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This made for TV movie, starring the late David Janssen and Barbara Rush is not bad. This movie was made in the early 1970's when the TV Movie of the Week was all the rage. Although this movie isn't as good as some of the other horror movies that were made for TV (such as Bad Ronald, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and When Michael Calls,) it is interesting enough to hold the viewer's interest.

David Janssen was a good actor, and he's equally good here. My only complaint about this movie is that it drags in some spots. The werewolf make-up is ludicrous, but hey, what can you expect from an early 1970's t.v. movie? This movie reminded me a lot of The Night Stalker, starring the late, great Darren McGavin. If you are a fan of the Night Stalker, or Made for T.V. movies then you should enjoy this movie.

David Janssen and Barbara Rush lead a cast of characters as a southern Louisiana town is suddenly struck by a series of lycanthropic murders. With no rhyme or reason behind the killing, and with a raving old bed-ridden cajun seeming to be the only person who fully understands what's going on, Janssen, the town's sheriff, seems to have his work cut out for him.

Aided by an old friend with old money (Rush), and a posse of would-be wolf hunters, Janssen does not seem to know where to turn. But soon enough, he no longer needs to navigate at all - as the problem comes to him.

Though the plot is not terribly original, the setting and characters certainly are. Also, Moon of the wolf is particularly well acted for its genre and better directed and filmed than most of its competitors. Dan Petrie certainly has made his share of good TV movies, and this, despite its pedigree, is no exception

This film begins with an old man known simply as "Tom Sr." (Royal Dano) and his adult son "Tom Jr." (John Davis Chandler) being woken up one night in their shack on the Louisiana bayou by the barking of their dogs. Not knowing what is causing the commotion, they both grab their guns and head out with the dogs in search of the culprit. To their shock, what they find is the body of a young woman who has apparently been half eaten by wild dogs. Naturally, they immediately call the local sheriff "Aaron Whitaker" (David Janssen) who comes out to investigate. What he discovers, however, is that the young lady was murdered and that the killer was apparently left-handed. At least, that is what he initially believes--and then things take an alarming turn for the worse. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this made-for-television movie started out really well due in large part to the mysterious undertones and the relatively solid cast. Admittedly, the film seems to deflate a bit once the killer is revealed but all things considered it managed to hold my interest for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

"Moon of the Wolf" is a good example of a an early 70's made for TV horror film. This werewolf saga succeeds admirably due to the efforts of the cast, some good location shooting and a better than average screenplay (for TV at least). Actors like David Jansenn,Bradford Dillman and Barbara Rush do their professional best to put this story of lycanthropy in the south across and it manages to be both interesting and somewhat exciting despite some cheesy make up effects. It is a good way to pass an hour or so, and for my money is just as captivating as the kind of PG-13 horror fare that is ground out today to entice teenagers to go out to the multiplex.

The setup never fails ... a murder in a small town leaves the local sheriff stumped, and he travels around investigating and finding several suspects among the townsfolk. The sheriff is your typical kind-hearted, beer-swilling Louisianan kind of guy, and the list of suspects includes the murdered girls brother (the angry redneck), the town's doctor (the local professional with a dark secret), a Mr Rodance (the wealthy, mysterious businessman who owns half the town) and his sister (the slightly unhinged female lead who becomes the Sheriff's love interest).

Yeah, it's all fairly standard, but it's also quite entertaining in a formulaic kind of way. For at least the first half of this film, there's really nothing to suggest that a werewolf is responsible (unless you're familiar with werewolf folklore and know what 'loup garou' means). This is in fact a typical small-town crime melodrama, one of many which were made for TV in the seventies, and it's shot and played out in exactly the same style as these movies. But it just so happens to have a werewolf in it.

It's an interesting idea, and executed reasonably well. The quality of acting and so forth is pretty much what you'd expect from a TV movie -- competent enough, but nothing special. It's also a fairly short movie, as at 75 minutes it's not even feature length. This is to the film's credit, and it certainly managed to keep me engaged for that length of time, which is more than I can say for many of the similarly low-budget werewolf movies I've seen. The story unfolds at a good pace, and leads to a suitably thrilling (but not too over-the-top) climax. It's all decent enough, not great, but it doesn't try to be.

All in all, this is your average werewolf B-movie which I'd recommend to werewolf enthusiasts if you happen to get a chance to see it. Hell, there are worse ways to spend an hour and fifteen minutes.

