Full Moon High (1981)

Wonderful character development!

An Exercise In Nonsense

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Larry Cohen is one of the big horror names and I've been meaning to get to his movies for quite some time. Never caught his "It's Alive" trilogy, nor "Q" or "God Told Me To" but as a horror nut; I'll get to them eventually. Perhaps "Full Moon High" isn't the best introduction into Larry Cohen the director. Adam Arkin gives his all as a teenager who's bitten by a wolf in Romania and his life falls apart soon after. Father dies (quite a funny scene though) and he fulfills his destiny; roaming the earth for a great deal of time before tiring of it eventually and then return home. He does just that but a lot has changed. Perhaps aiming for the heights of screwball comedy gold "Airplane"; "Full Moon High" is just a plain old misfire. Maybe some quality inside jokes flew by me but the flick is spoofing Werewolf oldie's left and right while trying to be somewhat topical of changing times and values in the old US of A. There are scattered laughs here and there in 93 minutes (mostly with Ed McMahon and Kenneth Mars - the shower scene early on is pretty funny) but on the whole this is a pretty painful sit-through. Certainly a one of a kind movie and not surprisingly it has a small cult following; I'm all for that (mostly in the horror department myself though) but I can't honestly recommend this movie for comedy buffs. Adam Arkin is likable here but like most others he looks a little lost and no wonder. I'll give the movie one thing; it's anything but predictable as I never knew what direction it was going to turn to next. Halfway through I thought I had it pegged but was I dead wrong! Weird flick and not in the good way.

Full Moon High (1981)* (out of 4)Larry Cohen produced, wrote and directed this horror comedy about a popular high school football player (Adam Arkin) who goes on a vacation to Transylvania with his father (Ed McMahon). While there the teen is bitten by a werewolf and soon he begins to change himself. Decades go by and he realizes that the only way to break the curse is by returning to school and beating the rival football team. FULL MOON HIGH has its heart in the right place but I thought that the film was a complete disaster that just never really took off. While watching the film you have to at least give it credit for "inspiring" TEEN WOLF but in my opinion that film there did much better with the similar plot. The problem with this film is that it really isn't well written. I say that because instead of coming up with good jokes it seems that Cohen just sit around writing down every joke that came to him and then he put it in the movie whether it was funny or not. There are non-stop jokes going on here but sadly very few of them work and for every funny one there are at least ten that don't work. Again, there are some clever jokes to be found including a very good bit with the police beating up a guy in a gorilla suit not realizing that they're looking for a wolf. Another funny sequence deals with terrorist taking over an airplane, which will certainly remind people of Cohen's days in Blaxploitation. Arkin is decent in his role but he really doesn't have too much to work with and in the end his character comes across rather boring. McMahon, on the other hand, appears to be having a blast and certainly keeps the film moving while he's in it. Familiar names like Alan Arkin, Pat Morita and Bob Saget also show up in small roles. FULL MOON HIGH has enough funny moments for a short film but at 93-minutes the thing is just way too long and the plot drags on to the point where you'll feel as if you're in a never ending movie.

Okay, I love Teen Wolf - it was one of my favorite movies as a kid and I still think it's pretty cool, but Full Moon High (4 years earlier), is SO MUCH BETTER!The plot is better and more involved, and, actually in some ways, even makes more sense than Teen Wolf.There are way more jokes (and better jokes!). The cast is awesome - both Adam and Alan Arkin, Kenneth Mars, and even a bit of a young Bob Sagget. It gets a little jumbled in the middle when a seemingly potential female love interest comes into play, but it sorts back out.It's been a while since I've laughed out loud as much at a movie.I don't want to give too much away, but as far as Teenage Werewolf movies go, this may be the best one ever made! An instant favorite! See it!!! (You can stream it on Netflix)

I've seen better teenage werewolf movies in my time, this one however, takes the cake. More comedy than horror, "Full Moon High" puts the "c" in cheese-fest. The star quality in this movie is not bad. Just the way it was made just sends in rolling downhill. Adam Arkin plays Tony, an all-American high school football player of the 50's who ends up not aging due to a werewolf bite in Transylvania. The most annoying part of the movie was the violin player. He drove everyone batty! Ed McMahon plays his ultra-conservative father who met his end of his own bullet. Adam's father Alan plays a shrink who seems to be not top of his game. After all these years Tony seems to be very out of place due to the attack, and then he'll get the chance to catch in his state. More laugh than blood shed, this movie is just a start in the 80's, "Teen Wolf" was an improvement from this! 1 out of 5 stars.