Killers Moon
Reviewed By : AVL

Release Year : 1978

Directed By : Alan Birkinshaw

Written By : Alan Birkinshaw

Starring : Anthony Forest, David Jackson, Paul Rattee, Alison Elliott

Related Links : IMDB

 

Escaped lunatics undergoing a weird psychiatric treatment involving LSD and being put into a dream state escape and terrorize the English countryside. The loonies think they are dreaming, the shrink has told them to let it all hang out and go with the flow, to embrace their darkest urges, so they make for the wilds and terrorize a busload of schoolgirls. Like you do. After all, for them it's only a dream, it's not real.

What follows is an odd and rather interesting film. Although nowhere near as good, there are a couple of Kubrik-esque moments as our posh spoken hallucinating crazies diddle, rape, and murder their way about isolated English countryside, pausing only to engage in crazy little discussions among themselves. It's probably pretty much a sure bet that this was inspired, to a degree, by A Clockwork Orange.

The plotting, with hallucinating nutjobs doing the killing, is at least different from a usual killer on the loose movie, it's slightly intriguing and raises the odd chuckle. There's chuckles to be had at the iffy dialogue too. "You've only been raped, it doesn't matter, just don't tell anyone" or similar is the one that sticks in mind, said by a schoolgirl to her friend. There's lots more though. Gore and killing wise, don't expect anything special, there's nothing really shocking, a couple of schoolgirls getting raped is about the most disturbing scene, and even that is tame compared against many other movies.

Yeah, it's a tame and clunky film, clumsy in places, done on a cheapskate budget and showing its age - but, it's also a rather nice film in terms of pacing, watchability, and for making a pretty good effort not to just deliver a derivative and formulaic plot. It is a pretty derivative and formulaic film, but at least the plot isn't. Watchable, enjoyable to a great extent, worth tracking down for a view.

Oh, and if you're a Brit who watched a lot of TV from the early 70s to the mid 80s then the cast of this will bug the shit out of you. Loads of them will seem familiar, but will you be able to think of their names, or even where you have seen them before? Nope, you won't. I couldn't anyway. But, they're familiar with a reason - seems that nearly all of them had numerous roles in 1 or 2 episodes of various TV series during the 70s/80s. Mostly bit parts at a guess, my brain gave up trying to work it out. I'm lazy like that.