Bloodmoon
Bloodmoon
| 22 March 1990 (USA)
Bloodmoon Trailers

In the small town of Coopers Bay, there are two high schools situated right next to each other. There’s Winchester, an all boys comprehensive and St Elizabeth’s, a girl’s only Catholic faculty. They are separated by woodland where pupils from both can meet and engage the things that attract the attention of maniac killers. It’s not surprising then that an unseen one begins murdering the youngsters as they fornicate, strangling them with a length of barbed wire before removing their eyes and burying them under the soil. Mary, the daughter of a Hollywood movie actress, becomes involved when the killer targets her and Kevin, her boyfriend. But who is this twisted psychopath and why does he want to kill all the kids?

Reviews
lost-in-limbo

By reputation "Bloodmoon" doesn't seem to stand up so well, nonetheless it just seemed to draw me in (well captivating poster artwork helps a lot too) and since it just got a local DVD release (thanks to the 2008 documentary "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!") it was easy to get a hold of. It turned out to be competently stylish, but a generically penned (if sexually charged) Aussie slasher that after the opening sequence it seems to find itself in soapy TV material. This aspect is rather distracting and stodgy, before it finally goes on to build a head of steam for the last half hour of outrageous acts and jarring suspense. While not particularly successful as a whole, as it can be sloppy it still kept me watching. Something about the choice of locations constructs an effective small coastal town atmosphere (very similar to that of 1981 quirky Australian slasher "Dead Kids") and it's lit with moody visual shadings by director Alec Mills. The stalk and slash scenes are actually well executed and framed, especially in the latter half with a couple twisted acts of uncontrollable violence… but when the focus (during some long periods) is on the dramas / antics of the locals and a group of neighbouring boarding schools (girls and boys -- who are on heat with constant flashes of female nudity) the suspense is truly forgotten about and its kept grounded with an authentic flavour but the cheesy handling doesn't help and so did the lack of any development of recurring characters / side-stories. The patchy story doesn't really offer any surprises (well maybe one moment --- a death towards the end) and the revelation of the killer midway though shouldn't really come as a surprise. Actually I thought it was better off unmasking the killer, because it was obvious but their choice of weapon a piece of barb wire would leave an unpleasant mark. The performances are surefooted with the likes of Christine Amor (immensely dominating), Leon Lissek (unusually picture-perfect), Ian Williams and Helen Thomson. Australian music composer Brian May has crafted out some stunning scores, but on this occasion it isn't one of his best in what is a vibrant, but heavy-handed arrangement. When it was being ominous it worked, but for those softer and playful cues it doesn't come off. It just lacked the fineness. Nothing sensational, but a better than labelled slasher.

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fred_brown

If you want to see the worst Australian movies have to offer then watch this one. This show was launched in Australia with a brilliant promo that worked.... with dire warnings of possible heart problems from viewing and working on fear of public humiliation, the distributors dared viewers that if they were too scared to watch the last half hour of this "the most scariest, frightening, goriest film ever made", they would be refunded their ticket money, the only catch was they had to remain in a roped off area in the lobby signed "I was too chicken to watch". The movie was sheer torture to watch and I'm embarrassed to say the promo sucked me in. If only I had of gone for the refund, as its a 100 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Awful acting, bad scripting, very poor special effects. Some movies are fun to watch because they are awful, this stinker doesnt even entertain and cant even be considered B grade. 0 out of 10

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dead_dudeINthehouse

BLOODMOON had major airplay on the USA NETWORK on Friday nights during some years. After 1997 I haven't seen this slasher but I can remember about it.It's night, full moon, a killer with a barb wire terrorizes a girls school. Great premise for a slasher! The murders are so so as the killer has only a way to kill the ladies. Anyway this is pure slasher fun, much in the style of HOUSE ON THE SORORITY ROW. The plot tries to be somewhat complex, but fails on being interesting and turns to be dumb. You discover who the killer is after 30 minutes of the movie. Slasher fans do not care about it! Don't expect too much from this slasher, just watch it and have some fun. It gets boring at some point, but it's worth a watch.I recommend it only for slasher fans, watch it at your own risk. 3/10 -Terrible but tries to stand out of the garbage

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gridoon

The first half is a generic slasher film that follows the sex-and-death formula dutifully, has waaaay too much filler and suffers from a strange lack of central characters; the glimpses of gratuitous nudity are virtually all this half has going for it. Then the killer is revealed, and the rest of the film looks as if it was made by a different director; one who knows a thing or two about suspense, and how to actually quicken your pulse. There are two major confrontations with the killer, and they are both particularly well-handled. I really don't know what happened midway through production, but just as you're ready to give up on the movie, it surprises you by turning out not-too-bad after all. By the way, be careful when you read some of the other reviews for this movie, they include some pretty big spoilers! (**)

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