Bloody Moon (1983)

hyped garbage

Best movie of this year hands down!

Best movie ever!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Starting a new school-year, the staff of an all-girls language school in Spain come to find that the savage killings of the campus' students lead back to the deformed killer supposedly wandering the grounds and must find a way of stopping his rampage.This here is quite the fun and enjoyably sleazy slasher opus. What tends to work so well with this one is the fact that it manages to accompany the traditional slasher realms with the over-the-top sleaze and violence usually associated with the director's films. The way this one manages to exploit it's slasher leanings, from the opening shot of the killer wandering through the party in a mask while a girl mistakes him for her boyfriend to the tragic past of the brother and the ingenuity of many of the set-pieces here are straight from the playbook of the modern slasher movement at the time, and the decision to feature so much of the film through the killer's eye-view in order to distort their identity is a rather impressive series of call-backs to that scene. As well, the rather suspenseful stalking and tormenting here comes into play straight from those elements as well with the taunting on the headphones while she's in class, the suddenly disappearing bodies of his victims and the quick-shot scenes that show her supposedly being targeted by the killer off in the shadows including dodging a boulder pushed off a cliff and avoiding a poisonous snake hanging from a tree, which when combined with the spectacular series of chases and brawling found in the final half it makes for a stand-out slasher effort. That final half, where the killer runs rampant against the girls resulting in utterly brutal and graphic set-pieces as the sequence in the abandoned mill, her being barricaded in her room with all the furniture stacked up against the walls before finding the bodies scattered throughout the house that becomes quite thrilling overall as the action picks up and the thrilling scenes makes for a wholly enjoyable sequence. Alongside this, the film also goes for the usual sleaze route here with copious amounts of nudity featured here that goes for not only the strange notion of the girls' night-time habit of flashing the moon, the incestuous relationship subplot and the cheesy feature of the lecherous school- teacher screwing everyone which all provides this one generous amount of trashy, sleazy fun. These here hold this one up quite well over the film's few problems. The main issue is the fact that the film doesn't really make any sense as to what's going on with the killer, as the finale revelation is quite at odds with what's going on and really doesn't make any sense as to why that goes through when it rearranges sections of the film beforehand for no reason. As well, the film's so incredibly cheap and somewhat slapdash that it manages to get a lot out the inherently crude work here that makes this look quite lower than what it really could be for those looking for a little more coherent and competent effort here. Otherwise, there's much more to really like here.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Language and strong violence against children and animals.

A vicious crazed psycho brutally butchers assorted luscious young female students at a boarding school in Spain. Director Jess Franco, working from a suitably sick script by Erich Tomek, keeps the enjoyably twisted story moving along at a steady pace, delivers a handy helping of tacky gore (an uproariously ridiculous decapitation by a giant circular saw and the infamous knife through the breast moment rate as the definite unintentionally sidesplitting splatter highlights), gives the whole thing a snazzy giallo-ish bent (a couple of obvious red herrings, plenty of depraved sexuality, and so on), tosses in a sordid incest subplot for scuzzy good measure, and offers a satisfying smattering of yummy bare distaff skin. The lovely Olivia Pascal makes for an appealing damsel in distress, Alexander Waechter cuts an appropriately creepy figure as a grotesquely disfigured probable suspect, and Jasmin Losensky, Corinna Drews, and Ann-Beate Engelke all supply some mighty delicious eye candy. Juan Soler's competent cinematography boasts a few nifty stylistic flourishes as well as the expected prowling POV camera shots. Gerhard Heinz's wonky thudding'n'throbbing score and the hilariously dated groovy disco soundtrack hit the right-on funky spot. Franco has a small role as a psychiatrist. Granted, Franco fails to generate much in the way of either tension or spooky atmosphere, but fans of undemanding lowbrow slice'n'dice fare should still get a kick out of this seamy little number just the same.

