Stephen King adapts his own story Cycle of the Werewolf for the big screen in the Daniel Attias-directed Silver Bullet, a coming-of-age tale in a similar vein as King’s other seminal classic Stand By Me (“The Body”). It focuses on growing up while also dealing with a monstrous issue that stands in as a metaphor for life. In this case, the outstanding element is Marty’s (Corey Haim) disability, which gives the film its name and also has a pretty forward-thinking theme: don’t let a disability define you, delivered by, of all people, Uncle Red (Gary Busey).
But first and foremost, the film is a werewolf movie set in rural USA with the common elements in place, chief among them the vigilante justice and bigoted opinions of the townspeople. Silver Bullet doesn’t necessarily hide its monster’s identity, but it does offer a number of red herrings as its young characters explore the possibility that among them is a silver-maned killer. Both Haim and his co-star and on-screen sister Jane (Megan Follows) have an excellent rapport, aided by the misunderstood but well-meaning Busey as an uncle who wants to believe his niece and nephew’s fantastical story.
The film has a number of awesome transformation sequences that rival some of the best werewolf movies like The Howling and An American Werewolf in London, with some visceral blood and guts on-screen to keep the action frenetic even when Attias is busy exploring the relationships and growing pains amongst the characters. While Silver Bullet isn’t the most violent of the ’80s werewolf sub-genre, it’s certainly a strong narrative and deserves recognition in the sphere that it doesn’t often receive.
And the final showdown between the three protagonists and the hairy Reverend Lowe (Everett McGill) is an excellent conclusion to the film, a climactic moment that highlights the power of family and the special bond between Jane and Marty that would forever be a part of their life. The narration from an aged Jane is a bit clumsy and haphazardly used, but its final statement of love is a great cathartic release.
There is a weird tendency for the film to show some particularly gory scene like a group of vigilantes getting ripped apart by the killer werewolf, then launching into a tender uncle/nephew bonding moment when Uncle Red gifts Marty with a completely dangerous wheelchair-dirtbike thing. Still, the cheesiness of it all is pretty endearing and it adds an extra layer of surprise when Silver Bullet moves into its grimmer territory.
Silver Bullet is quite a fun film, and it’s sort of an underdog in the world of lycanthrope films despite featuring a strong cast, great SFX, and King at the writer’s helm. With a new 4K restoration, it’s time to revisit the world of Tarker’s Mills.
4K UHD
Scream Factory has released a UHD version of Silver Bullet in 2023 just a few years after their previous 2019 Blu-ray Collector’s Edition; whereas that release did not feature a new scan of the film and seemed to use the same version as an Umbrella Entertainment transfer, this time around Scream Factory has done a new 4K scan of the original camera negative to add exceptional clarity to the video. It’s quite evident, especially from our screenshot comparisons, that this 4K transfer has improved the overall detail apparent; everything appears markedly sharper without digital over-sharpening, revealing information that was previously lost in the older transfer. Clothing and facial textures are well-defined, as are backgrounds and signs. This release also features Dolby Vision/HDR 10, and Scream Factory’s transfer is noticeably warmer throughout with abundantly vibrant reds and greens. It appears that Silver Bullet was shot with a particularly suffused and summery color palette, and this transfer does capture that but also appears to go a little overboard on the red saturation since skin tones can appear exorbitantly pink in some sequences. However, the overall transfer is excellent and certainly highlights the reason for an upgrade for fans of this film.
Audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track, which sounds great with a strong dialogue presence and no real issues or concerns. It doesn’t seem to differ from the previous Blu-ray release. English subtitles are also included.
Extras are almost entirely ported from the previous Scream Factory Collector’s Edition; the single new offering besides the transfer is an audio commentary with the Kingcast (Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler), who bring a very podcast-esque conversational tone to their offering with specific info about King’s original story as well as more comedic commentary on the film. It does have some swaths of silence, but overally it’s an interesting listen through a King-centered lens.
Other than this, the rest of the extras will seem familiar and include interviews with Kent Broadhurst and Everett Lowe, editor Daniel Loewenthal, the special effects team, as well as audio commentaries with Martha De Laurentiis, director Daniel Attias, and an isolated score track. It’s unfortunate Scream Factory couldn’t scrounge up a few more interviews with some surviving cast, but this still collects a nice number of pre-existing features.
Extra Features
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
- NEW 2023 Transfer From The Original Camera Negative
- In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- NEW Audio Commentary With Eric Vespe And Scott Wampler Of The Kingcast
- Audio Commentary With Producer Martha De Laurentiis
- Audio Commentary With Director Daniel Attias
- Isolated Score Selections And Audio Interview With Composer Jay Chattaway
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
- NEW 2023 Transfer From The Original Camera Negative
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
- NEW Audio Commentary With Eric Vespe And Scott Wampler Of The Kingcast
- Audio Commentary With Producer Martha De Laurentiis
- Audio Commentary With Director Daniel Attias
- Isolated Score Selections And Audio Interview With Composer Jay Chattaway
- Cutting To The Bone – An Interview With Editor Daniel Loewenthal (1080p; 16:39)
- A Little Private Justice – An Interview With Actor Kent Broadhurst (1080p; 11:51)
- The Wolf Within – An Interview With Actor Everett McGill (1080p; 16:15)
- Full Moon Fever – The Effects Of Silver Bullet – An Interview With Special Effects Artists Matthew Mungle And Michael McCracken (1080p; 21:03)
- Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:27)
- TV Spot (1080p; 0:31)
- Radio Spot (0:39)
- Still Gallery (no chapter breaks; 6:20)
Verdict
Silver Bullet looks great on this new UHD from Scream Factory, and despite the lack of additional new extras, this is well worth the upgrade for fans of the werewolf movie looking for enhanced visuals.
