I always get a kick out of the fact that the major networks used to run a lot of made-for-TV horror movies. Moon of the Wolf aired as an "ABC Movie of the Week" in 1972; presumably the market dictated that the public was hungry for some werewolf action in their primetime viewing. (This is yet another reason for me to have some 70s nostalgia despite not being around for them. Then? Horror movies. Now? Singing/dancing reality shows.)
The mass-marketed style of a made-for-TV movie doesn't really suit the werewolf as a monster/lead character. Moon of the Wolf ends up being a pretty bloodless affair with not a heck of a lot of action. But even though it was kind of boring, there are some things to like. I was mostly just into its nostalgic charms - it's full of stuff that you'd never see on non-reality network TV nowadays - it takes place in the deep south on the bayou, so you get a lot of southern drawls and redneckery, lots of back sweat and chest hair, and older people flirting. And really obvious musical cues when it's time for a commercial. If that wasn't enough for you, going into the breaks:
So that's good for a laugh every 10-15 minutes at least.
Our main character is the gravel-voiced Sheriff Aaron Whitaker (David Janssen, a.k.a. TV's The Fugitive). Early on, he's called to the scene of a vicious murder - the daughter of a local family of bayou-dwellers has been killed by what appears to be a band of wild dogs. But the doctor in town says it's unlikely to have been dogs that killed her - her body is torn to shreds, but the actual cause of death was a blow to the head. Whitaker's investigation leads him to the Rodanthe estate - the Rodanthe's are an old-money family that basically owns the town. There, he meets Louise Rodanthe (Barbabra Rush), and the two reveal that they had crushes each other way back in high school. (I estimated that these two were in their mid to late 50s, but per imdb they're early 40s. Hard living in 60s Hollywood, I guess...) So there's a little upper/lower class romance to keep you occupied in between murders. And it's pretty obvious (to us, not them) what is doing the killings (a werewolf), so the only real mystery is finding out who. But Sheriff Whitaker is still in the dark, and it turns out there are a lot of suspicious folks in town. So he must find out everything he can before more people are killed.
So Moon of the Wolf is a mystery that just isn't all that mysterious. We obviously know what is going on with the whole werewolf thing (if you can put two and two together after the title sequence with the howling noise over the full moon). But the characters don't, and a big chunk of the film is spent trying to figure out what we already know. To be fair, we don't know who the creature is - we are given several different suspects with different motives. It just doesn't jibe with what you know about werewolves - they are crazed, primal killers, so why would they need a reason to kill someone specific, you know? Plus, the actual werewolf is telegraphed pretty clearly - it's so obvious that you assume it might be a fake-out/switcheroo, but nope! It's a big surprise to the characters when it's revealed, but certainly not to us.
The horror elements of the film are pretty tame. There are just a couple of attack scenes, and you never really see any of the blows connect. A little first person stalking and screaming is about the extent of the action until the third act. Blood and gore are kept to an absolute minimum, and the werewolf makeup is nothing noteworthy. Decent face makeup and hairy gloves, and that's about it. Although my wife pointed out that the werewolf really keeps his shirt well-buttoned up - it's actually pretty funny. He's got a nice button-up shirt on, and makes sure to keep it buttoned all the way up to the collar - it looks stifling. I'd like to say it's to provide a counterpoint to Sheriff Whitaker (who *always* has his shirt open, exposing his own werewolf-ish chest hair), but I'm sure it's to save money on werewolf makeup.
The highlight of the film has to be the acting. Janssen (as Sheriff Whitaker) has an undeniable "Old Hollywood" kind of leading-man charm, and he and Barbara Rush have good chemistry together. (At first, it's a little gross - like watching grandparents flirt. But they win you over.) You also get a couple of fun appearances from well known character actors, most notably the recently deceased Geoffrey Lewis as Lawrence, the brother of the first murder victim. They are sort of playing up their character's bayou-ness - talking in a drawl, wearing overalls with one strap unbuttoned and what not... it's pretty enjoyable to watch.
Other than the performances, there isn't a lot to offer. The direction and the style of the film are pretty standard - nothing noteworthy, good or bad. But I was just hoping for something a little more goofy when I heard "werewolf TV movie from the 70s." Moon of the Wolf never really tries for any humor, or any thing too outlandish. (There is, however, a pretty classic shot of the werewolf jumping out of a window at one point that made me laugh out loud. I would GIF it if I knew how.) Moon of the Wolf plays like a standard murder mystery, but the killer just happens to be a werewolf. You could pretty much just replace "violent spells" with "turns into a werewolf" and hardly change anything about the film.
Anyways, I still found it mostly enjoyable, but more for the "made-for-TV" aspect of it than anything that really happened in the film. I suspect if I had seen a couple more of these TV-movies first, Moon of the Wolf wouldn't be quite as enjoyable. It's got some fun performances, and it's old-schoolness might be enough to win you over. It kind of worked on me, but your mileage may vary.
I would kind of, I guess, recommend this film.
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