6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
A group of german students, take advantage of his summer vacation on the spanish coasts to study in an academy of languages that belongs to a hotel complex where years behind there happened a brutal murder committed by the nephew of the local owner.
Starring: Olivia Pascal, Jesús FrancoHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 9% |
Thriller | 1% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
We may be still be waiting for the Blu-ray debuts of films by such masters as Orson Welles, William Wyler, Max Ophuls, Michelangelo Antonioni (to just pick a random handful or so) on Blu-ray, but we can rest assured that slowly but surely the oeuvre of Jess Franco is seeing the high definition light of day. This very definition of a cult director, a guy who nonchalantly talks about doing everything from “hard porno” (in his words) to exploitation flicks of all flavors, Franco is not known for his subtlety, and Bloody Moon, Franco's entry in the slasher idiom, an idiom not exactly known for its subtlety, fits rather snugly in the broad but limited confines of films that are all about the kills. Bloody Moon may be almost too obvious to believe at times, but it is filled to the brim with nubile young naked women just aching to have sex, several rather spectacularly gory death scenes, and just barely enough plot to keep things ambling along from set piece to set piece. The film is also perhaps more of a giallo than has been traditionally thought, with several tropes lifted out of that Italian accented slasher genre. In fact one of giallo's most defining ideas, the masked killer, plays out right from the beginning of Bloody Moon, but in a rather interesting way. In many gialli the mask of course hides the face of the mysterious killer, at least until the ostensibly shocking reveal. Here, in Bloody Moon, the exact opposite tack is taken, with the mask being purloined from someone wearing it at a costume party. The newly masked man takes off with another female and begins to make love to her, at which point the mask is removed, and we're introduced to the putative "hero" (or at least main character) of the film, a hideously disfigured man named Miguel (Alexander Waechler). Once Miguel is revealed, he quickly dispatches the frightened woman in the film's first scene of bloody carnage. If we already know who the killer is, what possibly could be left?
Bloody Moon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is probably overall the best looking transfer of the three horror outings released simultaneously by Severin (the other two being Bloody Birthday and The Baby). Bloody Moon offers what is arguably the best color reproduction of the trio, with little of the brown or yellow tints the other two sometimes have. In fact, the palette in this film is surprisingly vivid and varied, with some especially bright primaries on display in a couple of group scenes like the opening dance party. Grain is natural looking if at times slightly clumped looking (something that also was apparent in the other Severin releases). Fine detail is not exceptional, but certainly above average, and while the film is certainly soft by contemporary standards, it appears naturally filmic almost all of the time. Aside from the spliced in footage (sourced from some old video or at best 16mm source elements) of the goriest scenes (which are understandably much more raggedy looking than the bulk of the film), the only real qualm here is some inconsistent contrast which tends to affect the darker scenes at times.
From a fidelity standpoint, Bloody Moon's LPCM 2.0 mono track is serviceable if not outstanding, but those baseline aspects may be at least slightly buried by the often inartful dubbing job that has been done here, as well as the often insanely stilted dialogue. Everything is clearly and cleanly presented, with both dialogue and the kind of cheesy synth laden score sounding fine.
Bloody Moon doesn't have quite the same deliberate shock value of The Baby (aside from its inherent slasher elements and the incest angle) or even the passing suspense of Bloody Birthday (which truth be told ends up not being all that suspenseful to begin with), but against all odds, I actually enjoyed this film more than the other two Severin has released simultaneously with this one. Bloody Moon makes no bones about being completely ridiculous and over the top, and lovers of cornball slasher fare should eat this one up in droves. The technical presentation here is surprisingly strong, and the Franco interview is often quite amusing.
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