Cat's Eye and Silver Bullet

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Stephen King's Cat's Eye AND Stephen King's Silver Bullet

October 29th 2009 00:21

During the mid-80s producers had a hugely successful box office run of Stephen King novel adaptations; the excellent The Dead Zone (1983), the first and only movie directed by David Cronenberg as hired hand (and based on one of King’s most emotionally haunting earlier novels), the promising, but disappointing Children of the Corn (1984), John Carpenter’s very TV-movie-esque Christine (1983) – which is one of King’s best novels of the period - and the lame Cujo (1983) and Firestarter (1984).

Movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis (who had produced The Dead Zone and given Cronenberg his biggest commercial hit) decided to strike again while the King iron was hot, although this time round he decided to give the screenwriting duties to the novelist himself. This was not the first time King had delivered screenplays. Stanley Kubrick had bought the rights to arguably one of King’s most powerful novels The Shining and commissioned him to write the screenplay, then in classic Kubrick form rejected the script and wrote it himself (making numerous key changes). King then provided George Romero with the screenplay to the anthology Creepshow (1983), of which two of the tales were based on King short stories, and the other three written especially for the screen.

Cat's Eye Alan King, James Woods, Tony Munafo

Morrison (James Woods) is forced to watch his wife being tortured

Who knows what King’s own screenplay to The Shining (1980) was like, but the screenplay to Creepshow, a severed tongue-in-cheek tribute to the E.C. horror comics of the 50s, for the most part worked a treat. However King’s screenplays to Cat’s Eye (1985) and Silver Bullet (1985), both of which carried his name as part of the complete title, are patchy and obvious at best. They’re cheap productions, and they look like it too.

Norris (Robert Hays) living on the edge

Cat’s Eye, directed by Lewis Teague, is another anthology feature, using three half-hour tales; the first two of which are based on short stories from King’s excellent collection Night Shift; "Quitters, Inc." and "The Ledge". In "Quitters, Inc." James Woods (still freshly paranoid from his masterful turn in Cronenberg’s Videodrome) plays a nervous chain smoker who is keen to kick the habit. He’s coerced into trying a radical new company’s approach to quitting the filthy habit. It turns out he’ll be stalked and terrorised into submission, and when he tries to sneak a ciggie, his poor wife is kidnapped and subjected to electric shock treatment whilst he’s forced to watch. It’s a disturbing tale indeed.

The second story features Norris (Robert Hays, impossible to watch in a dramatic role after Flying High aka Airplane!), an ex-tennis pro and adulterer orced to walk the tiny ledge perimeter of a skyscraper at gunpoint by a jilted husband and pathological gambler Cressner (Kenneth McMillan), exacting jealous revenge. If he makes it around he’ll get “the girl, the gold watch, and everything.” It’s windy, the ledge is narrow, and there’s a damn pecking pigeon to deal with.

Our Girl Amanda (Drew Barrymore) and the eponymous feline

The third and final story, "The General", is ludicrously silly and has a young Drew Barrymore playing a character credited as Our Girl (huh?), her second appearance in the movie after playing the mentally-challenged daughter of James Woods. She’s the movie’s juvenile heroine who has to save the movie’s tenuous link between the stories, a tabby stray cat (who actually appears bored!), from the evil clutches of a troll. Yup, it owes more than a little to the 1975 Trilogy of Terror tale that featured Karen Black being terrorised by a tiny voodoo beastie doll.

The troll wants Our Girl's breath of life

Cat’s Eye is worth seeing for the first two tales - the premises alone are captivating - with their infusion of black humour (some of it cheesy though, such as the references to Cujo and Christine), plus the performances of James Woods, whose mannered acting is almost worth the price of admission, and Kenneth McMillan, a ripe ham.

But I can’t say the same thing for Silver Bullet. A woeful werewolf flick, and very hairy comedy, based on King’s own “novelette” Cycle of the Werewolf, which was an okay - and serious - yarn about an invalid boy and his sister dealing with smalltown prejudices, growing up, and a werewolf of the cloth ... with cool illustrations from Bernie Wrightson.

Marty (Cory Haim) and sister Megan (Jane Coslaw) in the werewolf's gaze

The movie's drama element is tedious, the casting is uneven, the special effects are dreadful, and its atmosphere is strictly B-grade. How this movie has got the thumbs up over the years from some critics is beyond me. It’s a shame because King should have delivered the goods as it’s his only lycanthrope story. Another curious thing is the movie's Australian R-rating (restricted to 18-year-olds and over). I can't for the life of me work out why the movie demands such a restriction? I've seen more disturbing M-rated movies, and certainly more violent MA-rated (15 ) movies. Irreversible (2002) received an R-rating, how Silver Bullet ends up in the same nightmare basket is truly perplexing ...

I’d like to put blame on director Daniel Attias, as he drops the ball from the get-go. This was his first feature, yet he’d go on to be a very successful television director of several highly-acclaimed series, such as Northern Exposure, Six Feet Under, Entourage, and The Wire, so go figure. I’m afraid to say Silver Bullet is really only for Corey Haim and Stephen King completists.