Underrated (and Surprisingly Funny) Stephen King Adaptation is Now Free-to-Stream
Chad Collins
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I watched Silver Bullet a lot as a kid. I’m not sure why (it was probably regularly airing on cable), but as a result, it remains one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations of all time. Dan Attias’ adaptation of King’s novella Cycle of the Werewolf perfectly balances camp with earnest horror. Werewolves were everywhere in the 1980s, and Silver Bullet ranks among the best.
The best news? If you’re howling to revisit it, you can now stream it for free on Pluto TV.
Per Pluto: Something is killing off townsfolk in Tarker’s Mills. Something ingenious. Something remotely human. But the only person in town with courage to stop this lurking menace is a 13-year-old boy, confined to a wheelchair since birth.
When famed critic Roger Ebert reviewed Silver Bullet when first released in 1985, he opened with one of my favorite paragraphs of his, writing, “Stephen King’s Silver Bullet is either the worst movie ever made from a Stephen King story, or the funniest. It is either simply bad, or it is an inspired parody of his whole formula, in which quiet American towns are invaded by unspeakable horrors.”
Stephen King himself hasn’t had much to say about the adaptation. He wrote it, so it makes sense that he’d keep mum with his thoughts, though he doesn’t have a lot to be embarrassed about. This isn’t Trucks, after all.
In the years since its release, Silver Bullet has become a quasi-classic among Stephen King aficionados, especially as it relates to film adaptations. It isn’t perfect, and the inception of the original story is perhaps more interesting than what’s on-screen, but it remains a capsule of its time. Monster movies used to be fun.
What do you think? Are you a fan of Stephen King’s Silver Bullet? Any plans to check it out on Pluto TV? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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