Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Silver Bullet Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 9, 2018

Daniel Attias' "Silver Bullet" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original theatrical trailer; audio commentary by the director; exclusive new video interview with producer Martha De Laurentiis; interview with special effects artists Michael McCracken Jr. and Matthew Mungle; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free..

Tough crew

Daniel Attias made his directorial debut with this film in 1985, which for the most part is an accurate adaptation of Stephen King’s novelette Cycle of the Werewolf. Since then Attias has had a pretty incredible career and now his name is associated with such massive TV projects as The Wire, The Killing, Six Feet Under, Entourage, and Homeland.

It is the mid- ‘70s and the location is a small town in the middle of nowhere. Someone beheads a well-known drunkard but because his body is discovered next to the railroad tracks the sheriff and his assistants very quickly conclude that the poor guy must have fallen asleep at the wrong spot. Shortly after that, however, more ‘accidents’ occur and despite the sheriff’s assurance that it is only a matter of time before he figures out what is going on a large posse of angry residents go out to hunt down the mysterious killer.

Marty Coslaw, (Corey Haim) already has a pretty good idea who, or what, the killer might be, but no one is paying attention to him, not even his cranky and slightly nutty Uncle Red (Gary Busey), who genuinely loves him and frequently argues with his mother (Robin Groves) because he wants her to treat him like every other kid running around town despite the fact that he is handicapped. Eventually with the help of his older sister, Jane (Megan Follows), Marty makes some progress and Uncle Red agrees to consider the possibility that the killer could be ‘special’. Then the three agree how to lure him out of the shadows so that Uncle Red can put a bullet in his head.

Silver Bullet was not made with a huge budget but when it was released on VHS it actually felt like there was a massive new campaign to bring it to the attention of folks that might have missed its theatrical release. Indeed, there was a seemingly endless supply of promotional materials for it, and unlike other genre projects from the ‘80s this film never disappeared into oblivion. (While the mom-and-pop video stores were still around, in this reviewer’s area there wasn’t a single one worth visiting without a big theatrical poster for Silver Bullet proudly displayed somewhere in the horror section).

The story isn’t original but Attias does a nice job of blending teen humor and a decent dose of R-rated thrills, which is essentially what made these types of genre films a lot of fun to see with a large group of friends. A vintage, read slightly unhinged, performance by Busey makes the whole thing even more attractive.

If compared to the rest of the King adaptations that emerged during the ‘80s -- like Christine, Cat's Eye, Cujo, and Firestarter -- this film ranks somewhere in the upper end where the better ones are. It is important to underscore again, however, that it works because of the decent characterizations and good chemistry between its stars, not because the King’s story and the script that Attias had to work with were very special.

The old and popular original poster for the film does not show the killer and it is the one that distributors should have kept for the various home video releases that came out over the years. It is just better to have that crucial first encounter with the killer during the film, not by looking at a poster (or a DVD/VHS/or book cover).

A team of Italian legends was primarily responsible for the stylistic appearance and tone of the film, though this should not be surprising as it was produced by Martha De Laurentiis, the widow of the great producer Dino De Laurentiis. The exotic killer and the creatures from the hallucination sequence for instance were created by the special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi (King Kong, Alien), while the film was lensed by Amando Nannuzzi who during the late ‘50s and ‘60s worked with many of the great masters of Italian cinema (Porcile, Sandra).

Silver Bullet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Daniel Attias' Silver Bullet arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older but very healthy remaster, so the film actually has a very pleasing organic appearance. Regrettably, this is yet another one of those releases where there is just too much content placed on a single-layer disc. To be perfectly clear, there are no disastrous anomalies that will affect your viewing experience, but trained eyes will very quickly notice that with the current remaster Umbrella Entertainment could have had a much stronger release, likely coming very close to or actually matching the quality of Indicator/Powerhouse's presentation of Christine. So while depth is mostly pleasing it is actually not optimal, and during some of the darker and nighttime footage, with the light black crush that sneaks in, there is actually noticeable flatness (see screencaptures #4 and 11). The daylight footage typically looks quite good, but even there it is not difficult to tell that with some encoding optimizations density would have been noticeably better. The good news is that there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments, so even though there are limitations on display there are no digital anomalies of the kind that many catalog titles from Universal's vaults are plagued with. The color scheme is convincing, though a new remaster will undoubtedly introduce some additional nuances. Image stability is excellent. All in all, this is a fine organic presentation of the film that with a few minor encoding tweaks could have looked even stronger. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Silver Bullet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio was probably remixed at the same time when the remaster was created because clarity, depth, and especially balance are very nice. There are no age-related imperfections like hiss and distortions to report either. Dynamic intensity is actually very good for an '80s project of this caliber.

Silver Bullet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Dino's Angel Takes on Lycanthropy: Martha De Laurentiis Remembers Silver Bullet - in this new video interview, producer Martha De Laurentiis recalls how she entered the film industry after she landed in the Big Apple more than forty years ago, her first professional work on Wolfen, her relationship with Dino De Laurentiis, and the various Stephen King projects that she was involved with, including Silver Bullet. The interview was conducted exclusively for Umbrella Entertainment in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

• The Wolf Within - in this new video interview, actor Everett McGill recalls how he became involved with Silver Bullet and discusses his initial impressions of Daniel Attias' working methods and organizational skills as well as the transformation that he had to undergo while playing his character. The interview was conducted exclusively for Umbrella Entertainment in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway - composer Jay Chattaway discusses the progression of his career and recalls his contributions to Silver Bullet and other popular genre projects.

• Full Moon Fever - in this featuertte, special effects artists Michael McCracken Jr. and Matthew Mungle recall how they met during the production of The Ice Pirates and discusses some of the neat special costumes and effects that were used in Silver Bullet. In English, not subtitled (22 min, 1080p).

• Audio Commentary - director Daniel Attias discusses in great detail how different sequences were conceived and shot as well as the additional new material that was added up to the original story to either enhance some relationships or introduce new themes. There are also plenty of interesting observations about the atmosphere of the film and its unique sense of humor.

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Silver Bullet. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• TV Spot - original U.S. TV Spot for Silver Bullet. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080i).

• Radio Spot - original U.S. radio spot for Silver Bullet. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Image Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for the film. With music. (7 min, 1080p).

• Reversible Cover -

Silver Bullet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Daniel Attias' directorial debut, Silver Bullet, is a rather tense but also quite funny genre film of the kind that disappeared as the '80s ended. It is also one of the decent Stephen King adaptations from the era, though Attias and some of the cast members actually added up plenty to the original story. Umbrella Entertainment's release is sourced from a very nice and healthy remaster, but the technical presentation should have been better. Still, this is a release that is worth picking up. RECOMMENDED.