4/5 Fun Romp with Wolves
  by John A Lee III (San Antonio, TX)
This is by no means a frightening movie. Instead, it is an entertaining adventure story in which the villain happens to be a werewolf and the hero is a kid with a severe handicap. He may not have the use of his legs but he does have bravery, a sister that takes him seriously and an uncle who is too much fun to be a really good role model.

When a town his plagued with sudden a violent murders tensions grow high and neighbors become suspicious of one another. At first no one takes the idea of a werewolf seriously but the bodies continue to pile up. Eventually a young boy confinded to a wheelchair sees the wolf firsthand an escapes on the zouped up wheelchair his uncle built for him. His sister knows that he is a royal pain in the backside but she also knows his character and believes him. She discovers the identity of the lycanthropist. Unfortunately, the wolf also learns theirs. The stage is set for a confrontation.

One of the things I like about this movie is that it depicts young people able to act well and make good decisions in spite of the attitude of the adults. It does not depict young people only as selfish idiots seeking only their own gratification. Here it is the youngsters that save the day with the help of an uncle with childing tendencies.

It's a fun movie, not at all serious, just fun.

4/5 Would you expect...great character relationships?
  by Steven W. Hill (Chicago, IL United States)
You don't normally expect to find well-crafted characters in horror movies, which is why SILVER BULLET can catch a first-time viewer by surprise. There are suspenseful scenes aplenty, but it really is the characters and their relationships that make this movie stand out. Corey Haim is Marty, eleven years old and reliant on a motorized wheelchair to get around. Megan Follows is his fifteen year old sister Jane, jealous of the special attention her brother gets because of his disability. Their parents are Bob and Nan, and Nan's brother is played by Gary Busey. Uncle Red is the sort of relative that families are not proud of and would probably rather not associate with at all; it's unfortunate for Nan then that Red loves his nephew Marty so much.

Marty is just getting old enough to realise that Red isn't exactly an exemplary human being. Early in the film a friend of Marty's scares Jane with a snake, causing her to fall flat in a puddle of muddy water and ruin the outfit she's been showing off. It's the sort of prank that a brother would pull on a sister and then immediately regret it, and Marty's face shows the regret not only at that moment, but later at night when he gives Jane money to help make up for it even though it wasn't his fault. At that point she apologises for verbally wounding Marty in retaliation by telling him that Uncle Red, his idol, is a useless drunk.

Because Marty gets preferential treatment from everyone, Jane always feels like she gets no attention, and that carries over to some of the reviews on this site that mention she's a minor character. The importance of her character (especially as the emotional center of the film) is too easily overlooked. When Marty confesses his nighttime encounter with a werewolf to her, she believes him enough to help look for evidence the next day, and her experience leaves her utterly convinced that Marty's story is the truth. At that point the familial relationship between brother and sister (and eventually Uncle Red) begins to strengthen until it reaches its peak at the film's very end with a heartfelt and touching (and not at all saccharine) piece of narration. The movie is narrated by Tovah Feldshuh as a grown-up Jane, and it takes place in the summer of 1976 (just ignore those anachronistic Diet Coke cans in the garage). It's a combination of the beautifully-done narration, the unusually romantic score and the genuinely good acting and interaction between the leads (Haim, Everett McGill as the town's concerned Reverend Lowe, and especially Follows and Busey) that gives the movie an almost lyrical sweetness that not only is unexpected from a low-budget horror movie but also quite simply *works*.

This DVD edition is quite nice in the area of picture quality. Anamorphic widescreen at about 2.35:1, good contrast and sharpness, nothing distracting like severe edge enhancement or anything. A very pleasing image. Sound is good too... but the disc falls flat in the area of extras. Basically, there aren't ANY. One wishes they could have included the commentary that comes with the R2 edition (I believe). But this movie is good enough to still warrant a spot in your collection even without the extras.

5/5 Beware of the Full Moon
  by Jeffrey T. Munson (Dixon, IL)
In Stephen King's thrilling adaptation of his novelette "Cycle of the Werewolf", the peaceful town of Tarker's Mills is suddenly terrorized by a maniacal killer.

Corey Haim stars as Marty Coslaw, a wheelchair-bound eleven-year-old. Megan Follows stars as Jane Coslaw, Marty's fifteen-year-old sister, who serves as the narrator of the movie. Although Jane and Marty have their occasional brother-sister battles, they do genuinely care about each other, and this bond is shown throughout the movie. Gary Busey stars as Uncle Red, Jane and Marty's alcoholic but caring uncle. Finally, Everett McGill stars as Reverend Lowe, pastor of the local church.

