Moon of the Wolf (1972)

Just what I expected

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Moon of the Wolf" its painfully mediocre, it offers nothing new to the genre, its not fun to watch (at least most of the time it isn't), and its also really dull.It has interesting elements, some of the characters are actually pretty decently written and the effects aren't too terrible but its mostly just boring and predictable. This could have been a very interesting and engaging werewolf movie but the fact that its a TV movie limits it, I suppose the novel its better.

'Moon of the Wolf' is actually a cool, sulfurous, sharp _teleplay, marshes, bayou, malaria, TV done as B cinema, a genuine discovery, and it has the atmosphere of its plot, and not a generic Louisiana atmosphere. Peasants and gentry, Dixie feudalism, the sheriff impersonates Widmark nicely, he's a temperate loner. Dillman is mostly looking desolate. Someone wrote that there were quite a few of similar TV movies intent to look like 'Kolchak'.It's not scary, but suspenseful, intriguing; it gives the feel that the events are eerie, but entirely real, and this thanks to the many good things in this _teleplay, an intrinsically likable movie, what an awesome, unassuming chiller, far-reaching TV. There are tropes, but they are appealingly used. The cast of the _teleplay is extraordinarily enjoyable, including 'Andrew', the werewolf.

I have a bit of affection for American made of TV movies of the 70's. There is something a little cosy and dependable about them. Moon of the Wolf is no different in this regard. And while, like many TV films, it is restricted content-wise in what it can show, it has pretty decent actors at its disposal and is well written. In other words, what it lacks in excess, it makes up with solid professional values. It's a werewolf film but it unusually takes the form of a detective story. A sheriff investigates a series of murders that are occurring in the Louisiana swamplands. In due course he unearths several unsavoury secrets of the townsfolk.The story introduces us to several characters and allows for some plot melodramatics. This all adds to the whodunit aspect quite nicely. It does help that the acting is of a good standard, with such dependable character actors such as Geoffrey Lewis on hand. While the bayou setting adds a further bit of nice production value and ensures that the story is more distinct. As a horror film, it's perhaps unsurprising that it has to pull its punches a little due to its TV movie origins. But, for me, this was not much of a problem and is offset by the several other good things it has got going for it. For fans of werewolf movies I think this is a good effort, well worth checking out. Equally, fans of 70's TV movies should also get a bit of enjoyment out of this one. Overall, a pretty good little movie.

This TV movie is set in the wilds of Louisiana, yet oddly aside from a few actors (such Royal Dano and Geoffrey Lewis), most of the cast spoke without a hint of a Cajun accent. In particular, David Janssen, Barbara Rush and Bradford Dillman (the leads) didn't sound the least bit convincing and I assume they were cast mostly because they were all prolific in TV movies. For example, Dillman appeared in such fare as "The Swarm", "Bug", "Piranha", "Demon, Demon", "Deliver Us From Evil" and "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home". So much for in-depth and complex casting decisions! The film is a werewolf film and while the audience can guess this from the beginning (hey, the title alone is a giveaway), it sure takes most of the folks in the film to realize that a series of brutal murders are the work of a lycanthrope. In the meantime, the Sheriff (Janssen) investigates and folks in the film start blaming wild dogs for the deaths.For the most part, there is nothing too surprising in the film. It's neither particularly bad nor particularly good---just the sort of cheap production you'd expect for a made for TV film. Competent acting, rather poor makeup and a story that occasionally violates the wolf-man cannon established in previous films. It's a decent time-passer but not all that much more.