Based on Stephen King’s novellette The Cycle of the Werewolf, and with a screenplay also by King, one would expect Silver Bullet to have a singular vision that rocks and rolls from one end of the screen to the other. Unfortunately, more hands are involved in film making and Silver Bullet feels like it had a lot of hands.
Daniel Attias directs what is mostly a cast of four. Corey Haim plays Marty Coslaw, a young teenager confined to a wheelchair. Marty and his sister, Jane (Megan Follows) get along about as well as you would expect two teen siblings to get along. Everett McGill plays the Reverend Lowe, the town’s rock in times of trouble. The last of the four is Uncle Red (Gary Busey) who has a special bond with Marty and Jane and likes to build new powered wheelchair/motorcycles for Marty that verge on rocket status. There are also two parents, but King has written them off into the stratosphere somewhere and given them very few scenes of consequence.
Silver Bullet is about the small town of Tarker’s Mills, Maine. There have been mysterious murders the last couple months by the light of the moon, and rumors of a werewolf begin to spread. It is discovered that the werewolf can change at any time, but is most separated from his humanity on the nights the moon is full. Marty Coslaw discovers who the werewolf is and, of course, the werewolf has his eye on Marty.
In Cycle of the Werewolf, Marty is the definite lead character. In Silver Bullet, Marty, his sister Jane, and Uncle Red all have nearly equal roles, though it is Marty in his wheelchair who receives the most time with the werewolf. The werewolf looks scary when it is in the dark shadows, but when it comes out into the light, it is a bit too much like a guy in a black bear suit – which seems to be exactly what we are looking at. There are a number of jump scares and fake heads will roll. Most noticeable, though, is Corey Haim who just really comes off like the kid you wish you had gotten to hang out with back in school.
Bonus Features (on 4K UHD):
- New 2023 Transfer from the Original Camera Negative
- In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- New Audio Commentary with Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler of The Kingcast
- Audio Commentary with Producer Martha De Laurentiis
- Audio Commentary with Director Daniel Attias
- Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway
Bonus Features (on Blu-ray):
- New 2023 Transfer from the Original Camera Negative
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- New Audio Commentary with Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler of The Kingcast
- Audio Commentary with Producer Martha De Laurentiis
- Audio Commentary with Director Daniel Attias
- Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway
- “A Little Private Justice” – An Interview with Actor Kent Broadhurst
- “Cutting to the Bone” – An Interview with Editor Daniel Loewenthal
- “The Wolf Within” – An Interview with Actor Everett McGill
- “Full Moon Fever” – The Effects of Silver Bullet
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spot
- Radio Spot
- Still Gallery