Tarker's Mills is a peaceful town until a string of brutal and unsolved murders begin to take place. At first, the townsfolk think a madman is on the loose. Sheriff Joe Haller (Terry O'Quinn) is facing the wrath of the townspeople for his lack of urgency in solving the murders. Unfortunately, Marty's best friend Brady Kincaid (Joe Wright) is one of the victims. After Brady's murder, the townspeople decide they have had enough of the sheriff's lack of success in finding the killer, so they try their own brand of vigilante justice. Unfortunately, this ends in disaster.

After Brady's funeral, Marty begins to have suspicions about the killer. He raises the possibility of a werewolf as being responsible to uncle Red, who justs laughs it off as totally crazy. However, Marty is undeterred in his belief. After the rash of murders, the town's carnival is cancelled. Uncle Red gives Marty some fireworks as a gift, but tells him he must use them near his house. Of course, an eleven-year-old boy with a new souped-up wheelchair isn't likely to follow directions from adults, so he heads off to a remote bridge to enjoy his fireworks. Upon reaching the bridge, he hears rustles and movement in the surrounding woods. In an instant, Marty comes face-to-face with a huge werewolf; just as he suspected. He uses his last rocket to shoot at the werewolf, and it hits the wolf directly in the eye. Marty manages to high-tail it out of there before the werewolf can regroup.

Upon reaching home, he tells his story to Jane, who is somewhat skeptical, but this time she believes her brother. She is assigned to pick up cans and bottles for a church fund-raiser, and while she's out, she decides to look for someone who has a hurt eye. You'll never guess who she discovers wearing an eyepatch. Will the werewolf succeed in catching Marty, or will he and Jane outsmart the wolf?

This is a very good movie. Stephen King wrote an excellent screenplay, and veteran director Dino De Laurentis does a fine job in bringing King's story to life. Corey Haim and Megan Follows do fine jobs as Marty and Jane, but Gary Busey's performance as Uncle Red is the highlight of the movie.

I give this film my highest recommendation. The acting is good, and the story is well-developed. Horror fans (namely Stephen King fans) will surely enjoy this great werewolf film. Watch out for the full moon.

4/5 Entertaining
  by Lonnie E. Holder (Columbus, Indiana, United States)
While this movie has few of the bone chilling moments of "An American Werewolf in London" or "The Howling," it still has moments where it is fascinating and at least a couple of places where the tension rises. Helping along the way are Gary Busey as Marty Coslaw's (Corey Haim) Uncle Red, Megan Follows as Marty's sister Jane, and Everett McGill as creepy Reverend Lowe.

There are murders happening in and around town, and Marty is convinced it is the work of a werewolf, with whom he has a close encounter; a really close encounter. At first no one believes Marty, as you would expect, but then Jane is convinced. Finally Uncle Red is sort of convinced. The tension builds until the night that Jane and Marty's parents are away from home and Uncle Red stays with Marty, Jane, and a single silver bullet.

While there are other werewolf movies with a higher scare factor, this one remains one of my favorites. I will watch this movie sooner than many others just because it is familiar and the characters are generally likable. It is like a cartoon in many ways, but these same qualities make it an easy to watch movie. There are a few intense moments to spike up the movie, including the encounter between Marty and the werewolf on an isolated walking bridge at night in the country, another encounter between a group of citizens out to hunt the murderer, and encounters between the werewolf in his human form and Jane and Marty.

This movie is a must have for Stephen King fans as well as those who have a penchant for people who change into furry creatures.

5/5 WHERE OH WHERE HAS MY WEREWOLF GONE
  by Michael Butts (Martinsburg, WV USA)
SILVER BULLET is just pure fun, one of those horror movies that relies on atmospheric tension and frightening monsters. The werewolf is pretty scary in this adaptation of Stephen King's novella, CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF. 80s teen star Corey Haim is just fine as a wheelchair-bound young boy who discovers there's a werewolf in their midst---the townsfolk think the murders are the work of a psycho killer, but Corey and his sister Megan Follows convince Uncle Red (a cool Gary Busey) and they set off to find the identity of the werewolf. Everett McGill is fine as the creepy minister, and the whole movie works because it doesn't take itself too seriously and it recognizes that. Truly one of the better treatments of a King work.