Miguel (Alexander Waechter), a man afflicted with a particularly unrealistic facial scar, is sent to an asylum for rape and murder. With little evidence that he is cured, he is released five years later and immediately resumes his hobby of peering and leering at highly made-up women bedecked – barely – in stunning early 1980's attire. One reason for his behaviour appears to be his forbidden love for his sister Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff), who is happy to parade herself around him in suggested poses and revealing clothes but is appalled at continuing their forbidden relationship.Various characters come and go, sinister suggestions of stalking young girls is accompanied by Gerhard Heinz's mostly magnificent score (Pink Floyd were originally approached), and improbable and brightly coloured murders take place.Euro sleaze, eurotrash, eurotica or euro-horror: there are plenty of labels for allegedly exploitation films such as 'Bloody Moon', but a lot of them are unfairly maligned by the lazy definition. A lot of films directed by Spanish Director Jess Franco are far better than their reputations suggest. This, however, fits squarely within that category (Franco himself has labelled it s**t). It is Franco's contribution to the slasher genre.The first half is remarkably tame. For the most part, watching this is something of a chore, with much of the running time seemingly made up from scenes spliced in from other films. Stunning locations and pretty girls and boys aside, this is something of a chore, especially when the characters display such unstinting stupidity, often on the promise of sex.Yet it is worth continuing. The murders increase in frequency and bizarre gratuity (beheadings, stabbings and a knife protruding somewhat improbably from a nipple). The character of Angela (Olivia Pascal) staggers from witnessing one obscene set-piece after another and understandably is the scream-queen of this particular project. The scenes she witnesses actually gather together the somewhat isolated moments from earlier on and give them a coherency I wasn't expecting.In the end, against my earlier misgivings, 'Bloody Moon' ends up with a satisfying bloodbath filled with imaginative moments and a fairly convincing twist. Not Franco's best film, then, but somewhere in the middle.

"Die Säge des Todes" or "Bloody Moon" is a collaboration between West Germany and Spain from 1981, so this film has its 35th anniversary this year. The language is predominantly Spanish (despite Austrian writer Erich Tomek), even if IMDb wants you to believe otherwise. It is probably due to director Jesús Franco and this 90-minute film here is not one of his German-language efforts (with Dietrich for example). The main characters are played by German actors, even if they have Spanish names, but there are also a handful Spanish actors in here playing smaller roles. But it really all isn't that important because it does not matter who is who and where they come from as the script (and the acting too to some extent) turns this one into a really weak showing I must say. There is not that much erotics in here as there is in many of Franco's other works, which may have made this at least a good watch for a horny audience. But the way it finally turned out, it is not a good watch for any audience. The horror components, like severed heads on several occasions, feel rushed in and included just for the sake of shocking people and add very little in terms of the plot or story-telling in general. It was a really boring film and the makers' attempts to make this a scary work or succeed from a thriller perspective did not turn out well at all. Oh yeah, and Olivia Pascal was not half as hot as I remembered her. As a whole, this was a failure with regard to almost everything. I absolutely don't recommend the watch. And don't start with this film if you want to get into Franco's work, because you will probably quit immediately afterward and miss out on some of his better stuff. No idea why this film here is actually among his more known works. Stay away.

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.

Although technically poor, ineptly scripted and badly acted, this American style slasher from Spanish horror auteur Jess Franco is actually pretty entertaining, thanks to plenty of two of the most important ingredients of the genre: gratuitous gore and female nudity.The silly plot sees Miguel (Alexander Waechter), a disfigured killer, released into the care of his sister Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff) after five years of rehabilitation, and returning to the exact place where he killed his victim: a language school at which every student appears to be an attractive female twenty-something. Not long after his arrival, someone begins to whittle down the numbers attending the school, using a variety of nasty implements. Is Miguel carrying on from where he left off, or has someone else taken over as the school's resident murderer?Franco directs with his usual lack of finesse, but includes plenty of sleaze 'n' cheese to ensure that, this time, I didn't doze off halfway through his film. There are some excellent 80s disco moments for fans of dodgy dance scenes (the best being a roller disco/rock 'n' roll scene accompanied by the worst song ever); a smattering of incestual behaviour between Miguel and Manuela; several red herrings and multiple suspects to throw viewers off the scent; and a spot of real-life animal death (a poor snake loses his head to a pair of shears).And let's not forget about the gore, which is fairly frequent and always pretty vicious: Miguel's brutal scissor attack occurs only minutes into the film, and this is followed by several other bloody scenes that helped Bloody Moon secure a place on the notorious BBFC Video Nasties list. Gorehounds will not be disappointed by the film's two nastiest deaths: a knife attack which sees the blade exit the victim via her breast, and the graphic beheading of a another girl using a massive rotary stone-saw.The film is also good for some great unintentional laughs, and I defy anyone to keep a straight face as the film's heroine, Spanish student Angela (Olivia Pascal), narrowly escapes being crushed by a huge, cuboid polystyrene rock, and is scared witless as a door is opened painfully slowly by.... a cat!Not a good film, by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely a fun one if you like trashy Euro-horror. 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.