Set in and near the bayou community of Marsh Island, Louisiana, "Moon of the Wolf" starts with the body of a young woman named Ellie being discovered by two locals. Though it appears she was mauled to death by wild dogs, the medical examiner (Beradino) soon determines that she was murdered. The sheriff (Janssen) is faced with the unfortunate task of determining which of his longtime friends or associates in this small, close-knit community are responsible for the brutal killing. His investigation soon leads him into some of the town's little known secrets.

"Moon of the Wolf" is a well shot, well acted film that seems to have been made on location in an actual swamp or wetlands. The storyline is logical and well-presented and an effort was made to employ real-life lycanthropy folklore (the loup-garou of France) rather than some contrived Hollywood creation. The makeup effects for the werewolf are not particularly high tech, but this should not be expected for a made-for-television film of this period. Viewers should expect more mystery than action, but there is a fair amount of suspense.

This film, for me, earns high marks. Fans of similar made-for-television films of the early to mid-1970s will not be disappointed. It rivals some of the best Dan Curtis productions in many ways yet is not as over-the-top as some of Curtis' material is. This is a must-see for die-hard fans of werewolf films.

Creepy little tele-movie concerning a highborn Louisiana family with a dark secret. After a local girl is found mutilated in a nearby bayou, local sheriff (Janssen) must use all his detective skills to solve the crime. His investigation leads him to an old flame (Rush) and her aristocratic brother (Dillman) who are both keen for the culprit to be caught, but for different reasons. Everyone's a suspect including the local medical examiner (Beradino), who can't seem to determine the cause of death, while the paranormal activity leads to more mysterious victims. Tense, with a sometimes unsettling mood, the southern tones and textures make this an offbeat little suspender that belies its meagre TV budget.

The leading trio succeed with their characterisations and experienced feature director Petrie constructs an intelligent plot woven with effective twists and surprises. Appropriately, the romantic undertones between Janssen and Rush fail to flourish, and so the core narrative never loses momentum. Able support from Lewis, Dano and Chandler in particular, as the oafish yokels, suspects and victims, add capable depth to the cast & characters. Decent cinematography, apt dialogue and some effective chills ensure the end product is beyond the typical mid week tele-movie experience, and although the make-up effects are 'limited', this doesn't undermine the picture.

Lycanthropy devotee or not, the occult themes shouldn't deter you from investing 74 minutes in this modest mystery, entertaining despite its small screen threshold.

Who or what could possibly dispose of such inhuman strength that it can horribly slaughter a poor defenseless girl with simply one powerful strike of the left arm? That's a stupidly obvious question, of course, since the film's title and DVD-cover promptly indicate us that this is a WEREWOLF movie we're watching here! And yet it takes the Southern Louisiana sheriff Aaron Whitaker three quarters of the playtime to discover that the murdered town girl Ellie was torn to pieces by a sacrilegious & hairy monster underneath a full moon! Before he finds out about this, the sheriff personally has to ask every single inhabitant of the town whether or not they're left-handed and – as some sort of entirely irrelevant sub plot – get reunited with the girl who he had a crush on in high school more than 40 years ago! Oh well, maybe I'm being too harsh for this charming, made-for-TV 70's horror movie after all. "Moon of the Wolf" may be cheap & forgettable, it's nevertheless an entertaining and well-intended film with quite a lot of good elements as well! The last fifteen minutes, for example, contain quite a lot of suspense & action the werewolf make-up effects are adorably cheesy! What I liked most about this movie was the setting! Horror movies set in the South (especially those of the 70's) always feature that typical hillbilly-atmosphere and simply every supportive character is an uncanny and dangerous looking redneck. Younger horror buff won't find this very interesting, but "Moon of the Wolf" is definitely worth a look in case you miss TV-nostalgia of the early 70's.

Moon Of The Wolf is a film about some really horrific killings in the Louisiana bayou country. Sheriff David Janssen has his hands full with three different killings, first a woman who looks like some wild animal gnawed at her for food. But the second two have the whole town scared. Janssen arrests Geoffrey Lewis for the first killing and someone ripped the iron bars off the cell door to get at him and killed a deputy sheriff guarding Lewis in the meantime.

Nice atmosphere of the bayou country is achieved in this made for television film. Unfortunately the suspense is let out halfway through the film as we're given everything but an eyewitness testimony as to who the killer is. It's just that Janssen doesn't want to even conceive of the idea, much less the existence of a werewolf.

Some of the rest of the cast includes Claudia McNeil who knows some home remedies to keep the wolf away, Barbara Rush and Bradford Dillman as a pair of rich descendants of the town's founding father and John Berardino as the town doctor. Fans of any and all of the players above will like Moon Of The Wolf.

