Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

bayardhiler While it may not be remembered as a particularly great film, "Moon of the Wolf" is not a bad way to spend some quality time with your television or computer. Starring the late, great David Janssen and equally talented Barbara Bush, the film opens with the discovery of a horribly mutilated girl in the lonely Louisiana bayou. As you can probably guess from the title, she wasn't killed by any ordinary murderer and after a few more brutal killings, it's up to Sheriff Aaron (Jansen) and his former high school crush Louise (Rush) to figure out who the beast is before it kills again. Despite it being a made for TV movie of the week, the film holds up rather well, especially when compared to some of the few other werewolf films of that time. The story is well written and for much of the time feels more like a small town mystery than it does a horror picture. In fact, as some other people have pointed out, if you went into this movie without knowing the title, you might think just that. The setting of the Louisana bayou somehow helps set up a mysterious tone for the film, perhaps because swamps are a bit creepy. Whatever the reason, it definitely adds to the film. The director of the film should earn some praise for use of some pretty good camera angles of the beasts point of view. But the strongest strength of the film is probably the actors. David Janssen throws everything he has into the role of Sheriff Aaron as he did in every movie, be it "The Fugitive" or a low budget job like this one and it makes the movie better because of it (such a shame that he died so relatively young at the age of forty-eight in 1980). Barbara Rush looks radiant here and has the talent to back up her looks in the role of Louise, a member of the town's wealthiest family and a woman who has charm but is no diva in distress either (particularly at the end). Bradford Dillman also puts in a good performance as Louise's somewhat mysterious brother Andrew. As for the werewolf itself, the effects are not terrible but they're certainly not the greatest either, with the beast having the same Lon Chaney wolfman look that was used from the 40's to the 70's (it would not be until 1981's "The Howling" when makeup effects would advance to the point where werewolves actually looked like the creatures from legend). Never the less, the film never loses steam and it all leads up to a very well done finale. I wish I could say that TV still produced such little charmers like this, but the age of the movie of the week and the grand mini-series is all but over now. But don't let that stop you from seeing this sleeper on you tube and while you're at it, remember to keep the wolves at bay.

MartinHafer This TV movie is set in the wilds of Louisiana, yet oddly aside from a few actors (such Royal Dano and Geoffrey Lewis), most of the cast spoke without a hint of a Cajun accent. In particular, David Janssen, Barbara Rush and Bradford Dillman (the leads) didn't sound the least bit convincing and I assume they were cast mostly because they were all prolific in TV movies. For example, Dillman appeared in such fare as "The Swarm", "Bug", "Piranha", "Demon, Demon", "Deliver Us From Evil" and "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home". So much for in-depth and complex casting decisions! The film is a werewolf film and while the audience can guess this from the beginning (hey, the title alone is a giveaway), it sure takes most of the folks in the film to realize that a series of brutal murders are the work of a lycanthrope. In the meantime, the Sheriff (Janssen) investigates and folks in the film start blaming wild dogs for the deaths.For the most part, there is nothing too surprising in the film. It's neither particularly bad nor particularly good---just the sort of cheap production you'd expect for a made for TV film. Competent acting, rather poor makeup and a story that occasionally violates the wolf-man cannon established in previous films. It's a decent time-passer but not all that much more.

TheExpatriate700 Moon of the Wolf is a decent made for TV horror movie that succeeds largely on the basis of guessing the identity of the werewolf. As such, it is more of a mystery than a horror movie.A Louisiana town suddenly finds itself plagued with a series of gruesome murders, investigated by David Janssen as your typical redneck sheriff. Is the raving old man right to conclude that it's a werewolf?The film's strength lies in its ability to create red herrings that keep the viewer guessing who the killer is. In this respect, it resembles the made for TV whodunits that were popular during this time period. Among the suspects are the first victim's secret lover, the hot headed brother, and the town rednecks.That said, it is decidedly weak from the horror standpoint. As a TV movie, it cannot show any gore, and all the attack scenes are cut aways. The film is best appreciated as a work of mystery / suspense rather than horror.

The_Void Despite some good ones, I still don't go into most made for TV seventies horror films expecting much; and that is a good job when it came to this film as while Moon of the Wolf is not essentially a bad film; it really isn't all that good and is bound to disappoint anyone who goes in expecting to see something decent. As the title suggests; this is a werewolf film. We focus on a small town where a bunch of people have turned up dead. The police sheriff is baffled because the murders seem to have been committed by a powerful animal and sets out to solve the mystery. The plot is really not very original and if you've seen more than a handful of werewolf films, you will more than likely have come across it before. It's not very inspiring in the way it plays out either; most of the film is taken up by talking, which is not very interesting, and there is precious little of the actual werewolf, which made me feel a bit ripped off. The werewolf, when it finally does appear, seems to have taken influence from the 'Wolf Man' school of makeup effects as it's basically just a hairy man; again, not very inspiring or impressive. There are no surprises at the end either and despite the fact that this is a TV movie; it's not a very good one. I wouldn't recommend tracking it down.