A young paraplegic tries to convince his sister and his uncle that the series of murders that have been occurring in town are NOT the work of a madman, but that of a lycanthrope.
I'm shocked that I had never seen Silver Bullet until this year. I'm always fond of well made werewolf movies, particularly ones made in the 80s, and Gary Busey is always worth watching, even in something wretchedly bad. This ISN'T wretchedly bad though, mind you. In fact, it makes for an entertaining time.
There's a lot to like here. For one, Gary Busey ad libs a good amount of his dialogue, though it is pretty hard to tell considering just how much we've seen him descend into madness over the years. I've never been a huge fan of either of the "Coreys" from the 80s, mainly due to being a child of the decade afterwards, but Mr. Haim is very convincing and looks like's having a fun time with the script. The film is also a lot funnier than I expected it to be and our werewolf acts like a killer in a slasher movie, so you know he certainly isn't messing around. My only complaint about the werewolf is that we discover who it is far too early in the film, and it kind of ruins the "guessing game" angle of who it could possibly be.
Silver Bullet has a pretty suspenseful third act that earns props as well, with some good practical effects and costume designs that I'm surprised earned ire from people who worked on the film. Regardless, this is a very enjoyable werewolf film that will please SK fans and non-fans alike. Strongly recommended.
On the way through Nebraska, Burt and Vicky stop in the seemingly deserted town of Gatlin. The town strikes them as odd, as there are no adults in sight, and the children run the town under the orders of a strange, child preacher named Isaac and his enforcer, Malachai. They worship "He Who Walks Behind the Rows," and "He" doesn't take kindly to adults passing through town...
Before it was drowned in a sea of crappy sequels (and what are the odds that I review them next year?), Stephen King's Children of the Corn actually had a respectable reputation among horror fans, despite taking liberties with its original script and the story it was based off of.
For one, King decided NOT to set the story in Derry, Maine, which automatically earns it brownie points. The acting isn't too terrible either, with the possible exception of Courtney Gains' Malachai, who coincidentally has to be one of the least attractive-looking people I've seen in recent memory. I hate to kid bash considering that it makes me look like Perez Hilton, but good lord was that an ugly child. I was ready to give props to John Franklin as Isaac, the leader of the group, until I found out he was portrayed by a full grown adult. To me, that seems to be a bit of a copout. Speaking of kids, I will never not feel a little weirded out by scores comprised of children singing. The most memorable to me was in Gojira, but this works well too.
The film also forsakes supernatural elements until about the last twenty minutes, when it decides to go into full blown crazy territory. I know the Stephen King of old certainly wasn't subtle about his disdain for all things religious, but I felt disappointed that they even bothered to venture there. Would it have been too much trouble to say these children were just genuinely insane?
Complaints aside, this one's relatively fun too. It makes one wonder about the importance of adults in the roles of a child's life, and also makes you realize that maybe kids aren't stupid as we think they are. I'm not sure how it compares to the updated TV movie that was released three years ago, though it is supposedly more faithful to the original short story than this was. This version's alright in my book though.
For one, King decided NOT to set the story in Derry, Maine, which automatically earns it brownie points. The acting isn't too terrible either, with the possible exception of Courtney Gains' Malachai, who coincidentally has to be one of the least attractive-looking people I've seen in recent memory. I hate to kid bash considering that it makes me look like Perez Hilton, but good lord was that an ugly child. I was ready to give props to John Franklin as Isaac, the leader of the group, until I found out he was portrayed by a full grown adult. To me, that seems to be a bit of a copout. Speaking of kids, I will never not feel a little weirded out by scores comprised of children singing. The most memorable to me was in Gojira, but this works well too.
The film also forsakes supernatural elements until about the last twenty minutes, when it decides to go into full blown crazy territory. I know the Stephen King of old certainly wasn't subtle about his disdain for all things religious, but I felt disappointed that they even bothered to venture there. Would it have been too much trouble to say these children were just genuinely insane?
Complaints aside, this one's relatively fun too. It makes one wonder about the importance of adults in the roles of a child's life, and also makes you realize that maybe kids aren't stupid as we think they are. I'm not sure how it compares to the updated TV movie that was released three years ago, though it is supposedly more faithful to the original short story than this was. This version's alright in my book though.
Bill, an arrogant, overweight lawyer, accidentally hits an elderly Gypsy woman with his car, but is soon acquitted of all charges. After the trial, the woman's father approaches Bill, and touches his face while uttering a single word: "Thinner." Within no time at all, he begins to lose weight at an alarming rate. While it may sound like a good thing to Bill at first, he later begins to worry that he may be on the way to early grave if the weight loss doesn't come to an end.
Thinner could be the ultimate nightmare for a person who is incredibly self-conscious about their weight (that or THIS classic commercial from the 1990s), but it isn't particularly scary, just a tad bit creepy when it needs to be and a lot more entertaining than you'd expect.
Robert John Burke (a.k.a. Fauxbocop) is appropriately slimy, and not exactly a sympathetic figure. Truth be told, it can be difficult to root for any individual in this film, which may turn some off. He handles the initial suspicion about his "curse" decently well, though there's a point in the film that involves potential infidelity that just felt kind of forced, and I don't think RJB seemed to even care about that portion or subplot until near the end. Joe Mantegna plays a crime lord who Billy has gotten off the hook for a crime we're never told much about to begin with, and he's probably the sole reason to give this a watch. He's delightfully wicked and seems to enjoy playing a character of this nature a little too much (not surprising considering he IS Fat Tony on The Simpsons).
The film does get to be a bit silly involving other potentially cursed victims though. Those scenes just feel like filler for the most part, or excuses to rack up the body count. I also don't care that Kari Wuhrer is a babe and a half, she can NOT pull off a proper accent without sounding forced. It was kind of a shame that this film performed so poorly, and that the film's ending deviates from the pretty dark (but fitting) one from the original novel, but Thinner isn't as bad as its reputation might be.
Tomorrow, David Caruso makes an appearance on our list (YEAHHHHHHHH) with the much talked about SESSION 9.
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