Good start, but then it gets ruined

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Larry Cohen is one of the big horror names and I've been meaning to get to his movies for quite some time. Never caught his "It's Alive" trilogy, nor "Q" or "God Told Me To" but as a horror nut; I'll get to them eventually. Perhaps "Full Moon High" isn't the best introduction into Larry Cohen the director. Adam Arkin gives his all as a teenager who's bitten by a wolf in Romania and his life falls apart soon after. Father dies (quite a funny scene though) and he fulfills his destiny; roaming the earth for a great deal of time before tiring of it eventually and then return home. He does just that but a lot has changed. Perhaps aiming for the heights of screwball comedy gold "Airplane"; "Full Moon High" is just a plain old misfire. Maybe some quality inside jokes flew by me but the flick is spoofing Werewolf oldie's left and right while trying to be somewhat topical of changing times and values in the old US of A. There are scattered laughs here and there in 93 minutes (mostly with Ed McMahon and Kenneth Mars - the shower scene early on is pretty funny) but on the whole this is a pretty painful sit-through. Certainly a one of a kind movie and not surprisingly it has a small cult following; I'm all for that (mostly in the horror department myself though) but I can't honestly recommend this movie for comedy buffs. Adam Arkin is likable here but like most others he looks a little lost and no wonder. I'll give the movie one thing; it's anything but predictable as I never knew what direction it was going to turn to next. Halfway through I thought I had it pegged but was I dead wrong! Weird flick and not in the good way.

In the 1950's, high school jock Tony (Adam Arkin) travels to Transylvania with his father, and gets bitten by a werewolf. After attacking some high-jackers on the plane ride back, Tony starts to terrorise his home town by attacking the locals, choosing to nip girls on their arses rather than actually eating them. Fearing he will be discovered, he leaves town and starts a trip across America for the next few decades (he's immortal too, see) only to return to his home town, pretending to be Tony's son. Caught between his old flame Jane (Roz Kelly), now married to his old friend, and lusty, mousy teacher Miss Montgomery (Elizabeth Hartman), he struggles to hide his affliction as the attacks re-surface.'Written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen' is something that would normally delight me whilst watching the opening credits of a film, but although Cohen's trademark wit is their occasionally in the script, Full Moon High ultimately fails on all levels, never reaching anywhere near the level of quirk, or containing the endearing oddball characters, as the likes of It's Alive (1974), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) or The Stuff (1985). Although he is annoyingly whiny at times, Arkin does give a game performance, and has the chance to spout lines such as "I don't believe in vampires or werewolves or virgins," (it made me laugh anyway). And the film did make me laugh a number of times throughout, with spinning newspapers giving headlines such as 'Werewolf Annoys Community', and a pretty talented comedy support cast (Ed McMahon, Kenneth Mars, Pat Morita and Alan Arkin) - Mars is a particular stand- out, playing the once-sexually repressed gay gym teacher who, decades on, is a full-blown queen.But the mix of spoof, childish visual gags, Benny Hill-esque sped-up smutty humour, and outright farce doesn't quite blend, and ultimately, the film is an absolute mess. One scene near the end sees a cop shooting a bullet at the POV werewolf, only to hit the cameraman. The screen goes black as Alan Arkin and the crew rush the get the film going again. It could have been a moment of offbeat self-reflexive surreality, but its poorly-handled, and the film's budget constraints seem to get the better of it. It tries to homage the comedy of the Zucker brothers and Mel Brooks, but you'd be better off watching them instead of his lame effort, because although the film did amuse me at rare occasions, when I wasn't laughing I was generally cringing. Full Moon High is not something that will exactly tarnish Larry Cohen's CV, but it is certainly a massive disappointment from the man behind some of my favourite B-movie guilty pleasures.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Do not expect good, do not expect even average. Go into this schlock-fest with zero expectations and you might find it passable, mostly due to the supporting cast of characters. Ed McMahon is a curiosity. Louis Nye is totally wasted. Kenneth Mars terminally overacts. Demond Wilson drives a bus. Alan Arkin adds substantially to the film as a crazed psychologist, but by that time it is way too late to end the steady downward spiral of "Full Moon High". Adam Arkin is especially unmemorable as the werewolf, which of course is bad news right from the "git go". The cast, other than Adam Arkin, is game but the script is lame, and I cannot recommend seeing this trivial satire. - MERK

Silly movie is really, really funny. Yes, it's got its dead moments, it can be a bit too obvious, it declines a bit in the second half and the story is an incoherent mess, but it's laugh out loud funny all the way. And it's worth seeing just for Ed McMahon as a right wing kook. This movie is in the same class as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, another incredibly funny, underappreciated film.