Full Moon High (1981)

A teenager (Adam Arkin) becomes a werewolf after a family vacation in Transylvania.

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen

Stars:

Adam Arkin, Roz Kelly, Ed McMahon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Arkin	...	Tony
Roz Kelly	...	Jane
Ed McMahon	...	Dad - Col. William P. Walker
Joanne Nail	...	Ricky
Bill Kirchenbauer	...	Flynn
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Miss Montgomery
Louis Nye	...	Reverend
Demond Wilson	...	Cabbie-Busdriver
Jim J. Bullock	...	Eddie (as Jm. Bullock)
James Dixon	...	Deputy - Jack
Kenneth Mars	...	The Coach - Principal Cleveland
Alan Arkin	...	Dr. Brand
Tom Aldredge	...	The Jailer
Pat Morita	...	The Silversmith
Tom Clancy	...	Priest

Storyline

A teenager (Adam Arkin) becomes a werewolf after a family vacation in Transylvania.

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Plot Keywords:

werewolf | transylvania | american football | joke | supernatural | 

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Taglines:

He's today's teenage werewolf... only the rules have changed!

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1987 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Che fatica essere lupi

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmways Pictures, Larco Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Harold and Maude (1971)

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Soundtracks

"Tony, My Pet"
by Robin Batteau, David Buskin and Janelle Webb (as Janelle Webb Cohen)

User Reviews

A bit of a mess from Larry Cohen

In the 1950's, high school jock Tony (Adam Arkin) travels to Transylvania with his father, and gets bitten by a werewolf. After attacking some high-jackers on the plane ride back, Tony starts to terrorise his home town by attacking the locals, choosing to nip girls on their arses rather than actually eating them. Fearing he will be discovered, he leaves town and starts a trip across America for the next few decades (he's immortal too, see) only to return to his home town, pretending to be Tony's son. Caught between his old flame Jane (Roz Kelly), now married to his old friend, and lusty, mousy teacher Miss Montgomery (Elizabeth Hartman), he struggles to hide his affliction as the attacks re-surface.

'Written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen' is something that would normally delight me whilst watching the opening credits of a film, but although Cohen's trademark wit is their occasionally in the script, Full Moon High ultimately fails on all levels, never reaching anywhere near the level of quirk, or containing the endearing oddball characters, as the likes of It's Alive (1974), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) or The Stuff (1985). Although he is annoyingly whiny at times, Arkin does give a game performance, and has the chance to spout lines such as "I don't believe in vampires or werewolves or virgins," (it made me laugh anyway). And the film did make me laugh a number of times throughout, with spinning newspapers giving headlines such as 'Werewolf Annoys Community', and a pretty talented comedy support cast (Ed McMahon, Kenneth Mars, Pat Morita and Alan Arkin) - Mars is a particular stand- out, playing the once-sexually repressed gay gym teacher who, decades on, is a full-blown queen.

But the mix of spoof, childish visual gags, Benny Hill-esque sped-up smutty humour, and outright farce doesn't quite blend, and ultimately, the film is an absolute mess. One scene near the end sees a cop shooting a bullet at the POV werewolf, only to hit the cameraman. The screen goes black as Alan Arkin and the crew rush the get the film going again. It could have been a moment of offbeat self-reflexive surreality, but its poorly-handled, and the film's budget constraints seem to get the better of it. It tries to homage the comedy of the Zucker brothers and Mel Brooks, but you'd be better off watching them instead of his lame effort, because although the film did amuse me at rare occasions, when I wasn't laughing I was generally cringing. Full Moon High is not something that will exactly tarnish Larry Cohen's CV, but it is certainly a massive disappointment from the man behind some of my favourite B-movie guilty pleasures.

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