I don’t know a single soul who isn’t excited for Ben Leonberg’s debut feature, Good Boy. A haunted house story from the perspective of a dog? Yes, please! Sounds like a treat. What some of you may not be aware of, however, is that this is not the first horror film where the dog is the main protagonist. If that’s a concept that perks up your ears, then the werewolf movie, Bad Moon, should be at the top of your watch list.
What’s Bad Moon About?
Written/directed by Eric Red, Bad Moon adapts the novel by Wayne Smith and introduces us to Thor, a German Shepherd and also the best boy ever. The good dog cares about nothing more than the safety of his humans, Janet (Mariel Hemingway) and her young son, Brett (Mason Gamble). So, when Janet’s brother, Ted (Michael Paré) parks his trailer out back to stay with the family for a bit, Thor’s protectiveness kicks in. Because something’s wrong with Ted. He disappears into the woods at night, keeps a set of handcuffs nearby, and warns Janet to lock the family inside after dark. What Ted’s big sister doesn’t know is that he’s a werewolf. But Thor knows. Kill or be killed, he’ll do anything to keep his humans safe.
I’m just going to tell you right now since I know you’re already concerned about whether the dog dies. Fret not. Thor suffers some battle wounds, but he makes it out of Bad Moon alive. You can breathe a sigh of relief. More on that good boy in a moment.
A Werewolf Film with Teeth
As far as I know, Eric Red isn’t a household name, but the man scripted a handful of horror classics. He made all of us scared to hitchhike with his script for The Hitcher (1986). He wrote one of the best vampire films to ever draw blood from audiences in Near Dark. His movies are gritty, gruesome, and often pretty good. My adoration of werewolf films may make me a little bias, but I’d pose that Bad Moon fits all those labels quite neatly.
The film opens on the Amazon jungle, where Ted and his wife, Marjorie (Johanna Marlowe), get it on in a tent. Moments later, an enormous werewolf rips through the fabric, yanks a screaming Marjorie away, and tears through her like a hunk of roast beef. Still naked, Ted attempts to save her but gets clawed in the process. Visceral and shocking, the scene sets the tone for a werewolf movie with teeth. Bad Moon is a far cry (howl?) from the bloodless horror of The Wolf Man (1941). Up to that point, An American Werewolf in London could be considered the most gruesome werewolf film put to screen. Bad Moon gives it a run for its money. Characters are clawed, gashed and torn apart, with savage wounds made all the worse by how real they appear.
Jaw-Dropping Creature Effects
Whereas other werewolf films tend to keep their creature hidden until the end, Red can’t resist displaying it in all its howling glory. The effects by Steve Johnson’s XFX, Inc. are just that impressive. Pulling together a blend of animatronics and suit work, the werewolf of Bad Moon could make Van Helsing tremble in his boots. Know that look Dee Wallace gives in The Howling when the creature transforms in front of her? That’s how every single character reacts to the beast of Red’s film. It’s quite easily a top ten werewolf in the fearsome category. I just wish that Parés transformation towards the end wasn’t done with digital effects. We’re talking about 90s era CG here, most of which has aged like milk. When possible, practical effects are always the way to go. Always.
The werewolf. The gore. Sex in the amazon. All great. But what has kept Bad Moon on the minds of audiences three decades later is the film’s furry protagonist, Thor.
Thor: Protector/Best Boy
Named after the Asgardian god, Thor takes his job as protector of his loved ones seriously. In the book, multiple people comprise his family. Red smartly cuts the list of characters down to Janet and her son, Brett, to deepen our connection to them. The German Shepherd patrols the house at night, checking on his humans. He bares his teeth at a conman after the imbecile fakes an injury and threatens to sue. Unlucky for him, Janet’s a lawyer, and you “do not mess with a lawyer on her own turf”. When Ted shows up with his trailer—painted silver to represent a silver bullet—Thor senses the monster inside of him.
Unlike the novel, Bad Moon makes room for the occasional scene outside of Thor’s perspective. But for the most part, we watch the narrative unfold through his eyes. We’re with him when he finds human remains high up in the trees. We’re there when he follows Ted into the woods and discovers him in werewolf form. We even feel the terror through Thor’s eyes when he is taken by Animal Control after a stunt by Ted. I cry every time.
We’re used to horror movies where characters don’t listen to others. Been there done that many, many times. But stepping into the paws of Thor heightens that sense of frustration because he can’t speak. He can’t warn his family in a way that they can easily understand, despite making every attempt possible to do so. It makes you want to scream damnit, Janet, every time she ignores Thor’s warnings.
Good Boy vs. Bad Dog
Janet’s obliviousness aside—how does a lawyer miss so many red flags?—Bad Moon excels through the tension between Thor and Ted. Thor wants to protect his family. Ted believes family love can save him, yet Thor is in the way. Red leans all the way into the dogfight between the two, shedding a good dose of humor along the way. “He knows an old dog when he sees one,” remarks Ted in one of the film’s many on the snout (yet entertaining) one-liners. The two even engage in a literal pissing contest. No, really. Thor marks Ted’s trailer as his territory, followed by the cursed man’s own marking of the German Shepard’s doghouse. Wild, right? Red constantly plays to the silly situation in-between splashes of gore and intense werewolf terror.
The moment you find yourself giggling at one of the film’s many in-jokes, though, the filmmaker hits you with nerve-jolting suspense. Ever wondered what it would be like to see a werewolf rip through your average suburban home? Bad Moon has you covered. The last ten minutes are like a siege film. Through it all, the filmmaker pushes our fear for Thor to the maximum extent as he finally takes on Ted in a Western-style standoff. By the end, you’ll understand why the German Shepherd is a beloved film dog by those that know.
There’s just something about dogs that sets horror fans on high alert more than anything else. An entire website was founded over audiences worrying whether the dog dies in a movie (DoesTheDogDie.com). They’re our furry friends. Placing them at the center of a horror film is a no brainer. Nothing gets the viewer fearing for a character more quickly than making said character a dog. Frankly, I’m surprised more films haven’t tried it. But if you’re excited for Good Boy because of that simple concept, then you need to fetch a watch of Bad Moon. It’ll have you howling.
Bad Moon is currently streaming on Prime and Shudder and available on blu-ray from Scream Factory.
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