Full Moon High — Full Moon High(Blu Ray)
Appearing four years before Teen Wolf, there was another eighties teenager-focused Lycanthrope comedy on the block, Full Moon High. It took a more slapstick, often plain silly route to its humour, as well as generally satirising teen films of the fifties, with liberal stabs at American politics. Here from Eureka is the Blu-ray release of the film, featuring both new and commentary tracks, with a new interview and essay.
Released in the year 1981, Full Moon High was the eighth film from NYC-born writer/ director Larry Cohen. He was known for his more quirky/inventive genre films, such as The Stuff, the It's Alive franchise, and God Told Me.
The film opens in the 1960’s. As we see, popular high-school football star Tony (Adam Arkin) just finishing off a successful match. Directly after this, he narrowly avoids an encounter with the high-school touchy- feely moustached coach(Kenneth Mars) in the shower.
As things unfold, we find out Tony is living with his creased back hair/ smug CIA agent father, Colonel William Walker (Ed McMahon). He informs his son that they have to go on a trip to diplomatic trip to Romania, where we get a flurry of humour directed towards simple Eastern European folk. Oh, and Tony gets bitten- changing him into an un-ageing man/ werewolf.
He goes back to his hometown for a bit, before taking twenty or so years out elsewhere- before returning once again to his hometown, which is now somewhat in rack ‘n’ ruin. Before we move towards the big match finale.
I’ll put my cards on the table- I’ve enjoyed most of Cohen’s filmography. So when I found he'd made a werewolf comedy, I just had to see it. And I’m afraid to say I came away with very mixed feelings.
On the positive side, if you enjoy the type of films Mel Brooks likes- with more focus on the slapstick and parody side of things, and less on horror- this will appeal. Equally, if you enjoy light jabbing at homophobic and racist humour. This will be for you.
On the less positive side of things, throughout, Adam Arkin looks like a thirty-year-old man, not a teenager. The comedy often feels both contrived/ forced, with a lot more political stabs, going straight over my head. And a repeated joke regarding mournful gypsy fiddle music was way, way overplayed
Yes, I had a few light chuckles- but no all-out belly laughs. A few of the characters are fairly amusing- like the obnoxious/ telling patients to do themselves in psych doctor.
I really wanted to like Full Moon High, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me. However, I do respect Mr Cohen for trying to do something different/ ahead of its time.
The region B Blu-ray features an HD scan. This looks largely good, with nice bold colours & generally decent clarity, though it’s still a little murky in some of the nighttime shots. The audio balance between dialogue and music is good, with the latter often having a decidedly Klezmer learning.
We get a few new things with this release- first off, there is audio commentary by Steve Mitchell, director of the 2017 documentary King Cohen. He opens by talking about the tag line for the film ‘He's today's teenage werewolf... only the rules have changed!’. We find out that the opening American football game was filmed between New Jersey and LA. He talks about how Cohen loved going to see his films when they were shown on NYC’s 42nd Street- as he loved how honest the audience was, often shouting out their feelings at the screen. Full Moon High was one of the last of Cohen’s films to make it to the big screen. We find out that the origins of the film's script date back to 1979. He talks about how Larry was a very funny guy and that he started his career in stand-up. He points out cameo in the film and discusses his issues with the film. Later on, he discusses Cohen’s tribute to Hitchcock's Psycho in the picture. He talks about the director's love for old Hollywood Warner Bros films and how there is never anything sexual in any of Cohen's pictures. It’s a nice chatty/interesting enough track, because of course, Mitchell knew Larry very well.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have Growing Pains (18. 12) a video essay on the history and evolution of the teenage werewolf on film by werewolf expert Kaja Franck, author of The Ecogothic Werewolf in Literature. Today’s Teenage Werewolf (24.57) interview with film writer Michael Doyle, author of Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters.
On the archive side, we have an audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell. And a trailer. With the finished release taking in a booklet featuring new writing on Full Moon High by film historian and disc producer Craig Ian Mann, author of Phases of the Moon: A Cultural History of the Werewolf Film.
So, while Full Moon High wasn’t my cup of wolfsbane tea- I think if you enjoy the work of Mel Brooks, or broad/ silly comedy in general, you’ll get something from this. And it’s certainly great to see Eureka carrying on with their reissuing of Harry Cohen’s filmography- with an HD scan, and a good selection of extras.