Moon Of The Wolf
By Gene Stevens
Editor Monsters After Midnight
Chief Content Editor Vicki Stevens
A few years ago, I wrote a magazine article about a Chicago Comicon that I attended. During this time, “The Walking Dead” TV series was in full swing, and Zombies and other monsters were everywhere at the Con that year. But the all of the dead walking flesh got me thinking. I wondered just how long it would be before the slasher, walking dead and beyond gore would play out it final scenes.
I predicted back then that the horror genre would eventually return to its roots, and that the noir horror movies of the past would make a resurgence And thanks to social media and classic horror aficionados, my prediction came true. Staying true to his dream, Chicago’s Svengoolie (Rich Koz and METV) keeps the classic horror coming . A movie that recently ran on Svengoolie was “Moon of The Wolf”.
“Moon of the Wolf” is a made for TV horror flick with an all star TV movie cast including David Janssen, Bradford Dillman, and Barbara Rush.
The werewolf movie is set in the southern bayous of Louisiana. The movie is about a well to do southern plantation owner who lives on a creepy old plantation that has roots going back to the days of Antebellum.
The wolfman, played by Bradford Dillman, is allegedly inflicted with a rare form of malaria. But when a series of terrible murderous events start to take place in the small town, the sheriff, played by David Jannsen, begins to investigate while the town’s people begin to form a vigilante group to track to track down the killer beast.
As the next full moon appears. It becomes apparent that a case of rare malaria is actually a case of lycanthropy (werewolfism) The wolfman then seeks out his next victim, who happens to be his own sister, who has been marked by a sinister sign. The werewolf assails the old plantation house searching for his sister who has taken up refuge there. The werewolf now possesses super monster strength and he busts down doors trying to get to his sister to kill her. However, the wolfman as it turns out, was smart enough to have a gun in the old plantation house which is loaded with bullets that have been blessed. She then recovers the pistol just in time to end the wolfman’s bout of lycanthropy. The final scenes are really well shot. The Director (Dan Curtis) used great imagination. Using a traditional style, shot scenes shadows, and darkness to set the stage. With flashing images of the werewolf, howling in the background and horses neighing in the background.
Monsters After Midnight 