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Released by: Redemption
Released on: 6/24/2008
Director: Allan Birkinshaw
Cast: JoAnne Good
Year: 1982
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The Movie:
While the packaging for Killer's Moon touts it as “Britain's answer to I Spit On Your Grave' only sleazier†the fact of the matter is that this picture is pretty goofy stuff despite a couple of moments of inspired nastiness.
The movie follows a busload of British schoolgirls on their way to perform as a choir group somewhere out in the remote countryside. Their bus breaks down and they bunk down at a nearby lodge for the night. Meanwhile, a dopey looking guy is in a tent making out with a chick with big tits. Their session is interrupted when a three legged Doberman sporting a giant diamond studded collar runs into the tent. After examining the dog, the dopey looking guy decides that some sinister prick must have lopped the poor pooch's leg off on purpose.
Bringing everything together is a group of four nut-jobs who have just escaped from a nearby insane asylum where they were undergoing some sort of inane dream therapy program. Well, the program must have sucked because these four guys are nuttier than a fruitcake and think that everything happening around them must be part of the collective dream(s) they're all experiencing. At any rate, dressed similar to the Droogs in A Clockwork Orange, one of them rapes the chick with the big tits and then they head towards the bed and breakfast where the singing schoolgirls are hanging out and from there it's a mix of Straw Dogs and Delinquent Schoolgirls.
Let's get one thing straight - Killer's Moon really takes a bit of time to get moving. In the first half hour of the film, very little of interest happens. Sure, Ms. Big Tits shows off her sweater puppies and a three legged doggie diva pops in for a visit but nothing remotely horrific occurs in the first half of the picture. That said, once the lunatics are out doing their thing, the movie definitely picks up in terms of pacing and shock value. A few inspired gore scenes and a couple of unpleasant rape scenes bombard us while this incredibly bizarre streak of black comedy runs rampant throughout the picture.
It's hard to take any of this seriously, it's just too goofy for its own good, but Killer's Moon is at least zany enough in its last half to work, even if it's hard to explain exactly how. The completely unnecessary blue tint applied to the later part of the picture gives everything a strange tone but it's the slapstick and humor that come out of nowhere that really make this film as strange as it is. That said, the three legged dog in the diamond studded collar steals the show during her random appearances, highlighted by one of the best (and by best I mean completely retarded) animal attack sequences ever shot. Interesting that this ridiculous film, which was a legitimate 'Video Nasty,' was slapped with an X certificate by the BBFC when it was first released back in 1978, as the sex and violence in the film seems nothing but comical by today's standards, particularly when you take note of the background music used in the picture.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Salvation presents Killer's Moon in an anamorphic 1.78.1 widescreen transfer and, like all of the other Salvation/Redemption efforts, it's not been flagged for progressive scan playback (a persistently annoying trait). That issue aside, this isn't a bad transfer despite some mild print damage. The film has a blue hue over most of the last half but this looks to have been done on purpose so you can't fault the DVD for that. Color reproduction is pretty natural looking, flesh tones fare quite well, black levels stay strong and everything is perfectly watchable.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack has a bit of background hiss in a couple of spots but is otherwise nice and clear. The score sounds fine and there aren't any problems with distortion. The levels are properly balanced and you won't have any problems following the dialogue at all.
The biggest and best of the extra features on this release comes in the form of an excellent audio commentary track from director Alan Birkinshaw and star JoAnne Good. This track does a great job of setting the scene for the making of the film as it not only details the strange production history of this specific picture but it provides some very welcome information on the state of the British film industry and the British horror film industry specifically. Birkinshaw had some serious budgetary issues with the film and he talks about these as well as the locations and casting while Good covers her work in front of the camera and provides an actresses perspective on the making of the picture.
Birkinshaw also shows up in an interesting on camera interview (14:34, anamorphic widescreen, filmed in March of 2008) that begins by discussing his first film, Confessions Of A Sex Maniac, that he explains was really made as a way to test out the system and see if he could make a profitable film. From there he talks about Killer's Moon and goes into some detail about the casting of the film, including the three legged dog featured in the film and how they found her through placing an advertisement. Apparently she was a dog named Hannah who actually lost her leg by saving her owner from a gunman!
JoAnne Good also pops up for an interview (12:12, anamorphic widescreen, filmed in March of 2008), and she discusses how the young schoolgirls were cast for the film. While she may have looked young, she was actually a married 23 year old woman when she made the movie. She talks about how the actresses bonded over the making of the film and how none of them really knew of the difficulties that Birkinshaw was dealing with while the film was being made, noting that many of the actresses were more concerned with the fact that there was only one phone available in the hotel they were staying at during the shoot. Her thoughts on how the film holds up today are also rather amusing.
Rounding out the extra features are the X-rated trailer for the film (2:24, anamorphic widescreen), the standard trailer for the film (1:36, anamorphic widescreen), a color still gallery, a black and white still gallery, a trailer for Nature Morte, static menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
While Killer's Moon isn't nearly as sadistic as the packaging makes it out to be, there's still enough sex and violence in the last half of he picture to make this one worth noting. It takes a while to get moving but once the picture picks up the pace, it turns out to be a pretty enjoyable stalk and slash film with some odd comedic elements. Redemption has done a nice job on the release and even if the transfer left room for improvement, the extras are plentiful, thorough and quite interesting.