Bad Moon (1996) Review

Tagline: “Half man. Half wolf. Total terror.”

Bad Moon (1996) Review

 

This is a story about Thor—no, not the God of Thunder, a German shepherd named Thor. You might have expected it to be about a photographer who turns into a werewolf, or his sister and nephew who have to survive his nocturnal hunts, and sure, they’re in it, too, but the real driving character of the whole story is the dog. This is the peak dog lovers’ werewolf movie; it’s harrowing, don’t get me wrong, but considering werewolves are the most famous canine creatures in horror, Thor is a pretty unique protagonist for this kind of flick.

Though it takes place in Seattle, it was filmed in and around Vancouver, and I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy the mise-en-scène of Bad Moon so much. I feel right at home amid the pine trees and mountainous terrain—because, well, it was filmed in my home province. We don’t begin in the woods, though, we begin in a Nepalese jungle with Ted and his girlfriend on an expedition, accompanied by some locals. It makes for a steamy way to kick things off, as they get down and dirty in their tent, but a werewolf tears its way through the canvas and right into her in one of the most violent instances of Coitus Interruptus I’ve ever seen. It's a bloody display as the beast absolutely shreds his girlfriend, then he blows its head off, but not before it passes the curse on to him.

Bad Moon wastes little time with appetizers and gets to the main course with respectable efficiency. Months later, after he returns home, Janet invites Ted to park his airstream trailer on her property and live with them, but their dog Thor knows Ted’s secret. It’s not as if there’s much mystery; it’s clear for the audience that Ted is a werewolf, that Thor knows, and that Janet and her son have no idea. It might sound as if it gets boring and tedious, and it would have, had there not been a couple effective kills and skirmishes along the way, or had the pace been slower. While it’s not a particularly fast-moving film, it also doesn’t overstay its welcome, at a tight 79 minutes, and the dog Primo who plays Thor is excellent in every scene, always on point and providing a heroic canid contrast to the lycanthrope.

The werewolf is a guy in a suit with an animatronic head, and it actually looks quite decent. Sometimes the head and neck are a little clunky when it moves quickly, or appear robotic when it isn’t moving at all, but there are several creature shots throughout that are more than satisfactory. This movie is also a good reminder of how far great sound design can carry a creature feature. Every time the werewolf roars or snarls it’s raspy yet rumbling, or when it chomps down on a victim it’s juicy and crunchy. The gore effects, too, though used somewhat sparingly, are quite effective.

When Bad Moon originally came out, it bombed in theatres and was thrashed by critics, but it’s worth noting that the Blu-ray (which has great picture and sound quality by the way) contains two versions. The director’s cut has an even sexier sex scene to kick things off, and it omits a horrendous shot of a werewolf morph effect that was far too ambitious for the time it was made and the low budget the film was produced on. It’s a very 90’s movie, in good and not so good ways. One detail I really dislike is the compressed camera lens used to convey dog/werewolf POV, though it’s less overdone than in something like Wolfen. At times it takes itself quite seriously, and at other points gets kind of silly, like when Ted pisses on Thor’s doghouse to mark his territory. The quality of acting ranges; Mason Gamble is decent as the kid Brett, and Michael Paré is entertaining as Ted, managing to ham it up just enough when necessary to be the kind of bad guy you admiringly hate.  

Bad Moon is an uncomplicated werewolf film that features an A+ werewolf in a B- production. It’s not really comedic and it’s not really terrifying, it’s primarily just suspenseful, with enough worthwhile werewolf moments and a satisfying enough payoff that it’s worth a solid recommendation.