bad. This movie was made in the early 1970's when the TV Movie of the Week was all the rage. Although this movie isn't as good as some of the other horror movies that were made for TV (such as Bad Ronald, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and When Michael Calls,) it is interesting enough to hold the viewer's interest.

David Janssen was a good actor, and he's equally good here. My only complaint about this movie is that it drags in some spots. The werewolf make-up is ludicrous, but hey, what can you expect from an early 1970's t.v. movie? This movie reminded me a lot of The Night Stalker, starring the late, great Darren McGavin. If you are a fan of the Night Stalker, or Made for T.V. movies then you should enjoy this movie.