Full Moon High (1981)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Love Larry Cohen's work and his teen horror spoof "Full Moon High" is no exception to the trend. It might not be mentioned alongside other such films like "It's Alive", "Q-The Winged Serpent" and "God told Me to", but for me Cohen has hardly put a foot wrong. Yep I enjoyed such films like "Perfect Strangers", "A Return to Salem's lot" and "Special Effects". 9 out of 10 times I'm satisfied with what he helms.Set in the 1950s Tony Walker an American high school jock who heads to Transylvania with his father on a holiday getaway, but is cursed with immortality when he's bitten by a werewolf. Returning home to the States he finds it hard to control the beast inside and that he's stuck to roam the world like this for eternity.The Cohen produced / directed / written enterprise "Full Moon High" is an amusingly goof-ball, if low-brow (numerous gay and sex jokes) comedy poking fun at the werewolf genre with constant in-jokes and homage's. It's a fun, snappy ride with its rapid fire tongue-in-cheek gags, sharply cheeky dialogues ("It's a Wookiee!") and animated performances from a game cast. Plenty of lively and humorous appearances, as there's fun to be had with the likes of Ed Machon, Kenneth Mars, Alan Arkin, Roz Kelly, Elizabeth Hartman, Demond Wilson and a Cohen regular James Dixon. Adam Arkin in the lead is quite straight and dry with the delivery, but it seems to fit. His chemistry with Machon (portraying his father) was always delightful with the witty exchanges, especially when he encounters his son in werewolf form. "The Commies turned my son into a wolf!". The story's structure is randomly pieced together, but held by its laconically sarcastic script and Larry Cohen's ably assured and zippy direction. It's a flat out comedy with less concern with the running themes of some sort of social commentary (although the first half does touch upon the cold war paranoia), which is usually found within Cohen's writing. Even with the low-budget restraints (just look at the cheap transformation scene and werewolf make-up), he neatly works around it to make you more captivated with the characters and their actions. Through keeping everything in the shadows or done in POV shots (with resourceful photographer Daniel Pearl) and suggestively off-screen. Still I thought the make-up was decent enough, if you take for face value as it has that old-fashion touch of those golden oldies."Full Moon High" isn't high art, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else than what it sets out to be. Agreeable comedy entertainment.

Do not expect good, do not expect even average. Go into this schlock-fest with zero expectations and you might find it passable, mostly due to the supporting cast of characters. Ed McMahon is a curiosity. Louis Nye is totally wasted. Kenneth Mars terminally overacts. Demond Wilson drives a bus. Alan Arkin adds substantially to the film as a crazed psychologist, but by that time it is way too late to end the steady downward spiral of "Full Moon High". Adam Arkin is especially unmemorable as the werewolf, which of course is bad news right from the "git go". The cast, other than Adam Arkin, is game but the script is lame, and I cannot recommend seeing this trivial satire. - MERK

Being a fan of movies like "Fire Sale", "Where's Poppa", "Airplane" I saw this because it was mentioned favorably in the context of real comedies and satires like the aforementioned. Well, WRONG CONCLUSION!Not only is this not funny, it makes you angry because it isn't bad in a schlocky, likable way but in a really bad way. It's bad-bad. The script does not contain a single funny line which is rather in the way when you're trying to entertain your audience with humour.Adam Arkin's speech impediment is probably the single most annoying thing in this movie. Still this cruelty of nature doesn't prevent him from being smug throughout the movie and he has a hard time not looking into the camera. This amateur without charisma fits in nicely with the constant continuity errors and bumbling along of the story - if you can find one.Ed McMahon - I had to think of Jay Leno, another late night talk show person, who always refuses to call himself an actor. Well, I've seen a few Leno movies and he's Laurence Olivier compared to McMahon.Kenneth Mars is good, though. In the few lines that he's given. I'm not easily frightened by bad comedies so I kept watching and looking for all the quasi-jokes every 5 minutes or so.The movie actually becomes sort of a comedy as soon as Alan Arkin takes over - he literally does: Starting 75 minutes into the movie he's in every scene. But it's too little, too late.When movies try to fool you into believing their lack of professionalism is the reason you're supposed to like them because they have the right intentions they remind me of pupils that haven't prepared for an exam. In those cases you have to remain strict and the grade has to be an 'F'. (But please don't assume I'm a teacher. That is a profession with a respectability somewhere between politician and child molester).If you actually look for a likable schlocky horror/scifi movie that is fun to watch and does contain jokes try "Man with the Screaming Brain" by Bruce Campbell. Or watch Sunshine/Core if you prefer modern loud shallow SciFi Schlock. Those are equally funny, albeit involuntarily.

I loved this movie. In fact I loved being an actress in this movie. Iwas featured as a pregnant teenager in the second half of the movie. You may remember me more clearly in the classroom scene when the werewolf was exposing himself on film. I was the female in the front row with my hands planted on my face in reaction to what we were watching on the movie projector. In fact they double took me a few times so it's hard to miss that mistake. Thumbs up to Full Moon High. Wish it come to cable soon. Cheryl Lockett Alexander Leesville, Louisiana I loved this movie. In fact I loved being an actress in this movie. Iwas featured as a pregnant teenager in the second half of the movie. You may remember me more clearly in the classroom scene when the werewolf was exposing himself on film. I was the female in the front row with my hands planted on my face in reaction to what we were watching on the movie projector. In fact they double took me a few times so it's hard to miss that mistake. Thumbs up to Full Moon High. Wish it come to cable soon. Cheryl Lockett AlexanderLeesville, Louisiana