Silver Bullet (film)
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| Silver Bullet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Daniel Attias |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
| Written by | Stephen King |
| Starring | Gary Busey Everett McGill Corey Haim Megan Follows Robin Groves |
| Music by | Jay Chattaway |
| Cinematography | Armando Nannuzzi |
| Editing by | Daniel Loewenthal |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 11, 1985 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Silver Bullet is a 1985 film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon. The film is directed by Dan Attias and produced by Dino De Laurentiis.
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[edit] Plot
The film opens in a small rural town, Tarker's Mills, Maine that is set upon by a death of a railroad worker, Arnie Westrum (Gammon). Although he is murdered by a werewolf, the county coroner concludes that Arnie passed out on the railroad tracks and was run over by a train.
Later on, a woman, Stella Randolph (Wendy Walker), is slaughtered in her bedroom. This murder goes unsolved and the town's concerns grow.
The narrator of the film is the older sister, Jane (Follows), of a family of four. Her narration centers around her relationship with her younger, paraplegic brother Marty (Haim). Immediately upon their introduction, the story depicts the rocky affair between the 'handicapped' little brother and the over burdened 'older sister', their relationship strained from the start. The next victim, Milt Sturmfuller (James A. Baffico), is a drunken redneck who hears someone destroying his flower pots in a shed not far from his house. Believing it is mischievous teens, Sturmfuller plans to go ward them off with a shotgun. After arriving in the shed, he is killed by the werewolf.
It isn't until the brutal slaying of a teenage male, Brady Kincaid (Joe Wright), that townsfolks are at the verge of abandoning local authorities and seeking their own kind of 'private justice'. In the middle of the melee is a Baptist Reverend, Lester Lowe (McGill), who initially parades as a concerned member of the community attempting to prevent the townfolks from invoking further bloodshed.
The citizens go to hunt the werewolf and several of them are attacked and killed by the monster, including Owen Knopfler (Tierney), although the survivors of the encounter later deny seeing anything unusual.
The nicest surprise in the film comes in the form of the alcoholic Uncle Red (Busey). His 'no care in the world' approach to life is a large contrast to the prudish demeanor of the people in this town of Tarker's Mills. The uncle concocts a wheelchair/motorcycle for his nephew's birthday - that is the vehicle by which the nephew sets upon in the middle of the night along a small bridge to light up fireworks. At this moment he is confronted by a werewolf and barely escapes with his life if not for the launching of a firerocket into the left eye of the creature.
Marty enlists the help of Jane in looking for a town regular with a missing left eye. She finds it in the form of the Reverend Lowe. That ignites a cat and mouse chase between the siblings threatening to disclose of the Reverend's true lunar transformations. Lowe, in turn, using Judeo-Christian morale to rationalize the murders of sinners - in order to prevent them from eternal damnation in hell - sets out to kill Marty. It is implied that Lowe is now completely insane. Finally, the courageous sibling duo manage to convince Red that things smell afoul with Lowe. Uncle Red then convinces local Sheriff Joe Haller (O'Quinn) to investigate Reverend Lowe. That night, Haller, skeptical about Lowe at first but desperate to find a killer, is shocked to discover evidence that at least some of Marty's story may be factual. Haller then finds Lowe, who has locked himself in his garage, but before he can arrest him, Lowe transforms and kills Haller.
At the end of the film, Red, Marty, and Jane have a final showdown with the big bad wolf. The only thing that stands between their survival or horrific demise: a silver bullet. Marty shoots the werewolf in the right eye, killing him. Afterwards, Marty and Jane share a tender moment together following their ordeal. The brother/sister bond between them is forever strengthened.
[edit] Differences between the novel and the film
- The novel was released in 1983 and was set in 1984. The film takes place in 1976.
- The novel details a killing each month over a calendar year, with some full moons falling on holidays. The film starts in Spring and ends on Halloween.
- Red's name is Al in the novel, and Jane's name is Kate. Kate has a much smaller part in the novel.
- Arnie Westrum was not an alcoholic in the novel. Also, there was no doubt about Westrum's death being a murder in the novel.
