Silver Bullet is by no means a good movie or even all that entertaining, though the acting from Busey and Haim were good and the effects work was fairly impressive considering the time period.
Silver Bullet
— Collector’s Edition —
(1985)
Genre(s): Horror, Fantasy
Shout Factory | R – 95 min. – $29.99 | December 17, 2019
Date Published: 12/04/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: A peaceful town is suddenly terrorized by a maniacal killer. The townsfolk think a madman is on the loose, but a wheelchair-bound 13-year-old (COREY HAIM) knows the truth… a werewolf is on the hunt. With the help of his Uncle Red (GARY BUSEY), young Marty Coslaw and his sister Jane (MEGAN FOLLOWS) sets out to stop the half-man/half-beast before he sinks his teeth into another innocent victim. Now, time is ticking… and the full moon is about to rise. Quick Hit Review: First up, I’m not the biggest Stephen King fan. Don’t hate the guy and he’s talented, but never been over my skis with these adaptations which have had a mixed record in terms of quality, with highlights being The Shining (flawed as it is), Carrie, Stand By Me, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist perhaps being the best of the bunch (and looking at the filmography, he has a s-ton of adaptations, far more than I thought…). Silver Bullet was released back in 1985 and is pretty much what I would call a passable film but ultimately forgettable with a thin story which is understandable considering it’s based on a novella, though a short story adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption was hella good). The acting was serviceable though I did love Gary Busey and all the Busey-isms that made him a treasure, particularly in the 1980s when we could actually understand what the hell he was saying. The film was helmed by Daniel Attias marking his one and only feature film, though he’s made a good career working on television hundreds of shows like Homeland, Entourage and a variety of many others. Nothing really stands out in terms of his direction and it doesn’t have the best look, though given what he had to work with, it was commendable work. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and the inner cover is reversible showing the original poster artwork. Audio Commentaries:
All three of these tracks offer different perspectives. The first one, new to this release, gives her insights on the film’s production and there’s a good back and forth with Felcher asking pertinent questions so it does have a nice flow to it; Attias meanwhile is on the drier side though still somewhat interesting and Chattaway’s interview is pretty strictly for fans of movie scores. Interviews:
The interviews with Broadhurst and Lowenthal are new to this Collector’s Edition, while McGill and Mungle/McCracken I assume came from an older release. Each one gives their memories on working on the film as well as give some background on their careers. Also includes:
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VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| Shout Factory, under the Scream Factory line, releases Silver Bullet onto Blu-ray presented in its original 2..35 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Given there’s no mention of some sort of restoration, presumably this is the transfer given to Shout by Paramount. Even so, this is a fine looking picture, detail generally sharp and well defined, while colors appear natural without receiving some sort of a boost. And for the most part, it’s also clean outside of some minor specs here and there, but nothing exceedingly distracting. |
AUDIO – 4.25/5 |
| The included DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track outputs clear dialogue levels and actually some good depth even for a singular track, with some highlights being when Haim rides a souped-up wheelchair or when he’s being chased by the werewolf in human form. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Silver Bullet is by no means a good movie or even all that entertaining, though the acting from Busey and Haim were good and the effects work was fairly impressive considering the time period. I suppose if you’re a super-fan of Stephen King’s works and have an absolute love for werewolf stories, this might hit the right spot. This “Collector’s Edition” release from Shout Factory does offer up a good selection of bonus material while both the video/audio transfers were well done. |