BLOODY MOON is an interesting film for sure. For one, it's directed by Jess Franco, who was notorious for making several porno movies. So what would a slasher movie directed by him be like? Miguel is a disfigured man who killed a young woman at an all-girls language school five years prior. His sister Manuela, who runs the school, takes him under her wing once he is released from the mental institution. Soon, students at the school begin getting killed off in gruesome ways. Is Miguel up to his old tricks again? Or is it someone else? BLOODY MOON ranks alongside 1982's PIECES as an absolutely hilarious foreign horror movie. While PIECES was notorious for its hilarious WTF moments, BLOODY MOON remains hysterical for the horrible dialogue. I could basically list every line in this film, but some of my favorites are, "I want you to melt in my arms!" and "Honestly! How gruesome! That's a bit far-fetched!" Make those lines horrendously dubbed and you have an idea what the BLOODY MOON experience is like.The other strong suit of BLOODY MOON is the gory, violent, and often hilarious murders. There's the infamous decapitation via giant buzz saw, but it comes across as more funny than shocking. For one, it has to be one of the most obvious cases where an actress is replaced by a dummy, and the girl doesn't realize anything is fishy until the killer ties her to the moving rock! There's also the killer stabbing a girl in the back with a knife (and the tip exiting through her nipple!).However, BLOODY MOON fails to really deliver on other levels. The score is awful because it mainly consists of this really, REALLY annoying guitar twanging during every scene. Aside from the two murders I already listed, the others fail to stand out in any way. The characters aren't likable or memorable, and it also fails to end on any sort of bang.All in all, BLOODY MOON is a fun watch mainly for that one fantastic buzz saw kill and the dialogue you'll find yourself quoting for weeks. Everything else is just bad. Only worth a purchase if it's cheap. Otherwise, just rent it.

I have a pretty good feeling that BLOODY MOON will appeal to Jesús Franco's non-fans rather than his most appreciative cult audience. I mean compare this relatively straight-forward slasher flick to something like MACUMBA sexual, for instance. Two very different kinds of films. Franco has admitted in a very engrossing interview(..his often always are)that BLOODY MOON was a not a particularly fond experience because he had to direct the script he was given(..which may be cause for celebration for those who hate his challenging style of film-making which doesn't operate within a certain linear way)..due to the fact that is was written by the executive producer who wanted no changes if Franco desired to try something different. It's mostly a gore-effects film anyway modeled after the violent films popular of that time. I prefer to call BLOODY MOON a Spanish version of the Italian giallo because of the European setting, the sinister truth behind the killings(..very identifiable to the conclusions of many Italian giallo thrillers with it's being ties to murders based on greed and desire for wealth), and the lasciviousness of the characters populating the locale.And, I often felt I was indeed watching an Italian giallo, much in the same way as BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL. Lovely young girls attending a language school are being attacked by a killer in a ski mask, wearing black gloves. The "final girl", a student named Angela(..played by the gorgeous Olivia Pascal)attempts to warn others about a friend murdered in her bungalow(..the place where a scar-faced Miguel, played by Alexander Waechter, viciously stabbed a girl to death with a pair of scissors). Everyone considers her mad, but soon those she warns fall prey themselves to a psycho using an assortment of weapons to slaughter them such as a bandsaw(..that slices off the head of a girl who thinks she was being tied up, by rope no less, for sex games), tongs(..which grips around the neck of a girl, strangling her), and a knife(..which goes through one poor girl, out her breast nipple). You also see an act of retaliation result in one victim's chest cut into with a chainsaw and Angela uses a screwdriver to puncture the throat of her attacker. I think when one watches this, comparing it to Franco films of the past, they'll realize this isn't typical of his output..is that a bad thing?Miguel is released from an asylum and rejoins his sister Manuela(Nadja Gerganoff). Currently the language school is operating within the estate of a wealthy aunt who has already said quite bluntly that Manuela will be disinherited. Manuela has Alvaro(Christoph Moosbrugger)teaching the school's classes. The main portion of the story is devoted to Angela, though, and her fear for her life as Miguel is often peeping on her from the woods outside the bungalow and elsewhere. Obviously those who are familiar with slashers/gialli know that he's a red herring..it really shouldn't be too difficult to guess who actually is committing the heinous crimes. The dubbed dialogue for the characters are very reminiscent to gialli of the 70's..shockingly frank in regards to sex, and, at times quite vulgar. One trait of Franco's that remain's intact, nudity, just not as much as you'd expect. Pascal doesn't get nude, quite unusual as most female leads in Franco's work often remain barely clothed for the duration of the film's screen time.