Full Eclipse

Director: Anthony Hicox
Stars: Mario Van Peebles, Patsy Kensit, Bruce Payne
HBO Home Video

R1 DVD

Max Dire (Mario Van Peebles) is a police detective, he is frustrated by his job and his partner is about to retire, get married and settle down. When confronted with a violent hostage situation, instead of waiting for the S.W.A.T team they go in alone. During the mêlée his partner is severely wounded. Max visits him in hospital and finds him near to death. Mysteriously, he not only returns to work but is in better condition than when he started, to say the least. His partner suddenly has become a super-cop, a six million dollar man, capable of incredible feats and seems to have quite miraculous self healing powers. However, this does not last long as Max's partner decides not to retire or get married and kills himself with a silver bullet to the head.

Trying to ascertain what has occurred, Max is contacted by Adam Garou (Bruce Payne), the leader of a highly secretive paramilitary police squad. At first Max thinks they are just some sort of self help group, then finds they work beyond the law using some sort of serum to give themselves immense strength and agility. Max resists but when he is shot and then healed, he becomes one of the squad. He finds that not only does the serum give his extra strength and self healing powers but that he becomes wolf like when he takes additional does. Soon the side effects of the serum become evident and he starts to question who or what Adam Garou really is.

Full Eclipse is an exciting film, it is active packed and has an intriguing and unusual premise. It is packed with violence and special effects and certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat. It would be fair to say that the actual pacing of the film is a bit amiss and the plot is somewhat flawed. The integration of the “werewolf” aspect of the film comes way too late (nearly 50 minutes into the film) and so draws out the “are they or aren’t they” suspense to a ridiculous level. The acting is solid, Mario Van Peebles as Max Dire is exceptional as is Bruce Payne as Adam Garou. The special effects are pretty good but I think the film is somewhat let down by the rather silly werewolf makeup.

This is a flawed but enjoyable werewolf movie; it gives the traditional horror tale a different twist and has enough action to keep you entertained.

The film quality is average and the sound is DD2.0 and packs a nice punch. There are no extras to speak of.