Silver Bullet

Summary

“There is no comfort. There is only private justice!”

Shout! Factory has recently brought the Stephen King film Silver Bullet to 4K Blu-ray, updating their prior Collector’s Edition. It has been an exciting couple years for fans of Stephen King adaptations with Shout! Factory also updating both The Dead Zone and Creepshow to 4K as well. Shout! Factory has been a great match for fans of Stephen King’s work, with the label taking time to produce insightful special features on each of the releases they have worked on. It is fairly easy to see that the label takes special care on their releases of Stephen King’s work. I had purchased the Shout! Factory Blu-ray a few years back, so I was happy to revisit the film on 4K.

The film begins in the spring of 1976 in the small town of Tarkers Mill. On a night of a full moon, Arnie Westrom gets killed by a werewolf down by some train tracks. He is decapitated in the attack which leads the town to believe that Arnie fell asleep on train tracks. The town is none the wiser that a werewolf is stalking its citizens. Jane (Megan Follows) and Marty Coslaw (Corey Haim) are brother and sister. Marty is paralyzed. Marty rides around in a special motorized wheelchair that his uncle Red (Gary Busey) made for him. They jokingly named it the silver bullet. Marty is friends with a girl named Tammy who comes from an abusive household. After a festival in the town, a suicidal woman is killed in her home by the werewolf. The town begins to believe there may be a maniac on the loose. The next murder takes place when Tammy’s drunk father is killed in his greenhouse. After that murder, a friend of Marty named Brady is killed, sending the town into a panic. Brady’s father appeals to the town and demands “Private Justice!” The local sheriff Joe (Terry Quinn) tries to keep everybody calm. Local preacher Reverend Lowe (Everett McGill) tries to stop the men from becoming a mob. The reverend is also suffering from terrible nightmares. When Marty sneaks out of his house, he plays with some fireworks on a bridge near his home. When the werewolf approaches Marty, he manages to blind the werewolf with a rocket. His sister Jane begins to look for who in town is missing an eye to eliminate suspects.

I was pleasantly surprised by Silver Bullet. While the film is not very scary, it becomes suspenseful as the main characters are put into a dangerous situation in the final third of the film. The film also has some tongue in cheek dark comedic elements that made me laugh. The prime example of this would be the sequence involving the hunting party that is directly followed by a funeral sequence. The abrupt transition made me laugh. The writing of the film is capable, if a bit over-the-top. Stephen King knows that the premise is absurd, but he uses the premise to paint a vision of a small town in crisis. This element was better executed than I expected. Most impressive is that King adapted this from a a project that was essentially a calendar he worked on called The Cycle of the Werewolf which he had developed into a short novel. While this writing can’t compete with King’s more mature works like Carrie, The Shining, or The Shawshank Redemption, it was fun to see him craft a story that was fun and surprisingly clean.

The actors in the film are well cast. Corey Haim was pretty good as a kid actor and he is very likable in the role of Marty. His ability to play a paraplegic is questionable at best, but this screen charisma is there. Gary Busey is extremely enjoyable as Uncle Red. I love that crazy lightning-in-a-bottle style of acting that Busey can bring to a project. This is a good example of when it works. The best acting in the film is done by the great Everett McGill. I love McGill’s work on Twin Peaks, but he does a lot with his role here. I don’t think the final third of the film would work without his performance.

Now – there are also things this movie does not do well. For example, the wheelchair transitions of Marty getting into the wheelchair don’t work, so why did the editor keep in all three of these sequences? It is extremely obvious that Corey Haim is able bodied. There are also some sequences where Marty rides on his wheelchair incredibly fast – even a chase sequence. These scenes are pretty ridiculous and made me laugh, but I could easily see someone else shrugging off the movie because of them. My guess would be that these missteps are the main causes for the critical mistreatment of the picture, but then again, horror films seemed to be lambasted critically regardless of their entertainment value, and Silver Bullet is definitely entertaining.

The film is helped along by the steady direction of Daniel Attias. Attias gets pretty good performances out of all the actors and made the material work better than it had any right to work. The score by Jay Chattaway is another enjoyable aspect of the film. It is a synth driven score that reminded me of some of the great Italian giallo scores. I liked it.