After several locals are viciously murdered, a Louisiana sheriff (David Janssen) starts to suspect he may be dealing with a werewolf.

Films like this one (as well as "Dark Night of the Scarecrow") prove that once upon a time, movies on television could actually be good. Today, that may be true, but in my opinion far less often. (The SyFy channel single-handedly lowers the bar on made-for-TV movies.)

This film introduced me to the term "loup-garou", a type of werewolf that is common in the culture of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. I do love how a plot point is that the townspeople do not know the term or even how to say it, with "loukarook" and other variations being used.

This also taught me about the fictional "Seibert's syndrome", an offshoot of blackwater fever. That fever releases hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. Pretty sure that the guy allegedly suffering from it in this movie does not know what he is talking about.

Sure, the werewolf (when we finally get a good glimpse) is a bit cheesy. But that is fine by me. Give me a well-crafted 1970s film over today's version of werewolves any day of the week. I would rather see a guy with a decent five o'clock shadow running amok than Taylor Lautner and his washboard abs sulking.

Moon of the Wolf (1972)

** (out of 4)

After several locals are brutally murdered, a Louisiana sheriff (David Janssen) starts to wonder if there might be a werewolf at work. I guess I'm being a tad bit unfair when I say that's the "story" to this movie because the werewolf stuff really doesn't happen until the hour mark, which is an extremely long time considering this made-for-TV flick only clocks in at 73-minutes. Even at just 73-minutes this thing seems to run on and on and it really gets to the point where you're asking yourself what the filmmakers were thinking by making a movie like this. I've always had a love/hate relationship with this movie because on certain levels I enjoy it but at the same time had certain things been done better then the end result could have been so much better. One of the things that do work is the Louisiana swamp settings and this creates a certain atmosphere, which is just perfect for a werewolf movie. A werewolf running around in a redneck swamp could have been used so much better but at least the atmosphere is here. This atmosphere really reminded me of the Gothic horror films because they were more centered on the mood more than anything else. The problem with the picture is that the first hour pretty much just has the sheriff going around talking to people, asking various questions and the werewolf stuff doesn't come up till late. We don't even see the creature until the final portion of the film and even then we don't ever get any clear, good looks at it. I'm not sure if the filmmakers were afraid that they were going to scare kids that might be watching but whatever the reason for this decision it's a bad one. Janssen is good in the lead role of the sheriff and the supporting cast all fit their roles nicely as well. It's just really too bad that the film didn't take advantage of the locations and atmosphere and deliver a monster.

This dull, uninspired television movie boasts a competent cast but a nothing script with zero scares that sinks the whole production. The movie is devoted to discussion of a woman killed by an animal but then you never see the creature. David Jansen portrays a sheriff who wants to rekindle a romance with an old flame and that's what the whole movie is about. Scene after scene is endless dialogue. I think we're supposed to be chilled at the thought of a killer wolf but by the end, you're either snoozing in your chair or have long stopped watching this waste of time filler and found something else, like a terrific werewolf movie, THE HOWLING.

I have a bit of affection for American made of TV movies of the 70's. There is something a little cosy and dependable about them. Moon of the Wolf is no different in this regard. And while, like many TV films, it is restricted content-wise in what it can show, it has pretty decent actors at its disposal and is well written. In other words, what it lacks in excess, it makes up with solid professional values. It's a werewolf film but it unusually takes the form of a detective story. A sheriff investigates a series of murders that are occurring in the Louisiana swamplands. In due course he unearths several unsavoury secrets of the townsfolk.

The story introduces us to several characters and allows for some plot melodramatics. This all adds to the whodunit aspect quite nicely. It does help that the acting is of a good standard, with such dependable character actors such as Geoffrey Lewis on hand. While the bayou setting adds a further bit of nice production value and ensures that the story is more distinct. As a horror film, it's perhaps unsurprising that it has to pull its punches a little due to its TV movie origins. But, for me, this was not much of a problem and is offset by the several other good things it has got going for it. For fans of werewolf movies I think this is a good effort, well worth checking out. Equally, fans of 70's TV movies should also get a bit of enjoyment out of this one. Overall, a pretty good little movie.