- Stella Randolph was not pregnant in the novel and was not attempting suicide. Additionally, she made no attempts to fight off the werewolf before it killed her.
- Milt Sturmfuller was not an alcoholic in the novel, although he was not a wife batterer in the film. Sturmfuller was the last victim in the novel; he is the third victim in the film. Additionally, Sturmfuller was killed in Portland, Maine in the novel, the only murder outside of Tarker's Mills. He is killed feet away from his house in the film.
- No drifter is killed in the film.
- While the notion of a werewolf-murderer is not thought of, other than by Marty, in the film, rumors of a werewolf spread throughout Tarker's Mills beginning in March in the novel.
- Brady Kincaid was not friends with Marty in the novel.
- Reverend Lowe does not transform in the dream in the film and Clyde Corliss is never found dead.
- Owen Knopfler's first name is Alfie in the novel. Additionally, he owned the Chat n' Chew in the novel, and Billy Robertson owned the pub. These are reversed in the film. Also, Knopfler is killed in his diner in the novel, but he is killed in the woods with the vigilantes in the film.
- Although the vigilantes go hunting for the werewolf in the novel, Reverend Lowe never attacks them, opting instead to go to Portland, where he kills Sturmfuller.
- Marty does not have a motorcycle-wheelchair in the novel, he does not leave his yard when he sets off his fireworks, and he blinds the werewolf with an entire bag of firecrackers as opposed to a single fire-rocket. Additionally, he blinds the werewolf on the Fourth of July in the novel but in September in the film. Also, Marty told the Maine State Police that the killer was a werewolf, but this was attributed to post traumatic stress syndrome in the novel. He only tells Uncle Red and Jane in the film.
- Town Constable Lander Neary's character was replaced with Sheriff Joe Haller. Neary never suspected Reverend Lowe in the novel, and he was killed while drinking in his own truck as opposed to investigating Lowe.
- Elmer Zinneman's pigs were never killed in the film. Additionally, Zinneman's character is severely reduced in the film, as he appears in only one scene, and is oblivious to the presence of a werewolf. In the novel, Zinneman knows that a werewolf is on the loose and leads the vigilantes in November. In the film, the vigilantes are implied as being completely barbaric, while in the novel some of the vigilantes, such as Zinneman are portrayed as being somewhat heroic.
- Jane uses a parrish bottle drive as an excuse to find the person missing his or her left eye in the film. In the novel, Marty goes trick-or-treating to find the werewolf and Jane-Kate is not involved.
- The final confrontation takes place on New Year's Eve in the novel and on Halloween in the film. Jane-Kate is not involved in killing the werewolf in the novel. Other than the werewolf breaking into the house, there is no struggle in the novel. While the Busey character fights off the werewolf in the film, Uncle Al remains sitting through the entire ordeal in the novel. Additionally, Marty's parents are present in the novel. Marty's grandfather is present in the novel as well, although he is completely written out of the film.
- In the novel, Lowe has no control of himself during the beast state nor any memory of what he does in wolf form. In the film, it is implied that he has either full control of himself, as he prevents Stella from committing suicide and knows it is Marty who blinded him.
- Lowe is reluctant about his curse in the novel but seems to more easily embrace it in the film. His reluctance in the novel is made up for in the film when he tries to stop the vigilantes from going into the woods, so he will not kill them, and by confining himself in places with minimal human contact, such as locking himself in his garage and hiding in Sturmfuller's plant shed.
- In the film Lowe can transform on any moon, while in the novel he requires a full moon.
[edit] Technical information
- The film was made for an estimated $7,000,000 and earned $5,400,000 in the U.S. and nearly $13,000,000 Domestic.
- It was filmed between October 1984 and December 1984. It was finally released in the U.S. on October 11, 1985.
- The film was shot in Burgaw, North Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina.
- The UK DVD release of the film in 2001 contains the original movie trailer and spoken commentary by director Daniel Attias, both of which are not available on any other officially released DVD, including the US edition which was finally released on May 28, 2002.
- Foreign-language adaptations have often based their titles on some variation of "The Werewolf of Tarker's Mill" instead of "Silver Bullet".