Overall – Silver Bullet is a fun werewolf film. The small town atmosphere is richer than I expected and the performances are charming. While the movie is at times totally ridiculous, the final third is engaging and suspenseful. I was pleasantly surprised when I first viewed the film, and I enjoyed revisiting it. The new 4K UHD from Shout! Factory is a solid improvement over their prior release.

Video

Shout! Factory has updated Silver Bullet to 4K UHD in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The transfer comes from a brand new scan of the original camera negative. The film definitely benefits from the increased resolution with much better fine detail. I thought the color correction looked very nice and did not stray from the prior film’s color palette aside from adding additional vibrancy. The film is visually enjoyable due to the solid work of Italian cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi. Any softness in the film would be a product of the cinematography itself. Overall, fans will be pleased to have the film in a definitive presentation. It easily bests the prior release.

Audio

The audio presentation on Silver Bullet repurposes the same DTS-HD MA 2.0 track as the prior Blu-ray release. It is an effective track. The film features a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track that preserves the original sound design well. While this is not as immersive as some surround tracks, the film benefits from an excellent score by Jay Chattaway. I was really pleased with the music in the film. Fans will be happy unless they were expecting a surround remix (which of course would have been welcome.)

Supplements:

Disc One (4K UHD)

• Commentary – Michael Felsher conducts a great interview with producer Martha De Laurentiis talks about making a Stephen King film and how they may have been ahead of their time with some of their Stephen King films because of the tough critical reception they were receiving.
• Commentary – director Daniel Attias discusses working on the film in this interview by Michael Felsher. His recollections of Corey Haim and Gary Busey are interesting given their later reputations. Good stuff.
• Commentary – composer Jay Chattaway intermittently discusses his score with Michael Felsher and occasionally the score comes through as an isolated track.
• Commentary – Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler of The Kingcast weigh in on the film. This commentary is exclusive to this release.

Disc Two (Blu-Ray)

• Commentary – Michael Felsher conducts a great interview with producer Martha De Laurentiis talks about making a Stephen King film and how they may have been ahead of their time with some of their Stephen King films because of the tough critical reception they were receiving.
• Commentary – director Daniel Attias discusses working on the film in this interview by Michael Felsher. His recollections of Corey Haim and Gary Busey are interesting given their later reputations. Good stuff.
• Commentary – composer Jay Chattaway intermittently discusses his score with Michael Felsher and occasionally the score comes through as an isolated track.
• Commentary – Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler of The Kingcast weigh in on the film. This commentary is exclusive to this release.
• “A Little Private Justice” -this is a strong new interview with actor Kent Broadhurst. One of the most enjoyable aspects involves how he was able to salvage the scene where his character finds a body despite a terribly made prop.
• “Cutting to the Bone” – editor Daniel Loewenthal discusses working on the film, his time on the set, and how this film was his big break. The editor also discusses the disappointment of critical reception for the film and how the film has outlasted its criticisms.
• “The Wolf Within” – actor Everett McGill, who is the best reason to watch the film, discusses his experiences with director Daniel Attias and the film. This is great stuff.
• “Full Moon Fever” – special makeup effects artists Michael McCracken Jr. and Matthew Mungle discuss working on the film. They share a lot of stories and reminisce on working with Carlo Rambaldi whose monster design did not impress Dino De Laurentiis at first.
• Still Gallery 
• Radio Spot 
• T.V. Spot
• Theatrical Trailer 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 4.25/5

Silver Bullet is a minor but enjoyable horror film from the Eighties. The film definitely has its failings, but I was won over by the well-realized small town and the numerous enjoyable performances. Silver Bullet was bullied by critics when it was released, but the final third of the film is surprisingly effective. If you go in with low expectations, the film’s charms may win you over. I have also found that the film is just as enjoyable on repeat viewings, and many of the failings in the picture tend to make me smile more than upset me (such as Corey Haim’s difficulty in keeping his legs from moving.) For fans of Silver Bullet, Shout! Factory’s new 4K UHD makes a solid Collector’s Edition even better with a very nice looking transfer and a brand new audio commentary by the hosts of the Kingcast. The excellent array of supplements from the prior release are included. I would have enjoyed a remixed surround track, but the audio track is still pretty solid. If you have not purchased the prior release, this 4K set is obviously the way to go.