This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Every fan has their guilty pleasure, the one film they enjoy whilst just about everyone else hates and loathes it. KILLER'S MOON is such a film for me, an infamously shoddy bad-taste production in which just about everything is god-awful: sub-par editing, atrocious acting, dialogue written as if by a drug-addicted loon. Director Alan Birkinshaw (a very minor personality in British exploitation stakes) goes out of his way to deliver helping upon helping of over-the-top nastiness which amazingly managed to get through the BBFC with an 'X' certificate back in the days of its first release. A video release followed in the very early '80s, but otherwise this crummy wannabe slasher-epic has rarely seen the light of day and is mostly forgotten by fans of mainstream horror. KILLER'S MOON transcends its many limitations to become a schlocky masterpiece of so-bad-it's-good entertainment; a laugh riot throughout and for all the wrong reasons.Birkinshaw seems to be going out of his way to make an offensive movie right from the start, when a bleeding, three-legged dog limps into view - apparently the fourth limb has been severed, by persons unknown! The setting is an effectively barren Lake District, which is one of the film's finest points: the isolated atmosphere of the British landscape really comes across and gives the movie an ideal setting, as in much the same way as a film like THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE for instance. Cold, gloomy, yet still attractively lush with greenery in places, the setting is ideal. Into this forbidding landscape comes a coach full of clichéd '70s schoolgirls, all into singing "Greensleeves" before their trip goes awry when the coach breaks down and they are forced to trek through the woods to the nearest place of salvation - a closed down hotel.So far, so good, although you'll have already realised by now that this isn't the paciest of movies. The slow nature of the film may be off putting to those looking for faster, more serious scares, but let's face it, nobody here had a lot of budget to work with so things necessarily must be dragged out and laboured. And just as the film looks to become a bit boring, in come four of the most outrageous film characters to liven it up. Nevermind that they're all loonies from the local asylum - here the mentally ill are portrayed as evil, twisted psychopaths with no redeeming values, three ending up brutally killed as a result of their own crimes, the fourth finally resembling a pathetic child of a man. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is the big influence here, both in the characters' attire and their choice of names ("Mr Smith, Mr Muldoon... Mr Trubshaw" - I mean, please!), and also in the way in which they casually go about raping and murdering all in their path. The idea that they believe they're living out all their worst desires in a safe dream-world is a clever one, giving the movie the one spark of minor originality and interest which it otherwise lacks.What follows is a catalogue of atrocities, all played out in a commendably straight-faced manner. Cats have their tails cruelly lopped off; shrewish housewives are pinned to their own doors with kitchen knives; all manner of young and attractive schoolgirls are stripped and violated by the scheming mad men (watch those nightdresses, which seem to fall off suspiciously easily). Even the comedic coach driver (as played by the inimitable "Chubby" Oates - I wonder what became of him?) gets an axe in the head. It goes without saying that the minor gore effects here are pathetically done and very unconvincing, with the body-on-the-door gag being the only real "special effect" of the bunch. Of course, what goes around comes around, and eventually the bad guys are offed by dog-mauling, fire, and scythes to the back, in that order. The fourth guy (get this) dresses up the charred corpse of one of his former friends in a female wig and shirt and cries in its lap, apparently looking for comfort from his "mother"! The acting is unbelievably bad, all amateurish and no familiar faces to be seen. The actresses playing the schoolgirls have all obviously been picked for their lack of inhibitions rather than anything else, whilst the guys playing the killers go way over the top with some of the most outrageous, hammiest acting you're ever likely to see in a British horror production of the '70s. Even the American (?) hero, Mike, is played by a really wooden bloke. So why does this film work for me? For a start, the dialogue, which is positively ringing with classic gems of priceless ineptitude, including the legendarily bad summing-up of the situation the characters find themselves in: "Blood on the moon, one mangled dog, one missing axe, and one lost girl who just found a body at the wrong end of the axe. How's that for the great English outdoors?". Then there are the over-acting guys, who turn the wannabe figures of terror into laughable buffoons, the abundance of poor effects work, unpredictable events and cheesy heroes. Birkinshaw, I salute you, for making one of the last great stands in British exploitation cinema history!

