| Review | Moon of the Wolf (1972) | Director | Daniel Petrie |
|---|---|
| Writers | Alvin Sapinsley and Les Whitten |
| Cast | David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Bradford Dillman, John Beradino, Geoffrey Lewis, Royal Dano, Claudia McNeil and John Davis Chandler |
“You show me a pack of dogs where one of them knows how to hit you on the side of your head and knock you unconscious, and I’ll sign a death certificate saying she was killed by dogs” – Doc Druten
The local residents in the small Louisiana town of Marsh Island are rattled when the body of a young woman is discovered mutilated in a nearby swamp. Some locals think a pack of wild dogs did the deed, Sheriff Aaron Whitaker (Janssen) believes it’s the work of a killer and Dr. Druten (Beradino) concurs and speculates the perpetrator is also left-handed. Soon another victim is claimed and this time there can be little doubt that the killer has immense strength and may even be of supernatural origins.
An ABC “Movie of the week” event that, according to the trivia section of the IMDB, has fallen into public domain; “Moon of the Wolf” is quite the find for werewolf film lovers and fans of old TV movies. Shot on location in Louisiana and subsequently featuring some great authentic bayou surroundings that certainly add a lot of visual charm to this decently written lycanthrope mystery that’s very compact (75 minutes runtime), to the point and well cast.
As viewers can imagine there’s no explicit violence or gore on display but a decent amount of suspense is generated and it’s hard to compete with the authentic southern atmosphere conjured up here. The story also has a romantic subplot, of sorts, that deepens the characters. The film starts off with the discovery of the body and Aaron’s investigations bring him to Andrew Rodanthe (Dillman) who represents the most powerful family in town and whose ancestors were the founders of Marsh Island and command a great deal of respect from the residents. Aaron then also gets reacquainted with Andrew’s sister, Louise (Rush), who he fancied back in his school days and the crush seems to be quite reciprocated.
As said; not much mayhem on screen but once Aaron gradually realizes, with no small help from Louise, that a werewolf is running loose there’s an energetic finale where the beast squares off against the two. The explanation given is fairly good and, like most good werewolf tales, has a good deal of melancholy woven in. But that’s a stable for many good lycanthrope tales dating all the way back to “The Wolf Man” (1941) as this creature of the full moon truly is a damned individual.
Apparently not many shooting days were allotted for the production, as few as 10-12, but the film sure looks good and the crew behind this were real professionals. It’s very competently directed, has a fine music score and the cast is really good. Janssen is very likeable here and has good chemistry with Rush. Most know him from his role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the series “The Fugitive” (1963-1967) and while he’s not the most versatile performer he’s always reliable and even a little bit looser and happier looking in “Moon of the Wolf” than in other projects. I’ve always been a big fan of Bradford Dillman. He never made it big and he’s only the lead in a handful of notable genre films (“Escape From the Planet of the Apes”, “Bug”, “The Lincoln Conspiracy” and “Piranha” to name some) but a solid supporting presence in many other films and TV shows. Here he has a decent amount of screen time and gives a very solid performance in a role that’s more than meets the eye initially. On repeat viewings viewers can see some subtle touches he makes for the character. Other notables here include Lewis, Dano and Chandler who round out the impressive cast.
“Moon of the Wolf” is a good movie. I gave the disc a chance as I’m a sucker for 70’s TV movies with a good cast and anything of that vintage that also features a werewolf piques my interest. On repeat viewing it just got better as tends to be the case with a lot of these old flicks.
I do recommend.
Physical Copy
My copy of “Moon of the Wolf” is the region A Blu-ray release from Vinegar Syndrome Archives issued in 2022. In short the A/V quality is superb. Like I said earlier the film has fallen into public domain and I gather it’s been issued on DVD before in very substandard quality so it’s really terrific that a quality label like Vinegar Syndrome has come to the rescue. Special features include a commentary track and an interview with the film’s editor. I really do hope my continuous rant about these physical copies does result in someone actually buying the product as these companies should be supported if people are interested in what they’re putting out. They do great work with under-the-radar gems and it deserves better than being pirated around the net.
Why physical copy?
I always encourage the acquisition of physical copies as I dread the day when films will only exist as files on computers and through streaming services. The companies that put the effort into making the discs, create new artwork or reproduce the originals, issue booklets and much more deserve all the financial support they can. Therefore I will always mention the Blu-rays or DVD’s (and yes; also if I review something streamed through Netflix or the like) even though I gain nothing from it personally.
