''Full Moon High'' is a 1981 American

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film written and directed by

Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as ''Black Caesar (film), Black Caesar'' and ''Hell Up in Harlem'' (both 1973), before becomin ...

. The film stars

Adam Arkin Adam Arkin (born August 19, 1956) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the role of Aaron Shutt on ''Chicago Hope''. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony Award, Tony (Best Actor, 1991, ''I Hate Ha ...

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the American Bro ...

and

Roz Kelly Roz Kelly (born Rosiland Schwartz on July 29, 1943) is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli's (Henry Winkler) girlfriend Happy Days#Minor/recurring, Carol "Pinky" Tuscadero on the television series ''Hap ...

. The plot revolves around an adolescent boy becoming a werewolf while his aging process ceases.

Plot

The film is about a teenager who goes on a trip to

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

with his father and gets bitten by a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

. Made ageless, he attempts to put his life back together a couple of decades later by enrolling in high school. He initially tries to keep his secret from the school and the three women who show interest in him — a sexually active high school student, his own former girlfriend (now a married mother of one), and one of his teachers. He ignores sexual advances because it is his "time of the month." He later encourages the female high school student to film his transformation. She, and the students who later watch the film, mistake the footage at first for a stag film, but after people watch the whole film, the werewolf is arrested for the crimes he committed while in wolf form. He, as the wolf, escapes prison in time to participate in his high school's homecoming football game. There he is gunned down by a psychiatrist. He survives because

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

has rendered a single silver bullet insufficient to kill a werewolf.

Cast

as Tony Walker *

as Col. William P. Walker *

as Jane * Joanne Nail as Ricky * Bill Kirchenbauer as Detective Jack Flynn * Kenneth Mars as Coach / Principal Cleveland *

Elizabeth Hartman Mary Elizabeth Hartman (December 23, 1943 – June 10, 1987) was an American actress of stage and screen. She debuted in the popular 1965 film ''A Patch of Blue'', playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for wh ...

as Miss Montgomery * Alan Arkin as Dr. Brand * Louis Nye as Reverend * Demond Wilson as Cabbie / Busdriver * Cheryl Lockett Alexander as Pregnant Teenager * Jim J. Bullock as Eddie * Tom Aldredge as The Jailer *

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

as Priest * Laurene Landon as Blondie * John Blyth Barrymore as Student * Bob Saget as Sportscaster * Pat Morita as Silversmith * Armando G. Fernandez as School Dance Dancer * Julius Harris as Hijacker(uncredited)

Production

The film was filmed partially at John Burroughs Senior High School in the city of

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, in the summer of 1979. A portion of this movie was also filmed on location in

Lyndhurst, New Jersey Lyndhurst is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,519, an increase of 1,965 (+9.6%) from the 2010 Uni ...

, on the football field in Bergen County Park at the foot of Valley Brook Avenue and River Road. The stands were filled with everyone from the town, and the varsity football team of that year were featured. It is Cohen's "only outright comedy"

Reception

The film has a seemingly disorganised structure that may be explained by its chaotic production conditions.

Legacy

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

called the film a cult classic. The film has been compared to the later '' Teen Wolf''.

Screening

The film was screened at the Paris French Cinémathèque in January 2023 as part of the Cohen retrospective.

References

External links

* * * {{Larry Cohen 1981 films 1980s English-language films 1981 comedy horror films 1980s high school films American comedy horror films American high school films English-language comedy horror films Films directed by Larry Cohen Films set in Transylvania Films shot in Burbank, California Films shot in New Jersey American werewolf films Filmways films Films with screenplays by Larry Cohen 1980s American films