Moon Of The Wolf

Moon of the Wolf ... was an ABC Movie of the Week back in 1972. So though expectations weren’t high, there was a chance that it could turn out to be a quality film despite relative anonymity. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

The movie was directed by Daniel Petrie, who worked in television for much of his life and directed an assortment of TV films before and after Moon of the Wolf. Therefore, Petrie was fairly familiar with the medium at the time of the film’s release, and he certainly structures the plot with commercial cuts in mind. Other TV veterans show up as well: David Janssen stars as Sheriff Whitaker, known best for his work in The Fugitive, and Barbara Rush from Peyton Place plays the southern belle Louise.

The actors are competent enough, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with Alvin Sapinsley’s adaptation of Leslie H. Witten’s novel; the problem is that the source material doesn’t translate well to the small screen’s capabilities at the time. Part of it also has to do with the film’s murder mystery pacing.

Sheriff Whitaker starts out investigating the murder of a young woman in the backwoods bayous of Louisiana, in a small town where gossip and secrets blossom. Whitaker encounters a bunch of opposition, including many people who have something to hide; the first hour is fairly limited to Whitaker’s interviews with suspects.

There are some moments of soap opera-esque drama; the doctor had been sleeping with the victim, and he had also gotten her pregnant! There’s an old man spouting French about a loup-garou! Louise flirts with Whitaker and they sort of like each other! Each of these scenes could (and should) be paired with a booming soundtrack sting, but they’re not – Moon of the Wolf takes itself very seriously.

But the silliness abounds anyway, with Whitaker slowly narrowing down suspects because of the way the victim’s wound looks – it must be a left-hander, but oh wait, a right-hander could have done it from behind! Ultimately, each of the suspects continues to drop out until one ambidextrous individual remains. But all is not what it seems, as the old man warns; a loup-garou is in their midst.

The obvious ensues as our werewolf Andrew (Bradford Dillman), brother of Louise, pursues her through their plantation. Eventually she manages to burn down a barn, but it’s not enough – she’s forced to fire off three rounds of silver bullets, with no thanks to Whitaker.

The last fifteen minutes or so are significantly more interesting than the rest of Moon of the Wolf. The pacing and action is better, and the wolf man has similarities to the Universal horror monsters rather than the wolf-based imagery of the poster. It’s unfortunate that the movie spends such a long portion of its running time (out of 72 minutes, a good 50 are devoted to the investigation), because the werewolf angle feels mostly tacked on.

Contemporary audiences probably won’t see a need to watch this movie, and there’s a reason it has fallen by the wayside. It doesn’t do much for the werewolf sub-genre, although fans of older flicks about loup-garoux might appreciate the werewolf costume.  (Ryne Barber, Viewer Vomit)