The 2019 Stephen King love affair continues with the new Blu-Ray release of Silver Bullet. The fine folks at Scream Factory have given the film a great transfer and a host of great extras!
The Film
Everyone
seems to want to talk about what’s Apex Stephen King and what’s Lesser Stephen
King. In the 1980s it was just Stephen
King. Novels, Screenplays, Shorts,
Novellas, all of it was game for anyone that loved genre 30+ years ago. Silver
Bullet is both Short and Screenplay by the maestro of horror.
Set over
a summer in the sleepy town of Tarker’s Mill, Maine as a series of grisly
murders have prompted the town’s citizen to go a little crazy. An ineffective Sheriff (played by the great
Terry O’Quinn), and a restless mob of townspeople do not help the carnage. Though none of them are prepared for the
secret that siblings Marty (Corey Haim) and Jane (Megan Follows) have
discovered; a werewolf is responsible for these murders. With only their drunk Uncle Red (Gary Busey) who
believes them, they are set for a confrontation with the beast that can only
end one way…
Director
Daniel Attias working from King’s own screenplay understands that adapting the
horror master’s work is not about the scares as much as it’s about the
relationships and drama outside of the horror.
Attias working with cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi create a beautifully
widescreen film that’s shot like a drama rather than your standard horror
film. Much of the film is focused on the
relationships between the brother and sister thankfully, as much of the werewolf
sections are pretty clichéd by this point in the mid-80s. What isn’t though is the character and some
of the reveals which still work like gangbusters 35 years later.
Silver
Bullet though not the best of the werewolf genre in the 80s it definitely
merits a watch if only for the unique point of view that King has brought to
the picture. That and the silver bullet
of the title still kicks so much ass it’s not even funny.
The
Transfer
Silver Bullet comes with a beautiful transfer. The film has always been a gorgeously shot movie that never felt perfectly transferred to home video. With this Blu-Ray Release Scream Factory has resolved that issue. The film gives the perfect balance of sharpness and grain structure that gives the entire feature a handsome look.
The
Extras
They
include the following:
- Audio
Commentary With Producer Martha De Laurentiis
- Audio
Commentary With Director Daniel Attias
- Isolated
Score Selections And Audio Interview With Composer Jay Chattaway
- Cutting
To The Bone – An Interview With Editor Daniel Loewenthal
- A
Little Private Justice – An Interview With Actor Kent Broadhurst
- The
Wolf Within – An Interview With Actor Everett McGill
- Full
Moon Fever – The Effects Of Silver Bullet – An Interview With Special Effects
Artists Matthew Mungle And Michael McCracken
- Theatrical
Trailer
- TV
Spot
- Radio
Spot
- Still
Gallery
Audio
Commentary by Producer Martha De Laurentiis. For this new commentary, De
Laurentiis is joined by DVD Producer Michael Felsher. They begin with De
Laurentiis’ history leading up to producing working as an accountant moving
into production and eventually working with Dino De Laurentiis, who would
eventually marry him, not before she produced a few films. The commentary is a great look at the film
and the time with De Laurentiis and some great stories about the Legend, Dino
himself.
Audio
Commentary by Director Daniel Attias. Attias is joined by DVD Producer Michael
Felsher. Felsher does a great job of prompting the director on various topics
that include origins, working with Dino, adapting King, and production
anecdotes. Originally included on the
Olive Films Blu-Ray Release.
Isolated
score and selected Audio interview by Jay Cattaway. More of a commentary
conducted by DVD Producer Michael Felsher. The two discuss how he got into
composing, his different work, and of course the work here. Rarely do we get a full commentary with a
Composer and this one does not disappoint.
Originally included on the Olive Films Blu-Ray Release.
A little Private Justice –
interview with actor Kent Broadhurst
is an all-new 12-minute interview with the actor who played the father of the
murdered child. Issues with the prop corpse and he had to fake it. Doing his
famous Private Justice monologue and a great anecdote about the nightmare
scene.
Cutting to the Bone -Interview
with Editor Daniel Loewenthal
is an all-new 16-minute interview. Loewenthal discusses how he got the job, his
relative inexperience before being hired. He discusses his origins working in
Porn then editing Mother’s Day and
eventually working with Joe Zito. How the director went to bigger editors (eg
Richard Marks, Richard Chew) and how he went with Loewenthal. It’s a great
tech-based interview discussing the approach to the editing of the film.
The Wolf Within – Interview with
Actor Everett McGill
is a 16-minute interview. The actor who is best known for Twin Peaks begins
with his source of how he began to portray the reverend. He discusses how he
got the role, and how Carlo Rambaldi’s issues with effects informed on how he
got the role. McGill definitely gets into the meat and potatoes of just how
difficult it was to do some of the performance. The soft-spoken actor gives
some great information about the production and Attias as a director.
Full Moon Fever – The Effects of
Silver Bullet is
a 21-minute interview with Michael McCracken Jr and Matthew Mogul. Both have a
fun time recounting how the FX work came together. Beginning with how they met
on Ice Pirates they do a great job of
how they worked on Silver Bullet.
