NIGHT SHADOW (1989) **
A successful news anchorwoman isn’t sure she should take a new promotion. She decides to return to her hometown and think about her future. Meanwhile, a wild-eyed homeless guy comes to town mutilating and killing people. As it turns out, he’s also a werewolf.
Night Shadow is one of those movies I remember seeing on the video store shelves as a kid. Somehow, I never got around to renting it. And I think I’m glad I waited almost 25 years to finally watch it. If I saw it in the late ‘80s, I don’t think I would’ve liked it at all.
Now with some distance, I can appreciate the datedness of it all. I can laugh at the women with giant shoulder pads and the dudes with their big mullets and tiny muscle t-shirts. And the fact that it has Kato Kalin and Aldo Ray (as a boisterous seafood salesman wearing a stupid Styrofoam shark hat) definitely adds to the experience.
But even though I can appreciate some aspects of the flick doesn’t mean it’s a very good movie. Nothing happens for an awful long time and when it does, it’s nothing to brag about. The anchorwoman’s mid-life crisis isn’t very involving and the gaggle of macho friends running around acting like idiots aren’t very likeable. It does have a couple of random Kung Fu scenes in it though, so it’s not all bad.
The film suffers from some Howling sequel-level of special effects. Werewolves have always been my favorite movie monsters, but even I’ll admit that the transformation scenes in this one are pretty lame. You’d think that would add to the overall cheese factor, but they’re too brief to be much good. And the werewolf itself (much like the film) is just merely OK.
Body Count: 5.
Breast Count: 0.
Creative Death: Kato gets a pole through the torso.
Quotable Dialogue: Sadly, there are no howlers to be found here.
Final Thought: Night Shadow is far from a dog, but it’s not best in show either.
Tomorrow’s Echo Bridge Horror Movie: The Nurse.