SILVER BULLET is a slight werewolf story adapted from the Stephen King novella. The tale is a simple one and there's a lack of story complexity that means this feels slightly stretched for its running time. It's a far cry from the quality of SALEM'S LOT which had enough material to fill out a TV miniseries, although saying that, it's not without its merits.

The presence of Corey Haim as the protagonist brings this in line with other '80s kid-centric efforts like THE LOST BOYS and THE MONSTER SQUAD. I thought his character's disability made him into a really interesting lead, flawed and yet powerful because of his disability. The whodunit aspect of the narrative is the worst part of the film because it's so obvious from the outset, but thankfully there are reasons to watch other than the storyline.

One of these is Gary Busey in a great, cast-against-type role as Haim's drunk uncle. Busey brings his usual energy and humour to the part and is undoubtedly the most enjoyable thing here. The supporting cast features some engaging faces from the era, including Terry O'Quinn (THE STEPFATHER) as the town sheriff and Everett McGill (UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY) as the local reverend. Megan Follows contributes a realistic turn as Haim's sister and was best known for her recurring role as ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.

SILVER BULLET benefits from some well-directed set-pieces, in particularly a lengthy wheelchair chase scene which sounds silly but actually turns out to be very tense. The special effects aren't as good as in other werewolf movies from the era (most notably AN American WEREWOLF IN London),although some of the Carlos Rombaldi transformation effects are pretty cool. Overall I would class SILVER BULLET as good fun, if not great entertainment.

Idyllic small town Tarker's Mills is suddenly hounded by a crazed killer. The townfolks become restless, and try to hunt down the maniac. Only wheelchair bound Marty (Corey Haim) know the truth. He must get help from his sister Jane (Megan Follows),uncle Red (Gary Busey),and Sheriff Joe Haller (Terry O'Quinn)

Written by Stephen King, this has his trademark of something bad in a small quiet town. However the style lacks intensity. The world of horror had moved on after its new golden age. This movie seems quaint and old fashion in comparison.

The narration at the start is problematic because it tells the audience that Jane survives. It's an unnecessary giveaway in a horror. The audience needs to fear for Jane's life especially in her one big scene.

The werewolf costume and makeup effects are weak. The action is limited, and the gore is unimpressive. There are just a couple of light scares.

Overall it's a light weight horror. The actors are good but don't have much to do. The horror style is at kiddie ride level. But it's likable enough to watch.

In the spring of 1976, in the former peaceful town Tarker's Mills, the inhabitants are scared with violent murders and press Sheriff Joe Haller (Terry O'Quinn) to investigate further and find the responsible. Meanwhile, the crippled boy Marty (Corey Haim) is very happy with the new motorized wheelchair that his dear Uncle Red (Gary Busey) gave to him. During the night, Marty sneaks out to use the fireworks Red gave to him in a bridge. However he is attacked by a haired creature but Marty shots a rocket in the left eye of the attacker and escapes. Marty tells his sister Jane (Megan Follows) that he was attacked by a werewolf and convinces her to seek out who in town could have an injured eye. Jane discovers that the local Reverend Lowe (Everett McGill) is the creature but now the siblings have to convince Uncle Red to help them to disclose the truth about the reverend.

In the 80's, "Silver Bullet" was a successful werewolf film on VHS in the rentals. I might have watched this entertaining movie at least twice in those years. Today I have just seen it again and I really liked it, specially the chance to see Corey Haim two years before "Lost Boys" and Terry O'Quinn decades before "Lost". But maybe the most important is the excellent transformation of the werewolf without the use of computers. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Hora do Lobisomem" ("The Hour of the Werewolf")