Rounding
out the special features is Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot, Radio Spot, and Still
Gallery. The 90-second theatrical trailer is hilarious in its seriousness
including the Don LaFontaine voice over. The 30-second TV spot is a shortened
version of the Theatrical Trailer. The 40-second radio spot plays with an image
of the original poster behind it. The image gallery runs automatically for
6-minutes and has about 60-photos with the Score playing in the background it
can be paused but not navigated.
The
Final Thought
Any King fan would be happy to have this in their Blu-Ray Collection. Recommended.
Like this:
Like Loading...
The 2019 Stephen King love affair continues with the new Blu-Ray release of Silver Bullet. The fine folks at Scream Factory have given the film a great transfer and a host of great extras!
The Film
Everyone seems to want to talk about what’s Apex Stephen King and what’s Lesser Stephen King. In the 1980s it was just Stephen King. Novels, Screenplays, Shorts, Novellas, all of it was game for anyone that loved genre 30+ years ago. Silver Bullet is both Short and Screenplay by the maestro of horror.
Set over a summer in the sleepy town of Tarker’s Mill, Maine as a series of grisly murders have prompted the town’s citizen to go a little crazy. An ineffective Sheriff (played by the great Terry O’Quinn), and a restless mob of townspeople do not help the carnage. Though none of them are prepared for the secret that siblings Marty (Corey Haim) and Jane (Megan Follows) have discovered; a werewolf is responsible for these murders. With only their drunk Uncle Red (Gary Busey) who believes them, they are set for a confrontation with the beast that can only end one way…
Director Daniel Attias working from King’s own screenplay understands that adapting the horror master’s work is not about the scares as much as it’s about the relationships and drama outside of the horror. Attias working with cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi create a beautifully widescreen film that’s shot like a drama rather than your standard horror film. Much of the film is focused on the relationships between the brother and sister thankfully, as much of the werewolf sections are pretty clichéd by this point in the mid-80s. What isn’t though is the character and some of the reveals which still work like gangbusters 35 years later.
Silver Bullet though not the best of the werewolf genre in the 80s it definitely merits a watch if only for the unique point of view that King has brought to the picture. That and the silver bullet of the title still kicks so much ass it’s not even funny.
The Transfer
Silver Bullet comes with a beautiful transfer. The film has always been a gorgeously shot movie that never felt perfectly transferred to home video. With this Blu-Ray Release Scream Factory has resolved that issue. The film gives the perfect balance of sharpness and grain structure that gives the entire feature a handsome look.
The Extras
They include the following:
Audio Commentary by Producer Martha De Laurentiis. For this new commentary, De Laurentiis is joined by DVD Producer Michael Felsher. They begin with De Laurentiis’ history leading up to producing working as an accountant moving into production and eventually working with Dino De Laurentiis, who would eventually marry him, not before she produced a few films. The commentary is a great look at the film and the time with De Laurentiis and some great stories about the Legend, Dino himself.
Audio Commentary by Director Daniel Attias. Attias is joined by DVD Producer Michael Felsher. Felsher does a great job of prompting the director on various topics that include origins, working with Dino, adapting King, and production anecdotes. Originally included on the Olive Films Blu-Ray Release.
Isolated score and selected Audio interview by Jay Cattaway. More of a commentary conducted by DVD Producer Michael Felsher. The two discuss how he got into composing, his different work, and of course the work here. Rarely do we get a full commentary with a Composer and this one does not disappoint. Originally included on the Olive Films Blu-Ray Release.
A little Private Justice – interview with actor Kent Broadhurst is an all-new 12-minute interview with the actor who played the father of the murdered child. Issues with the prop corpse and he had to fake it. Doing his famous Private Justice monologue and a great anecdote about the nightmare scene.
Cutting to the Bone -Interview with Editor Daniel Loewenthal is an all-new 16-minute interview. Loewenthal discusses how he got the job, his relative inexperience before being hired. He discusses his origins working in Porn then editing Mother’s Day and eventually working with Joe Zito. How the director went to bigger editors (eg Richard Marks, Richard Chew) and how he went with Loewenthal. It’s a great tech-based interview discussing the approach to the editing of the film.
The Wolf Within – Interview with Actor Everett McGill is a 16-minute interview. The actor who is best known for Twin Peaks begins with his source of how he began to portray the reverend. He discusses how he got the role, and how Carlo Rambaldi’s issues with effects informed on how he got the role. McGill definitely gets into the meat and potatoes of just how difficult it was to do some of the performance. The soft-spoken actor gives some great information about the production and Attias as a director.
Full Moon Fever – The Effects of Silver Bullet is a 21-minute interview with Michael McCracken Jr and Matthew Mogul. Both have a fun time recounting how the FX work came together. Beginning with how they met on Ice Pirates they do a great job of how they worked on Silver Bullet.
Rounding out the special features is Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot, Radio Spot, and Still Gallery. The 90-second theatrical trailer is hilarious in its seriousness including the Don LaFontaine voice over. The 30-second TV spot is a shortened version of the Theatrical Trailer. The 40-second radio spot plays with an image of the original poster behind it. The image gallery runs automatically for 6-minutes and has about 60-photos with the Score playing in the background it can be paused but not navigated.
The Final Thought
Any King fan would be happy to have this in their Blu-Ray Collection. Recommended.
Scream Factory’s Blu-Ray Release of Silver Bullet is out now
Share this:
Like this: