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Silver Bullet By Justin Beahm
985 could be considered the year of the lycanthrope. Not only did the twelve
month full moon lunar cycle extend to a sinister thirteen (two in July), but no fewer than nine films involving werewolves or werewolf lore saw the silver screen before 1986 rolled around. Above the sequels (HOWLING II), adventure (SHE), family fare (TEEN WOLF), and even anime (VAMPIRE HUNTER D) stood SILVER BULLET, a picture that, against the backdrop of a small town being terrorized by a bloodthirsty beast, dared to focus on kids dealing with the very adult themes of alcoholism, paralysis, abortion, suicide, and the loss of their security. It was a film that lifted the veil on the darkness that lurks within even the most saintly among us, and begged the question: Are you sure you know your neighbors? In 1983, Stephen King teamed up with
artist Bernie Wrightson at the request of publisher Chris Zavisa to create a werewolf story that would run twelve months as a wall calendar based on the cycle of the moon. The concept evolved into a graphic novel (“novelette” then), and CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF was born. King was at his peak, his books being optioned for screen before they even hit stores, and CYCLE was soon picked up by legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis. Eventually, Danial Attias, who had served as second
24 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • JAN/FEB 2012
assistant director on ET and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, was tapped to direct. He immediately took to the story of a handicapped boy battling numerous monsters. “What intrigued me about this story was
the issue of disability,” Attias explains. “The central character [Marty Coslaw] is a young boy in a wheelchair who has a physical impairment, and I thought it was fascinating how most of the characters in the story could be seen to carry some sort of wound. The most glaring in addition to Marty are Reverend Lowe, who has this shadow side that keeps taking a hold of him, and Uncle Red, who has his wound of alcoholism. I was very intrigued by
the issue of what it means to have an imperfection.” King wrote the screenplay and worked
closely on changes with greenhorn director Attias. “Stephen was extremely willing to make changes if I asked for them,” shares the filmmaker. “We basically took the original concept of a story unfolding over twelve months and consolidated it into a period of one month.” The story is that of Marty, played by
a pre-LUCAS Corey Haim, who is the paraplegic cross-to-bear for older sister Jane (Megan Follows) and his worrying mother Nan (Robin Groves). When uncle Red (Gary Busey) shows up to spend some time with the family, he bestows a hot-
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