2
(nothing direct)
7
(implied violence)
4
(not bad but not a must-see)
I really expected "Moon of the Wolf" to be a lot worse than it is. It's an older made-for-TV werewolf movie with terrible technical values so in some ways it did meet my low expectations, but overall it really isn't all that bad. Despite being about werewolf attacks this is a movie more geared towards solving a mystery. It's more about the investigation than the werewolf attacks which amplify in intensity as we get closer to the end.
Ellie has been mauled. It looks like wild dogs but the coroner finds evidence of murder. There's a confusing conflict for the investigators. Of course, if you're paying the slightest bit of attention you know that this is a werewolf attack, but the people in the movie know no such thing, no one except an old bed-ridden man who only speaks muddled French.
Sheriff Aaron sets out to figure out who's to blame. He turns up town secrets and people acting strangely, but when suspects become victims he has to reevaluate his whole investigation especially in light of the still unknown culprit having the strength to rip a jail cell door off its hinges. As Aaron investigates he starts falling for a local girl with a shady past covered up by a wealthy brother. With gun-toting locals running about and family members leveling accusations accompanied by swinging fists, Aaron has his hands full.
I didn't expect much out of the story or acting, and in those respects I was pleasantly surprised. Despite being a cast of unknowns most of these actors do a fair job, and the guy playing Aaron, who by far gets the most screen time, carries the movie rather well. The story is perhaps a little slow for a werewolf movie (there are only a couple of action\suspenseful scenes), but has a good flow to it. None of its revelations will stun you, I figured out who the werewolf is long before I was supposed to, and a couple of moments had me saying, “Yeah, right.” Overall though, I find it entertaining.
A couple of things hold it back a lot. One is the painfully low-budget looking werewolf getup. Thankfully we don't see a whole lot of the wolf, but neither do we see so little that we lose sight of this being a monster tale. The other negative is the weak action. Some of the “exciting” moments are almost comically bad.
Morality
This is a tame movie. For a story centered on werewolf attacks we see very little violence. Most of the time we see someone scream then swap to a shot of them lying still with a little blood on them. There's nothing sexual or revealing and no strong language at all that I noticed.
Spirituality
There's nothing special that I can think of here except for my general perception of the idea of being a werewolf. It's a curse and the transformation is akin to the evil inside a person coming to the forefront. When the effects of the curse bubble to the surface the afflicted commits heinous crimes. How would we look if our appearance changed when we gave in to our sinful natures? Would we take on more demonic visages? Sometimes it's harder to ward off the temptation to do something sinful, especially when it's not something that's dire enough in the eyes of men to be considered illegal, when there are no eyes on us. But just as the monster is hunted in "Moon of the Wolf," so do our secret sinful natures have a tendency to come to light sooner or later.
Final Thoughts
If you like werewolf movies and don't mind one that's low budget and older then this is probably worth a moment of your time. Don't put a lot of effort into tracking it down, but check it out if you get the chance.
Buying Guide
"Moon of the Wolf" has just about as many various releases as other public domain obscurities. This one might actually be worth a small amount of effort, but I'll help you get through the options more quickly.
There are a number of DVD's out there for consideration and a several more multi-movie packs. I'll compare a couple of those below.
For the most part all of the releases appear to offer exactly the same thing as the ones I'll be describing in detail: limited quality, no extras, etc.
The only exception is the BCI Digital Media Experience release which does appear to offer some extras though I couldn't find any details on them. I also couldn't find any comments on the quality.
Final Recommendation:
"Moon of the Wolf" is an OK movie for a dated, low-budget outing, but don't expect much out of the quality of any of these releases. Just go with whichever one gives you the best deal unless you want to chance the extras you might get with the BCI release. I don't really recommend the Chilling or Drive-In Classics packs, but that has more to do with how they handle the other movies they include. Their copies of this movie are acceptable (and virtually identical which leads me to think that other prints are going to be about the same).
The Chilling 20 pack offers its titles on 4 DVD's.
Video
1.33:
There is no widescreen version. The image is very grainy, somewhat fuzzy, and contains a little trash.
Audio
2.0 mono:
This is low quality with a mix so poor that it muddles some of the dialogue (it's like the low mids have been pumped way up while other frequencies are way too low).
Packaging
The disc comes in a paper sleeve that lives in a plastic case. You can get more details about the set as a whole by checking out the Chilling (20 pack) guide.
Extras
There are none.
Next up is the Drive In Movie Classics 50 pack which has it's flicks on 12 DVD's.
Video
1.33:
Again the image is extremely grainy and somewhat fuzzy.
Audio
2.0 mono:
This has the same weak mix as the other release.
Packaging
This is similar to the other set, just larger. Discs are contained in paper sleeves which fit inside a plastic case. You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Drive In Movie Classics (50 pack) guide.
Extras
None for this one, either.