Bad Moon

Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: July 19^th, 2016.
Director: Eric Red
Cast: Mariel Hemingway, Michael Pare, Mason Gamble, Ken Pogue, Johanna Marlowe
Year: 1996
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The Movie:

Directed by Eric Red, the man who gave us Body Parts and Cohen And Tate and the guy who wrote both The Hitcher and Near Dark, 1996's Bad Moon begins when a photographer named Ted (Michael Pare) and his foxy girlfriend Marjorie (Johanna Marlowe) are out seeing what there is to see when, low and behold, they're attacked by a werewolf. Ted is bitten and left both injured and very single.

Knowing what will likely happen to him post-bite, Ted calls up his sister, Janet (Mariel Hemmingway), and asks her if he can come and stay at her place for a while. Unaware of his plight, she obliges and soon enough he's moved in with Janet and her son Brett (Mason Gamble), much to the dismay of the family dog, a German Shepard named Thor. Ted does at least take some precautions, showing up with a nice pair of steel handcuffs he hopes to use on himself as the inevitable full moon comes ever closer. But will it be enough? That dog is really protective of his family… this could get messy.

Based on the novel Thor by Wayne Smith, Bad Moon was a box office flop upon its initial release but it has gained a pretty dedicated cult following over the years - and for good reason. It's an entertaining popcorn movie that offers up some nice, if occasionally uneven, effects work, a decent story and a good cast. And on top of that? One of the coolest dogs in the history of horror movies! In fact, any time that Thor is on screen the movie is firing on all cylinders. Thor is more than just a background character, he's a hugely important part of the plot and as said plot evolves, the conflict that drives the tightly paced story comes not from Ted and any of the human characters, but from what happens between Ted and the dog. It's a neat idea, it's something different, and it's exploited quite nicely here. Not only is Thor just an awesome looking dog, but the crew are very careful in how he's shot. The angles that are chosen, the lighting, when and where he appears - it all helps to give the dog the ability to steal a whole lot of scenes from his human counterparts. And he does just that.

Not that the human cast doesn't do fine work too. Mason Gamble won't blow you away but he's decent enough in his role. Johanna Marlowe is fine here too, as is Mariel Hemmingway. They're not given as much to do as Pare, however, and Pare understandably gets more screen time and therefore makes a bigger impression. He's good in this role. As his condition becomes more obvious to him it's interesting to see how his character changes. He handles this run of emotions nicely and delivers some pretty convincing work.

Some of the werewolf effects are a little stiff, but just as many, if not more of them, are pretty cool (future Jason player Ken Kirzinger dons the werewolf suit for this movie). We get some good kill scenes and some really nice, stylish photography. The locations used for the shoot work well and a cool score - yeah, this'll do quite nicely. Bad Moon is definitely underappreciated, but check it out. If you're into monster films and werewolf movies, this one offers a whole lot to love.

Note that Shout! Factory has included both the original theatrical cut of the movie as well as a director's cut version that twenty-six seconds less in length! The differences are minor - it really boils down to Red having chopped down some of the effects work from the transformation sequence that takes place towards the end of the movie. There aren't any other noticeable changes to this version and those expecting some of the supposed trims required for the film to have been released with an R and not an NC-17 will be left waiting.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Shout! Factory presents Bad Moon on Blu-ray in its original theatrical cut and a new director's cut “supervised and approved by Eric Red.” Both versions are presented in a 2.35.1 widescreen aspect ratio in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and both options look great. Black levels look nice and deep but not at the expense of shadow detail. Compression artifacts are never a problem and the picture is free of any obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement. There's some visible grain here, as there should be, but no serious print damage, the image is almost pristine save for a speck or two here and there. This is a nicely detailed and textured picture that has as very pleasing film like quality to it - no complaints at all!

DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound tracks are provided in English with optional subtitles provided in English as well. The 5.1 mix gets the edge during the more action intensive scenes, spreading out the effects and the score fairly well, while the 2.0 track sounds more true to source. Both feature properly balanced levels and clean, clear dialogue.

Writer/director Eric Red provides a new commentary track over the Director's Cut version of the movie wherein he talks about the trims he made to his preferred shorter cut of the movie. He also talks about the effects work, the cast, some of the ideas that were worked into his script and why and a fair bit more. The disc also contains a commentary with Red and actor Michael Pare over the theatrical cut of the movie moderated by John Fallon. This track is a little unpolished but it covers some interesting ground, talking about working with the effects, the dog featured in the movie, shooting locations, the different characters that populate the movie and a fair bit more.

Also included on the disc is a new featurette called Nature of the Beast: Making Bad Moon that features interviews with Red and Pare as well as Mason Gamble, Special Effects Make-up artist Steve Johnson and stunt coordinator Ken Kirzinger. This clocks in at just over thirty-five minutes in length and while it covers some of the same ground as the commentary tracks, getting Gamble, Johnson and Kirzinger onboard for the piece makes it worth checking out. There's some decent material in here and it's the kind of in-depth piece that fans should appreciate.

Outside of that we get the unrated opening scene from the Director's first cut (this was sourced from a VHS tape so it's a little rough looking but still very cool to see particularly because it does show what would seem to be some of the excised material required for the R-rating), three storyboard sequences, the film's original theatrical trailer, static menus and chapter selection.

The Final Word:

Bad Moon is a surprisingly unique and compelling werewolf film, one that plays by the rules of the genre and treats it with respect but that isn't afraid to take some chances. The cast do fine work, the effects are typically pretty good and the story is well told. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release is a good one, presenting the movie in excellent shape and with a nice array of extras too. Good stuff all around and well worth checking out.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!