This is a very average horror effort. I?m no horror buff anyway, but I do know what I like. This wasn?t so great, mostly because the film?s concept and execution was soooooo 70?s. From memory, most 70?s horror films I?ve seen overwhelm me with unforgivably cheesy crap. If you LOVE cheesy crap, then this is a must! Let?s just say, comparing this with the 70?s horror classic ?The Exorcist? is definitely chalk and cheese, and supports the theory that ?The Exorcist? was ahead of its? time.

I realise also that the quality of special effects has improved in leaps and bounds since this 1980 release film - once computer graphics took over the field, all of these poor cousins just look so tragic! Try as I did to enjoy it, I just couldn?t, there wasn?t enough genuine suspense. It was way too easy to work out what was going to happen and who was involved. The last 10 minutes of the film was especially cruddy. At this late stage, the film suddenly couldn?t make up its? mind whether it was a horror or a comedy. So what do you do when this happens? Aw, hell, just combine both! Well?it doesn?t work for me. There was no way I was going to ignore how pointless it was to the plot that one particular werewolf, meant to terrify a nation into believing they even exist, actually appeared fluffy-bunny cute in comparison to all the earlier ones. Why bother? Lemme guess - she spruced up for the TV appearance?! Corny, corny, corny. The ?super 70?s? naked fireside-mating scene was also classic yawn material. My eyes almost rolled back into my head completely. Now THAT actually IS scary! Perhaps I took it all too seriously but?..YUKKO!

I?ll give a quickie synopsis for those interested. Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a KDHB TV news reporter who is receiving letters/calls from big city nutter, Eddie (Robert Picardo), whom they think is responsible for a recent spate of grizzly murders. Smelling an ongoing exclusive, Karen agrees to be guinea pig and schedules a meeting with him. Things go horribly wrong, Eddie is killed, and she ends up seeing a shrink, Dr George Waggner (Patrick Macnee) to try and remember what happened, as she has amnesia brought on by the trauma, and won?t even have sex with her man (and work colleague) Bill Neill (Christopher Stone). Whilst her journo colleagues Terry () and Christopher (Dennis Dugan) investigate Eddie?s past, Karen and Bill head off to the doctor?s exclusive ?colony? for a bit of R&R at doc?s suggestion. Then strange things start to happen!

THE EXTRAS

Scene selection is the only extra offered on this DVD. Personally, I?m relieved about this, but a 70?s schlock horror buff may be disappointed. I believe there?s a special edition of this film out there, with extras. Anyway, for this DVD edition, the original English soundtrack is the only option. No subtitles either.

CONCLUSION

You really have to like 1970?s schlock-horror films to get into this 1980 example. If you?re into the whole werewolf myth, you?ll get even more out of it. I now realise I?m not into either! The sound is in DD 5.1, which helps with the overall atmosphere, but there are no other extras. I couldn?t forgive all the cheesiness and wouldn?t watch this again. It was too easy to work out the plot, and the special effects are so amateurish compared with today that the whole thing came off looking tragic. I shudder to think what the sequels are like!