Bad Moon (1996)

I picked up this movie in a cheapie bin, because I'm a sucker for werewolf movies, and was pleasantly surprised by what is a pretty decent werewolf movie -- I'd give it a B+ to be honest. It's a small movie, and is fairly straight and to the point. I was surprised to see Michael Paré in it, and Mariel Hemingway, of all people. Set in the Pacific Northwest, it follows a single stay-at-home mom who is some kind of lawyer (it appears to require a lot of telecommuting and use of a laptop). She and her son and their dog, the German Shepherd, Thor, live in an upper-middle class kind of redoubt bordering on the woods. Her brother, Ted (played by Paré), is a lycanthrope, and basically the story spins off from there, as complications ensue, with the dog being an integral character in the course of the story (of course, the tip-off is in the opening credits, when you see that the source material is a book entitled "Thor" -- so, you figure the dog is going to be fairly prominent in it). The movie is written and directed by Eric "The Hitcher" Red, so you know it's somebody who at least has the understanding of how to craft suspense in a movie. The werewolf looks suitably monstrous, and is not CGI (although some computer graphics are used to show a transformation at the climax). The "real" presence of the werewolf in the scenes makes it more effective, in my view, despite the whole "Man in the Rubber Suit" effect. The monster looks convincing, and Mariel Hemingway looks suitably scared when things get out of hand. A small movie in terms of budget and aspirations, it ultimately achieves what it sets out to do; they could have probably added another 10 minutes to flesh out the principal characters' relationship with one another a bit more, or at least offer some kind of narrative conflict for when big sister realizes what her little brother's become. But overall, it's a satisfying werewolf movie, way better than I expected.