THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 44 lines
WHEN THEY FACE OFF, dog to dog, the result is one dog of a flick. It's called ``Bad Moon,'' which might be a prophetic statement in itself.
Michael Pare plays a photojournalist who, while making whoopee with his girlfriend in Nepal, is bitten by a weird creature. What ya want to bet it was a werewolf?
The poor girlfriend is torn limb from limb but Pare only suffers inconsequential symptoms that prompt him to say things like ``I haven't been feeling quite the same since the jungle.''
In no time, he's become a reluctant werewolf. He moves to the Pacific Northwest where he parks his trailer in the woods near the home of his sister, played by a haggard-looking Mariel Hemingway. She's supposed to be a savvy lawyer, but she doesn't even snap to it even when she discovers bro's diary, which records heinous blood-lettings of the past.
Her kid, Mason Gamble, watches ``The Wolf Man'' on TV with Uncle Michael and hears about how it doesn't really take a full moon for a werewolf to appear.
The only one with the smarts to spot the resident werewolf is Thor, the family's German shepherd, who is the real star of the movie. Pare frames Thor to get him sent off to the pound, but, in the end, it's fang to fang. Nothing to bark about.
Eric Red was a credible writer for the 1980s thriller ``The Hitcher'' but as a director, he's strictly by-the-numbers. Based on Wayne Smith's novel ``Thor,'' this one has implausibilities galore - such as alarm lights going off at the pound, but no one coming to check them.
Primo, who plays Thor, is a game performer, who would make Lassie look like a sissy, but this movie is a real dog. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Bad Moon''
Cast: Michael Pare, Mariel Hemingway, Mason Gamble, Primo
Director/writer: Eric Red
MPAA rating: R (gore, some language, scene of sexuality)
Mal's rating: 1/2 star by CNB