Having been only nine years old when David Janssen died on February 13, 1980, I had never heard of him until discovering him last year when I bought a DVD of "The Swiss Conspiracy." I had never even heard of "The Fugitive!" David plays the main character in "The Swiss Conspiracy," which is my favorite obscure movie of all time. So I was very happy when I saw a DVD containing two of David's other movies - "Moon of the Wolf" and "Prisoner in the Middle" - at Dollar Tree! Of course, I bought it! And the bin there also included a DVD that contains "Moon of the Wolf" and "The Swiss Conspiracy!" "Moon of the Wolf" is a B movie but it's about as good as B movies get! It's fun and fast paced horror mystery that makes the most of its 75 minutes.

The movie, set in the small Bayou town of Marsh Island, Louisiana, opens with a young woman named Ellie Burrifors being found dead. It initially appears that she has been killed by wild dogs. But the doctor who performs the autopsy, Dr. Duten (played by John Beradino), informs Sheriff Aaron Whitaker (Janssen) that Ellie was first knocked unconscious by someone who was probably left handed. So Whitaker begins investigating Ellie's death as a murder.

The first suspect becomes Ellie's brother Lawrence (Geoffrey Lewis). Even though he appears to be distraught about his sister's death, he acknowledges to Whitaker that he once hit her. Whitaker asks Lawrence to demonstrate how he hit her and when Lawrence does, Whitaker notices it was a left handed punch.

But shortly afterward, Whitaker learns that Ellie, at the time of her death, was pregnant by the almost 50-year old Dr. Duten - who did not mention the pregnancy in his autopsy report. He acknowledges that she wanted to marry him and keep her baby but that he wanted her to have an abortion. He becomes another suspect.

The elderly Tom Gurmandy Sr. (Roayl Dano), whose son was one of those who discovered Ellie's dead body, continually blames the death on the Lukaru (I'm just guessing at the spelling) and no one knows what he's talking about. He speaks only French and always seems to be senile, weak and hysterical - which means, of course, that he turns out to be right on target! During the course of the investigation, Whitaker encounters the woman who becomes the closest thing he has to a love interest in the movie - his former classmate Louise Rodanthe (Barbara Rush). She has just re-located back to Louisiana after leaving New York under cloudy circumstances. She now resides with her brother, tycoon Andrew Rodanthe (Bradford Dillman).

Whitaker and Louise acknowledge having had crushes on each other when they were classmates. They go to a restaurant together and seem interested in each other. No full fledged romance between the two develops but a movie like this doesn't need a love story.

When Lawrence learns of his sister's pregnancy, he believed that Dr. Duten killed her. Lawrence assaults Dr. Duten and ends up in jail for it. But while there, he and a police officer are killed by a creature who is apparently immune to bullets and is powerful enough to knock down the bars of a jail cell.

This leads to the realization by Whitaker and the other Marsh Island residents that the killer is a werewolf. A town wide effort to identity and kill the werewolf quickly ensues.

While the werewolf concept is certainly corny, the movie is executed way too well to be dismissed as junk. Janssen is excellent as Whitaker, a character similar substance but much different in style than his character in "The Swiss Conspiracy," David Christopher.

Both characters are somewhat mild mannered but tough, largely emotionless and have dry, sarcastic senses of humor. But Christopher is a polished, suave former U.S. Department of Justice official while Whitaker is a typical small town sheriff, a hick who isn't well educated. Nailing both roles is a great achievement. Janssen is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors and I'm very much looking forward to seeing much more from him, starting with the aforementioned "Prisoner in the Middle." The rest of the cast in "Moon of the Wolf" is excellent as well. And the movie, which contains little blood or graphic violence, is a very welcome reminder of the era in which horror movies created suspense and intrigue mainly through clever writing rather than mega-gore.

Some other reviews of this movie have criticized the technically quality of some of its DVDs. But the copy I have is very good. Not pristine, but about as good as could be expected for a 1972 made for TV movie.

In conclusion, I recommend "Moon of the Wolf" to all Janssen fans and anyone else who enjoys the guilty pleasures of a good B movie! 8/10.

I was pretty surprised by this backwoods bayou shocker. Murders start occurring in a little Louisiana town, and the sheriff's investigation points to signs of a werewolf on the loose. If you can suspend the fact that it's pretty obvious who the wolf is, this is a fun mystery. And in addition to the werewolf plot, we've got ideas of class-consciousness, romance, unwanted pregnancies, and small-town sleaze to ponder. The performances were decent and it moves along quickly. Werewolf completists, fans of David Jansen or Bradford Dillman (he was in EVERYTHING in the 70s), and Cajun-Gothic fans can all find something here. Although I can't believe NOBODY in a bayou town knew the world loup-garou, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon than watching "Moon of the Wolf."