Silver Bullet (1985)

A werewolf terrorizes a small city where lives the paralytic Marty Coslaw, his uncle, and his sister, the story's narrator.

Director:

Daniel Attias

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Stephen King (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Busey	...	Uncle Red
Everett McGill	...	Reverend Lowe
Corey Haim	...	Marty Coslaw
Megan Follows	...	Jane Coslaw
Robin Groves	...	Nan Coslaw
Leon Russom	...	Bob Coslaw
Terry O'Quinn	...	Sheriff Joe Haller
Bill Smitrovich	...	Andy Fairton
Joe Wright	...	Brady Kincaid
Kent Broadhurst	...	Herb Kincaid
Heather Simmons	...	Tammy Sturmfuller
James A. Baffico	...	Milt Sturmfuller
Rebecca Fleming	...	Mrs. Sturmfuller
Lawrence Tierney	...	Owen Knopfler
William Newman	...	Virgil Cuts

Storyline

The small town of Tarker's Mills was a place that was very peaceful, where nothing extraordinary ever happened until one night when murders began. The townspeople believe it's some maniacal killer on the loose whom they intend to hunt down. Marty, a young handicapped boy, believes the killer is no man at all, but a werewolf. After a run-in with the werewolf, Marty and his sister Jane hunt all over town for the man who is the werewolf.

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Plot Keywords:

1970s | year 1976 | pantyhose | murder of a child | child uses a gun | 

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Taglines:

It started in May, in a small town. And every month after that, whenever the moon was full...it came back.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Netherlands

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cycle of the Werewolf

Filming Locations:

Greenfield Park, 1739 Burnett Blvd., Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,013,563, 14 October 1985

Gross USA:

$12,361,866

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,361,866

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino De Laurentiis Company, Famous Films (II), International Film Corporation (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early drafts of the film's script, including the pressbook release, stated that the werewolf speaks. In the actual film itself, the werewolf does not speak at any time.

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Goofs

The hair on the werewolf's face. Some tight shots on the eyes show nothing but hair, but other shots show the werewolf's dark skin with hair further away.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Older Jane: [Older Jane narrating] The last full moon of that Spring came a little more than a month before school let out for Summer vacation. Our town's long nightmare began that night.

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: Everett McGill is billed twice - once as Reverend Lowe at the top of the credits and as Werewolf at the bottom of the credits.

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Alternate Versions

The UK DVD release of the film in 2001 contains the original movie trailer and spoken commentary by director Daniel Attias, both of which is not available on any other officially released DVD including the US.

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Connections

References Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

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Soundtracks

Joyride
Music by Jay Chattaway
Lyrics Written and Performed by Rob. B. Mathes
Recorded at the Carriage House

User Reviews

Good rendition about King's notorious novella , being stunningly narrated , well performed and professionally directed

This is a superior Stephen King terror , including the classic horror elements of intrigue , along with gore and grisly killing at the claws of a werewolf . It started in May in a small town Tarker's Mills , it was a place that was very peaceful , where nothing extraordinary ever happened until one night when murders began and every month after that whenever the moon is full , there a railroad worker (James Gammon) meets his gruesome demise at the attacks of a werewolf . As a werewolf terrorizes a small city where lives Marty Coslaw, (Corey Haim) - a paralytic boy , parents (Robin Groves , Leon Russom) his uncle (Gary Busey) and his sister (Megan Fellows) - the narrator of the tale . Our folks take a long time to figure out cues upon werewolf .

This werewolf movie contains chills , thrills, action , suspense and results to be pretty entertaining . From the opening scene to ending terror and intrigue is continued . ¨Silver bullet¨ has everything , ever spooky scene you've ever seen , every horror movie cliché that's ever been overspoken , adding the novelty about a wheel-cheer bounded protagonist . Enjoyable and sympathetic relationship between two brothers nicely played by Corey Haim , as a young handicapped boy, and Megan Fellows as attractive girl as well as the narrator of the story . Special mention to Uncle Red gloriously performed by that underrated actor called Gary Busey as a grumpy but likable person . According director Daniel Attias, Gary Busey ad libbed a great deal, for instance when Uncle Red is in the gun shop , as Attias checked with Stephen King, who said OK for these ad libs to be included . Exciting and eerie final confrontation between our heroes and the hairy werewolf .

This film was rightly based on King's ¨The cycle of werewolf¨ . Stephen King movies adaptations are converting as prolific as his novelettes , from ¨Creepshow¨ along with ¨Cats's eye¨, ¨Silver bullet¨, ¨Maximum overdrive¨ unique directed by King and various TV take on as ¨Rose red¨ , ¨The storm of the century¨ , ¨The stand¨ , ¨Golden years¨ and ¨Langoliers¨ have been numerous his adaptations . The motion picture was well financed by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis , but he was very unhappy with the werewolf used in the film . The film was compellingly directed by Daniel Attias , though Don Coscarelli was scheduled to direct but left over creative differences with Dino De Laurentiis. Filming lasted in October 1984 and finished slightly before Christmas of the same year . This was Daniel Attias's first and only feature film he directed For the rest of the 1980s to today he mostly directed TV episodes for some famous shows (such as Ray Donovan , The Americans , Crossbones , The Killing , Resurrection , True Blood) and hasn't made another theatrical film. Rating : 6,5/10 . Well worth watching for terror cinema fans and Stephen King buffs . It's an edge-of-your seat winner .