DEATHMOON - An American Werewolf In Oahu | Lycanthrope Horror | Full Movie HD

Fans of The Wolfman, An American Werewolf In London, The Howling and Dog Soldiers cannot miss this atmospheric horror TV movie from the late 1970s.

The story follows Jason Palmer, a high-strung financial consultant who, plagued by debilitating nightmares and stress, is ordered by his physician to take a restorative vacation. He chooses Hawaii, the former mission site of his grandfather, unaware that he carries a dark ancestral inheritance. His arrival coincides with a string of brutal, animalistic murders targeting young women, as well as a series of resort robberies being investigated by hotel security chief Rick Bladen.

As Jason falls for a businesswoman named Diane, he discovers that his grandfather was cursed by a local coven for his missionary atrocities, a hex of lycanthropy that now manifests in Jason under the Hawaiian full moon. The narrative tightens as the skeptical police and the vigilant Bladen close in on the source of the carnage, culminating in a tragic confrontation at the site of the original curse.

As a late-Seventies teleplay, Deathmoon functions as a curious hybrid of a traditional gothic monster movie and a contemporary police procedural. Director Bruce Kessler, a prolific television veteran who had recently helmed the occult-themed Cruise Into Terror, utilizes the exotic Hawaiian locale to create a sense of tropical isolation. Robert Foxworth provides a grounded, internal performance as a man losing his grip on reality, while Joe Penny brings a youthful charisma to the role of the security officer.

The film explores themes of colonial guilt and the persistence of ancient indigenous power against modern American capitalism. By framing the werewolf curse as a direct consequence of Christian imperialism, the script by George Schenck and Jay Benson adds a layer of social anxiety often absent from more conventional creature features of the era.

Historically, the film arrived during a period of transition for the werewolf sub-genre, predating the practical effects revolution of the early 1980s. The movie relies on traditional lap-dissolve transformation sequences reminiscent of the 1940s Universal classics, though it attempts a more modern, lurid tone through Paul Chihara's dissonant score. The production also highlights the contemporary trend of using television movies as vehicles for rising talent like Joe Penny and established character actors like Dolph Sweet.

Deathmoon (1978)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
© 2026 Safier Entertainment. Published under license.

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