welcome to Comment Comment, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work and then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, robbery hunter Revisits an underrated werewolf story, an underrated Stephen King adaptation, and a very fun movie, Silver Bullet.
Stephen King’s filmography currently has sixty-six feature films (and we’re not even counting the miniseries, limited series, and so on), and it’s the mix you’re probably waiting for. There are genuine classics and absolute nonsense, but there’s also a sea of interesting films floating between those extremes: films that are far from perfect but offer a good time inspired by King’s imagination. One of those intermediate films is the one from 1985. Silver bulleta film that I have been a fan of for a long time, flaws and all.
The film was recently released in 4K UHD by the folks at Scream Factory, and while that’s reason enough to rewatch and check out the extras, there’s also a much darker second motivation here. The online film community recently lost one of our funniest, silliest, and most beloved members with the passing of Scott Wampler. He had been writing about movies for years, but arguably his most exciting and popular project was his time spent as one half of the ongoing podcast, The Kingcast, alongside Eric Vespe. It was that podcast that led Scream Factory to invite the duo to record a commentary track for Silver bulletand it is his presence that forced me to listen to him.
Now read on to see what I heard in…
Silver Bullet (1985)
Commentators: Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler from The Kingcast podcast
1. The film is an adaptation of King’s novella, “The Cycle of the Werewolf,” something that was originally going to be a calendar. It is not a joke. A publisher had the idea of publishing a calendar with the death of a new werewolf each month, and they had Bernie Wrightson to illustrate and King to write the brief descriptions of the kill. Of course, hiring King to write something short is silly, so we end up with a novella. The murders were originally tied to each month’s main holiday or event, and Vespe mentions that “for one person,” everyone he’s talked to about the film would love to remake it and follow that episodic approach.
2. It is suggested, in all seriousness and complete sincerity, that Terry O’Quinn (Lost2004-2010) learned everything he needed to know about “wheelchair acting” from Corey Haim‘s (Luke, 1986) performance here. Just one more theory for you all. Lost-heads.
3. “King’s strength is in his character work,” says Vespe, commenting on how the film gives time to Marty (Haim) and his sister, Janie (Megan follows), to interact realistically. He harasses her with a snake early on, but then apologizes in a nice, quiet moment, and that relationship feels more authentic than we normally are.
4. Wampler points to a portrait at 11:16 saying it is HP Lovecraft. The beautiful thing about Wampler’s delivery here is that I have no idea if he really knows or is just talking like an idiot. Vespe isn’t all that believable when he suggests that the blood-spattered smiley face kite was a major inspiration for Alan Moore’s iconic image. watchmen (1986-1987). “Prove me wrong,” she says defiantly, “prove me wrong.”
5. They classify the arousal of various monsters, and it breaks down as follows. Vampires top the list, obviously, followed by werewolves and Gill-man, with Frankenstein’s monster far, far down the list.
6. Carlos RambaldiThe effects of the werewolf were the subject of much debate and discussion during production. Apparently director Daniel Attias He hated the look and did everything he could to keep the beast off the screen, but the producer Dino Laurentis I loved it and insisted we see more, more, more! “I think you actually got it backwards,” Wampler chimes in, adding that “my notes say it was producer Dino De Laurentiis who was very unhappy and demanded a change, and they fought back.” Appropriately, Vespe defends himself by saying that he doesn’t understand that at all. Wampler fires another salvo with an unsourced quote that also mentions Don Coscarelli as the director, at which point Vespe delivers a devastating factual attack on the fact that Coscarelli never shot a single frame of the film and it didn’t last beyond pre-production. .
7. One of Coscarelli’s contributions before leaving the project was to frame the film in the style of Steven Spielberg. Jaws (1975). The script from it was not used, but Vespe still sees many Jaws remaining connections from the initial kill where we never see the creature to the death of a child and the mob going out to hunt “Mrs. Kintner moment.”
8. They originally had a dancer dressed in the werewolf costume, but the powers that be were not happy with the move, so Everett McGill – who plays the werewolf dressed in Reverend Lowe’s clothes – was left inside.
9. Wampler was not always a fan of Silver bulletbut as he rewatched it several times during the Kingcast, he came to appreciate it much more, adding that “they really managed to capture the essence of Stephen King in everything to such an extent that even things that are a little cheesy to talk about or making it a product of its time, it doesn’t really bother me.”
10. Wampler leaves to go to the bathroom at 38:59 and returns at 41:19.
eleven. There is a long silence in the comment: more than six minutes! – during the entire sequence where Marty goes out to shoot fireworks and sees the werewolf for the first time. They mention it when they come back, so I guess they accidentally muted themselves, were censored for slandering Dean Koontz, or Wampler was singing copyrighted Nine Inch Nails songs that Scream Factory didn’t want to have to license.
The best in comments without context
“If I were Stephen King in 1984, agreeing to write a calendar is exactly what I would do if I weren’t completely sober.”
“It’s a good head.”
“I understand the desire to want an Uncle Red, what I don’t understand is the desire to be an Uncle Red.”
“The ’80s blood was the wrong color, but it looked more convincing than the digital blood.”
“That organist’s haircut is the third or fourth scariest thing in the movie.”
“Not all werewolves beat their victims to death.”
Final thoughts
Silver bullet It’s still a truly entertaining era, a killer Stephen King adaptation and an underrated werewolf movie. The commentary is also a good moment when Vespe and Wampler talk, as they show some interesting insights into King and a real comfort in their collaboration as co-hosts. However, there are some long gaps, particularly in the back half, including almost the entire end credits, and it is unclear whether they are edits or actual silences from the duo. Either way, it seems like a missed opportunity because I would love to know more about both of them. Still, even with those gaps, it’s a fun song and worth a listen for fans of the film and Kingcast.
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Related topics: Comment Comment, Stephen King
