BLOODY MOON (1981)

Bloody Moon, Die Säge des Todes (1981)
Directed by: Jesús Franco
Written by: Erich Tomek
Starring: Ann-Beate Engelke, Christoph Moosbrugger, Corinna Drews, Jasmin Losensky, María Rubio, Nadja Gerganoff, Olivia Pascal, Peter Exacoustos

BLOODY MOON (1981)
Directed by Jess Franco
On Blu-Ray from Severin Films
Dubbed in English

After viciously murdering a female student in her bungalow and serving time in a mental institute, disfigured Miguel returns “home” to the language school owned by his rich aunt and home to the deadly assault he committed those years ago. Miguel’s return kickstarts a series of brutal murders of beautiful young women at the school.

Jess Franco’s Bloody Moon combines the power of Jess Franco’s love of naked ladies, his lingering close-ups, blood-drenched horror and schoolgirl victims to create a slasher movie to be proud of.

Dubbed in English, the film shows the events that had Miguel locked up before he’s then released years later under the supervision of his sister Manuella. Having killed through sexual frustration of being rejected because of his facial disfigurement, the temptation to make the same mistake once again is all very real. Skulking around the school complex, Miguel is surrounded by attractive young women but will he resist the temptation?

Originally on the video nasty list, Bloody Moon has been released on Blu-Ray from Severin Films in all its uncut and uncensored glory. It’s not hard to see why it was added to such a list with plenty of twisted death scenes to sink your teeth into with each scene offering over-the-top, savage kills of the beautiful young women. There’s one in particular that, as a woman, I absolutely winced at with the special effects convincing enough to make me squirm. Whilst it may not be as violent as the slasher films churned out nowadays, it still offers elements of sheer bloody horror that will shock and disturb the viewer.

What separates this movie from many others in the genre is its humour. It’s not afraid of having a bit of fun with the dialogue and injecting it into scenes where the girls are messing about with tennis instructor and school lothario Antonio and pretending to have sexual relations with mystery men. For those Franco fans who love his erotica work, there’s a whole host of pretty ladies on display to ogle at too, should you so wish, with the girls having no qualms about sitting topless beside a swimming pool.

Out of the three recent releases of Jess Franco’s from Severin Films, this particular title is the most true to horror, particularly the slasher genre, and reminds me of the Italian giallos in many ways. Though the horror set pieces in the film are quite shocking, they tend to over with pretty quickly but, whereas in modern films the effect disappears as soon as the horror is removed from the screen, the effects of these distressing events linger and turn the school from a safe place of education into a breeding ground for bloodlust. With the girls both living and studying at the school, there seems very little hope of them escaping the prison they have found themselves in, and most importantly, the culprit who seems to watch their every move, poised ready to strike.

Severin Films release of Bloody Moon is a strong one with a remaster HD transfer with 2.0 audio. Two or three scenes which have been inserted into the film aren’t of HD quality but these last just a few seconds that it doesn’t harm the film in any shape or form unless you really are a stickler for these things. Extra features consist of an insightful 18 minute interview with Jess Franco discussing the film along with a theatrical trailer for the film.

With softcore nudity, incest, classic Franco cinematography, striking score and a host of impressive set-piece kills, Bloody Moon is one alluring video nasty that will set your pulse racing for more than one reason.

Rating:

check out Matt’s review of Bloody Moon as part of his Video Nasty series.