I remember the first time I saw it over a couple of years ago, I wasn't much of a fan and just re-watching it sadly it's still the case. Some moments do work, but there's plenty that don't which I mainly lay blame on the unfocused screenplay (a jilted mix of horror and glazed sentiment), and ramshackle execution. So I guess I find myself in the minority that can't seem to enjoy it, and just have fun for what it is even with lambasted faults.
I wanted so much to like it the second time around, and hey I found the performances of Gary Busey (especially so with his energy), Everett McGill and Terry O'Quinn quite riveting. On the other hand Corey Haim (who I guess he forgets about his handicap) in the lead role just didn't work for me
while his relationship with Megan Follows' character is sincere, but so overwrought. The rest of the performances by the cast are immensely average, and Lawrence Tierney (who seemed to pop up in minor roles in the decade) is wasted.
Stephen King adapts his own novel 'Cycle of the Werewolf', but the screenplay wants to be a patchily trite melodrama with flimsy horror overtones. Although when it's not centering on the werewolf angle, it mops along. The tacky script doesn't help either, as I found myself snickering. The theme feels poorly dissected and lacking. It's vague. No real details are chucked it. Though what's not so is just who is the werewolf
there are clues, but it seems pretty obvious anyway.
So being a werewolf, how were the special effects. Pretty cheap
overdone and unimaginative. However the most striking use of the FX came from a very well done dream sequence involving plentiful transformations. As for the main werewolf suit, it wasn't bad but it definitely had no imposing traits. Actually some sequences were kind of laughable. The character in normal form felt more sinister than when they traditionally transformed into the beast.
Director Daniel Attias' goes for grisly and graphic inclusions, which do lack a build up of terrorizing tension. The over-the-top climax is the only time where some suspense is pulled out, before finishing on a sudden whimper. A spotty atmosphere is created honing a bleak air, which is not well served by the cheesy, overbearingly forceful score. There was one death that stayed with me, which we don't actually see but you do feel the impending doom in the lead up and aftermath. The attacks early on are scattered, but feel calculated and do give you a clue to who it might be.
Watchable, but disappointingly weak and hokey low-budget werewolf feature.
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