Full Moon High (1981)
* (out of 4)
Larry Cohen produced, wrote and directed this horror comedy about a popular high school football player (Adam Arkin) who goes on a vacation to Transylvania with his father (Ed McMahon). While there the teen is bitten by a werewolf and soon he begins to change himself. Decades go by and he realizes that the only way to break the curse is by returning to school and beating the rival football team. FULL MOON HIGH has its heart in the right place but I thought that the film was a complete disaster that just never really took off. While watching the film you have to at least give it credit for "inspiring" TEEN WOLF but in my opinion that film there did much better with the similar plot. The problem with this film is that it really isn't well written. I say that because instead of coming up with good jokes it seems that Cohen just sit around writing down every joke that came to him and then he put it in the movie whether it was funny or not. There are non-stop jokes going on here but sadly very few of them work and for every funny one there are at least ten that don't work. Again, there are some clever jokes to be found including a very good bit with the police beating up a guy in a gorilla suit not realizing that they're looking for a wolf. Another funny sequence deals with terrorist taking over an airplane, which will certainly remind people of Cohen's days in Blaxploitation. Arkin is decent in his role but he really doesn't have too much to work with and in the end his character comes across rather boring. McMahon, on the other hand, appears to be having a blast and certainly keeps the film moving while he's in it. Familiar names like Alan Arkin, Pat Morita and Bob Saget also show up in small roles. FULL MOON HIGH has enough funny moments for a short film but at 93-minutes the thing is just way too long and the plot drags on to the point where you'll feel as if you're in a never ending movie.
* (out of 4)
Larry Cohen produced, wrote and directed this horror comedy about a popular high school football player (Adam Arkin) who goes on a vacation to Transylvania with his father (Ed McMahon). While there the teen is bitten by a werewolf and soon he begins to change himself. Decades go by and he realizes that the only way to break the curse is by returning to school and beating the rival football team. FULL MOON HIGH has its heart in the right place but I thought that the film was a complete disaster that just never really took off. While watching the film you have to at least give it credit for "inspiring" TEEN WOLF but in my opinion that film there did much better with the similar plot. The problem with this film is that it really isn't well written. I say that because instead of coming up with good jokes it seems that Cohen just sit around writing down every joke that came to him and then he put it in the movie whether it was funny or not. There are non-stop jokes going on here but sadly very few of them work and for every funny one there are at least ten that don't work. Again, there are some clever jokes to be found including a very good bit with the police beating up a guy in a gorilla suit not realizing that they're looking for a wolf. Another funny sequence deals with terrorist taking over an airplane, which will certainly remind people of Cohen's days in Blaxploitation. Arkin is decent in his role but he really doesn't have too much to work with and in the end his character comes across rather boring. McMahon, on the other hand, appears to be having a blast and certainly keeps the film moving while he's in it. Familiar names like Alan Arkin, Pat Morita and Bob Saget also show up in small roles. FULL MOON HIGH has enough funny moments for a short film but at 93-minutes the thing is just way too long and the plot drags on to the point where you'll feel as if you're in a never ending movie.