The film begins with a narrator telling us "how it was... back then." It soon becomes clear that the narrator is a woman looking back on her past as a teenage girl. Something "mysterious" happened when she was living in a wholesome, small town with her parents and her wheelchair-bound brother. From the number of American flags, community picnics, and conservative dresses, we are in what looks like the 1950s. Oh geeze! We're just a couple minutes into the film and we already have bingo squares filled in!
There is tension in the family because the girl is jealous of the attention her "crippled" brother seems to earn, and she views him as a pest. There is also family tension because the children's beloved uncle is an alcoholic (another space on the bingo card). The uncle is played by Gary Busey and I think this film and role is the only context in which I'll ever utter the sentence: Gary Busey was perfectly cast.
Seriously, Busey is a lot of fun here, and he's really believable as a loving and silly but ultimately broken man. He really seems to authentically care about his niece and nephew, and tries to be a good uncle even if he can't always manage to avoid disappointing his family. Not only does he try to teach his own strange brand of life-lessons, but he builds special "souped up" wheelchairs for his nephew, each one named "The Silver Bullet." (Ha! See, it's ironic. Because werewolves.)
While a lot of the film's time is preoccupied (in typical King fashion) by the family tension and drama, there are also terrible mutilatings and murders which begin to happen around town:
The funny thing about this film, though, is that only a few people seem to care about the murders. There is scene after scene of the whole town at church to pay their respects at each victim's funeral, but then everyone (except the direct family members of the murdered) seems to abruptly go back to life and business as usual. It seems odd in many ways - wouldn't a small town be more concerned about a crazed killer on the loose? - but it does seem like a slightly exaggerated version of reality, which lends itself to a bit of dark humor. The deaths themselves aid in this tone; I refuse to believe that the murders are supposed to be scary. The blood splatter is so fake looking and over-the-top that it's both entertaining and funny more than anything else.
Okay, so time to check our bingo sheet. We're about 15-20 minutes into the film and so far we have...
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| The singing comes from an eerie rendition of "Amazing Grace" that the whole town sings at each funeral. |
Yep, it's definitely looking like a Stephen King story.
From here, the story is divided between the two main plots: the narrator's wholesome family and their struggles, and then the town as a whole. As the wheelchair-bound brother and his narrator sister bicker, the men of the town (mostly blue-collar workers) meet up in a local bar (with many cheap beer signs) and decide to go "hunting" for the crazed killer. None of them return.
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| More funerals! |
Soon after this, the little brother sees what appears to be a werewolf in the town woods. He is able to escape because of his super-wheelchair (that feels as weird to type as you might expect), and he immediately tells his sister and uncle. True to Stephen King stories, the uncle doesn't believe him. "Surely it's just kids making things up" he thinks, and he flatly tells the boy there are no such things as monsters or werewolves.
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| We're getting closer to Bingo... mark that "clueless adults" spot! |
The sister, however, does believe her brother for some reason. It doesn't make a lot of dramatic sense given their relationship previously, but she's a kid too so "kid intuition" seems to work the way it usually does in King stories. So, the brother and sister set out on a mission to find out who the werewolf is. I won't give away the big reveal, but when the culprit is discovered, it reveals a new trope: scary fundamentalism!
Yes, the monster is fueled by an-only-somewhat-out-of-nowhere conservative and fundamentalist philosophy. We have King cliché bingo!
Now, sadly, after the big reveal, the story really goes a bit downhill. I was riveted and actually really liked the story while there was still mystery, but once that is solved, the tension of the film no longer exists. After all, one of the kid protagonists is also the film's narrator. King is no M. Night Shyamalan, so the audience can safely assume that the woman narrating who claims to be the teenage girl is actually her... and thus alive. This leaves the "will they/won't they" survival question (essential for a good horror movie) mostly answered; there are very limited choices.
Another problem with the movie's end is that we see the werewolf much more clearly. And it is bad - oh my gosh, it is so bad. I haven't seen a monster suit this pathetic since Mighty Morphing Power Rangers.
Ultimately, despite the end, this movie is "pretty decent." The reveal is a good one, the kid actors are passable, and Gary Busey is great. The ending is annoyingly abrupt and not especially suspenseful, and it may be difficult to get past the cheesiness of the effects, but if you like Stephen King in all of his familiar glory, this movie can be pretty fun.
Rating: 3 out of 5 bites
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