It's always fun unearthing obscure slashers, especially British ones, there are quite a few gems out there, but amongst them is also a load of crap that deserves to be buried. "Killer's Moon" however falls somewhere in-between, it's not a terrible movie by any means, there are hints of greatness and potential in there, but it's just wedged between mediocrity.The storyline has four escaped mental patients who under the influence of LSD roam the English country side and comes across a bus load of school girls stranded at a hotel in the middle of nowhere.The first half of the movie is quite subdued and does well at keeping the mental patients mysterious, by not showing them, instead showing what they've done (especially to the dog), which was very disturbing and upsetting but it did keep the viewer intrigued and then when they do finally show their faces as they enter the hotel, it is quite terrifying and exciting. The acts of rape and violence are quite unsettling to watch, but sadly none of the school girls standout, as none of them are concentrated on long enough for me or any-one to care about, to be honest I couldn't even remember any of their names. Then of course there's characters that disappears for such long lengths of time, that by the time you do see them, well they are just forgotten about and of course what did happen to the games-keeper, he just seemed to vanish and also the hotel owner (who does turn up at the end) like an after thought, but when did that happen.All in all "Killer's Moon" is not a bad movie, but not that great either and if you're into this sort of movie, well let's just say there are much better out there.

Killer's Moon (1978) * 1/2 (out of 4) I had never heard of this film before picking up a copy of Video Watchdog where this film was mentioned during a segment on THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and those films that ripped it off. I found the comparison to the Wes Craven film to be a bit far-fetched as it appears this movie basically wants to be an exploitation version of Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. The story is pretty generic as a bus load of girls are left alone all night in a creepy house after their bus breaks down. Around the same time four nuts from a mental asylum escape and plan on torturing and raping the girls because they think they're in a dream and none of the bad stuff they're going to do will actually happen. This British film is so dry and boring that it's a wonder anyone was able to stay awake until the end of the flick. For the life of me I can't understand certain British movies that are clearly aiming at an exploitation crowd yet they do nothing but fill the film with countless dialogue scenes that add up to nothing and their only purpose it seems is to expand the running time. We get a 90-minute movie but the dialogue takes up at least forty-minutes and everything else just doesn't have enough energy to make up for it. There are a couple murder sequences but the special effects are mixed at best. There's an axe to the head which looks decent and I thought it was effectively done as it happens out of no where and the movie doesn't really give you time to expect it so this was a plus. Another scene has a body part getting sliced and it looks quite generic. Other deaths include a shotgun blast and a cat who gets it tail cut off. The performances range from fair to poor and it's easy to see that most are wishing they were somewhere else. The actors playing the nuts aren't nearly effective enough because it's hard to be frightened of them as the performances never make them very menacing. Another problem is with some of the adult characters who just do one stupid thing after another including one lady who decides to rehears some music after a couple of the girls go missing. I think some of the dumbest moments happens with a group of people "living" in a tent. The tent is obviously rather small but the scenes inside of it are clearly being shot in a much larger space and the way it's lit just makes it look silly. KILLER'S MOON is a bland genre film that doesn't have very much going for it but at least the three-legged dog gives a good performance.

A group of schoolgirls are terrorized by four crazed escaped mental patients who believe that they're dreaming in this sleazy little British film. This movie starts off fairly slow and keeps that leisurely pace throughout even when the action ramps up. That, along with the killers being a little on the pushover side, (one gets dispatched by a three-legged dog!!!!) kept me from getting that involved with the movie. For a similarly themed but MUCH better film, you'd do well to rent 1982's "Alone in the Dark" which is everything great that this film is not.My Grade: D DVD Extras: Commentary by Director Alan Birkinshaw & actress Joanne Good; Interviews with Birkenshaw & Good color & black and white stills galleries; original & original x-rated trailers for this film; and a trailer for "Nature Morte" (which features nudity)