SILVER BULLET is a slight werewolf story adapted from the Stephen King novella. The tale is a simple one and there's a lack of story complexity that means this feels slightly stretched for its running time. It's a far cry from the quality of SALEM'S LOT which had enough material to fill out a TV miniseries, although saying that, it's not without its merits.
The presence of Corey Haim as the protagonist brings this in line with other '80s kid-centric efforts like THE LOST BOYS and THE MONSTER SQUAD. I thought his character's disability made him into a really interesting lead, flawed and yet powerful because of his disability. The whodunit aspect of the narrative is the worst part of the film because it's so obvious from the outset, but thankfully there are reasons to watch other than the storyline.
One of these is Gary Busey in a great, cast-against-type role as Haim's drunk uncle. Busey brings his usual energy and humour to the part and is undoubtedly the most enjoyable thing here. The supporting cast features some engaging faces from the era, including Terry O'Quinn (THE STEPFATHER) as the town sheriff and Everett McGill (UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY) as the local reverend. Megan Follows contributes a realistic turn as Haim's sister and was best known for her recurring role as ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.
SILVER BULLET benefits from some well-directed set-pieces, in particularly a lengthy wheelchair chase scene which sounds silly but actually turns out to be very tense. The special effects aren't as good as in other werewolf movies from the era (most notably AN American WEREWOLF IN London), although some of the Carlos Rombaldi transformation effects are pretty cool. Overall I would class SILVER BULLET as good fun, if not great entertainment.
The presence of Corey Haim as the protagonist brings this in line with other '80s kid-centric efforts like THE LOST BOYS and THE MONSTER SQUAD. I thought his character's disability made him into a really interesting lead, flawed and yet powerful because of his disability. The whodunit aspect of the narrative is the worst part of the film because it's so obvious from the outset, but thankfully there are reasons to watch other than the storyline.
One of these is Gary Busey in a great, cast-against-type role as Haim's drunk uncle. Busey brings his usual energy and humour to the part and is undoubtedly the most enjoyable thing here. The supporting cast features some engaging faces from the era, including Terry O'Quinn (THE STEPFATHER) as the town sheriff and Everett McGill (UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY) as the local reverend. Megan Follows contributes a realistic turn as Haim's sister and was best known for her recurring role as ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.
SILVER BULLET benefits from some well-directed set-pieces, in particularly a lengthy wheelchair chase scene which sounds silly but actually turns out to be very tense. The special effects aren't as good as in other werewolf movies from the era (most notably AN American WEREWOLF IN London), although some of the Carlos Rombaldi transformation effects are pretty cool. Overall I would class SILVER BULLET as good fun, if not great entertainment.