"Moon of the Wolf" was an ABC-TV movie broadcast Sept 26, 1972, less an actual werewolf film than a common murder mystery with ubiquitous David Janssen heading up the investigation as Sheriff Aaron Whitaker. Actual Louisiana locations like Burnside and Clinton lend authenticity to the bayou atmosphere, as the mangled corpse of a pregnant girl is found in the swamp, her irate brother (Geoffrey Lewis) targeting the local coroner (John Beradino) as the culprit. Suspicion also falls upon the wealthy Rodanthe siblings, sister Louise (Barbara Rush) a former school crush of the sheriff, brother Andrew (Bradford Dillman) suffering occasional bouts of malaria. The promised thrills never truly materialize, apart from a nicely done stalking in a jail cell, the poor lawman always absent when things happen, even at the climax when he's off on a false trail while the monster makes his last stand. Despite the brief running time, the final reveal just isn't worth the wait, likely a quickie makeup job for William Tuttle, more paste than yak hair; one suspects that youngsters at the time might have proven susceptible to narcolepsy long before the end.
Review of Moon of the Wolf
