Some things I liked some I did not.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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.

Moon Of The Wolf is a film about some really horrific killings in the Louisiana bayou country. Sheriff David Janssen has his hands full with three different killings, first a woman who looks like some wild animal gnawed at her for food. But the second two have the whole town scared. Janssen arrests Geoffrey Lewis for the first killing and someone ripped the iron bars off the cell door to get at him and killed a deputy sheriff guarding Lewis in the meantime.Nice atmosphere of the bayou country is achieved in this made for television film. Unfortunately the suspense is let out halfway through the film as we're given everything but an eyewitness testimony as to who the killer is. It's just that Janssen doesn't want to even conceive of the idea, much less the existence of a werewolf.Some of the rest of the cast includes Claudia McNeil who knows some home remedies to keep the wolf away, Barbara Rush and Bradford Dillman as a pair of rich descendants of the town's founding father and John Berardino as the town doctor. Fans of any and all of the players above will like Moon Of The Wolf.

MOON OF THE WOLF (1972) is an OK-at-best, made-for-TV werewolf flick that has one outstanding quality: the setting in the Louisiana Bayou. I tend to love Horror films set in the Deep South and the setting in this one seems very genuine. After several locals turn up murdered, the sheriff (David Janson) of a rural Louisiana Bayou community suspects a werewolf to be responsible... MOON OF THE WOLF offers no real surprises, to me personally the identity of the Werewolf was clear pretty soon (actually, it was too obvious, which gave me a lick of doubt). A romance between the sheriff and his high-school sweetheart is thrown in as a filler. The film occasionally becomes somewhat boring, which, regarding the screen time of 75 minutes, is quite an accomplishment. Yet, the film has its qualities. As mentioned above, the setting is awesome. The Bayou landscapes all look very genuine, as does the small-town, and a vital part of the movie takes place in a Colonial mansion. Some of the bit-part players make a genuine redneck impression, one of them the prolific Geoffrey Lewis, a great supporting actor whose filmography includes great films of many genres, including MY NAME IS NOBODY, Clint Eastwood's HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, DILLINGER and Tobe Hoopers SALEM'S LOT. MOON OF THE WOLF may be enjoyed for the Deep Southern atmosphere, but overall nobody who hasn't seen it has missed anything.

"Sheriff Aaron Whitaker (David Janssen) covers the Louisiana bayou country and is faced with a mysterious death. The victim appears to have been attacked by a vicious animal, until the medical examiner determines the death was actually a murder. Using the circumstances of the crime and the evidence he uncovers, Sheriff Whitaker concludes a werewolf is responsible for the killing and must discover who the monster is before any further deaths occur," according to the DVD sleeve description. Responding to Dan Curtis' wildly successful "The Night Stalker", ABC-TV set director Daniel Petrie and writer Alvin Sapinsley werewolf hunting. The resulting "Moon of the Wolf" filled their prime fall "Tuesday Movie of the Week" timeslot. Familiar guest-starring faces include beautiful Barbara Rush (from "Peyton Place"), brother Bradford Dillman, and bedside-mannered John Bernardino (of "General Hospital"). Leading the pack, Mr. Janssen (formerly "The Fugitive") looks for the hairy left-handed suspect.*** Moon of the Wolf (9/26/72) Daniel Petrie ~ David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Bradford Dillman, John Beradino