Blood Moon Rising (2009)

   

Directed & Edited by: Brian Skiba

Produced, Casted & Written by: Laurie Love & Brian Skiba

Starring:

Laurie Love .... Lucy / Sadie

Neal Trout .... Darell Lee
Randy Oppenheimer .... Dave
Jennifer Rio .... Tess
Rick Dyer .... Ruddy
Austin Nordell .... Frank
Aaron Ginn-forsberg .... Tristan
Jose Rosette .... Sanchez

Special Appearance:


Ron Jeremy .... Phil


Release Date:
International Sci-Fi/Horror Festival: October, 2009

 

 

Rating:

 

In 1969 a bunch of hippies are partying out and then are being eaten alive by zombie's as an ancient curse has been spilled all over the world and one of the survivors named Sadie (Laurie Love) and her boyfriend Tristan (Aaron Ginn-forsberg) tries to get help near a malt shop as the employee there named Darrell Lee (Neal Trout) tries to help them but also discovers that Tristan is a werewolf which freaks Sadie out but finds out that he is there to help her and tells her about her history of her great, great Grandmother named Lucy whom was cursed to become a ravenous werewolf herself by the devil's daughter centuries ago and was shot by a silver bullet.
Since the ancient curse has arised Lucy rises from the grave and wants to take over the world by hunting for Sadie in which both Sadie and Darrell drive away and try to find safety but runs into a filmmaker at a ghost town named Dave (Randy Oppenheimer) and his crew in which they try to trap themselves in one of the houses for safety but after what Sadie tells him with this curse going on makes him more interested to filming all that's happening.
Both Sadie and Darrell try to put a stop to Lucy's evil deeds and save the world from this curse but things become very difficult for them when the gates of hell are about to be unleashed which happens during an eclipsed blood moon.

 

There's a shitload of slapstick used in this flick which seems to work okay. There's a good old fashioned beginning with hippies hanging out and partying with zombie's running in attacking and eating people alive which looked like a good beginning for the film.
There's good fast paced scene's with both character's Darrell Lee and Lucy defending themselves with weapons against the zombies or werewolves showing slapstick aggressive attitude near a malt shop.
There's many good shots on the supporting character Tristan using his rifle and blowing zombie's away along with good close up shot exposing his fangs even if you could tell that they look a bit fake. There's also a good moment with him telling Sadie about her family history as well as why this is all happening. There's some interesting gothic flashback sequences with Sadie's great grandmother Lucy performing sacrifices as well as shots on the devil doing his evil deeds too in which the camera shots in this scene looked like an impressive old fashioned exploited goth scene.
There's good shots on Sadie and Darell driving away arguing about stuff which looked quite cheesily done.
There's some interesting shots on Lucy rising from the grave with her hands first approaching out of the ground and then doing the rest which looked very convincing.
There's good shots on a band performing at a bar as well as other bikers acting wild and showing their fangs. Then there's many good corny takes on Lucy beating up on them.
There's a good moment with both Sadie and Darell talking to a movie maker on what's happening as well as a camera closing in on Darell when he turns around and shoots some zombie's along with all of them trying to get away.
There's a good comedic moment with a fellow named Phil after he gets out of his car when blood sheds on his shirt and getting upset about it towards a zombie and then trying to get away after he realises that it's not an actor performing.
There's a good close up shot on Lucy disguising herself as Sadie feeling herself and then talking dirty towards Darell with him choked up and excited which looked kooky as well as good shots on him in the woods with her and then getting under her spell with a shot on him drawing quick pictures while she gets sneering towards him.
There's a cheesy discussion between Darell and a bartender at the bar with him pouring shots on alcohol in his glass when he discusses a problem along with shots on Sanchez laughing and getting sarcastic. Then a good shot on Darell turning around and shooting him getting aggressive in a comedic fashion which tried hard to show some good comedic timing but it was slightly rusty.
There's a good shot on both supporting character's Tess and Chuck back to back while they try to fend off the zombie's with a camera zooming around them when she confesses to him about her sexual fantasies with him showing good timing with the dark comedy and horror.
A nice brief discussion with Darell towards Sadie when he tries to do his mission to save the world which looked heroic in a corny fashion but it seemed to work.
There's a good confrontation between Lucy and Tristan having a final conforntation when the gates of hell open up and him trying to stop her from her evil deeds which was probably the best scene ever in this film.
I'm a fan of cheesy Grindhouse drive in horror's but this one bit the dust since the story didn't seem to do much other than people running away and trying to survive from zombie's, vampires and werewolves all in one but we've seen this before and was done in a better fashion. I saved this from bombing due to a fair direction and performance other than that it would've been considered a golden turkey.
I mean I do understand that these types will have alot of slapstick style as well as the horror in it but you couldn't tell if it was basically a comedy using horror elements at first. It's a mix of both but less serious than other of those types like Shaun of the Dead or Evil Dead 2 for example. In fact, there's a chopped off hand attacking someone which seems to be a tribute to the scene's like that used in Evil Dead 2. Except that film was alot funnier.
There's also a real funny moment when a jamaican is sucked into hell and he decides to light a joint with raggae music playing and him getting to the beat which made me laugh so another pointer for rating this a bat.
Bottom line is this tried to pay a tribute to zombie's, vampire's and werewolves bringing it all together and making a spoof on it but it doesn't work at all plus they intended to make the film pieces look rough and shaky as well as showing in the middle of the film announcing some film clips are missing and going to the next scene which can be fun to watch if the flick had a better plot to it. The story was very fast and hard to understand so I'd skip this one and try something else like another Grindhouse flick in 2007 titled Planet Terror in which that one had alot more wit and style to it.

The acting was incredibly corny but this is what to expect from an exploited Grindhouse flick and we get lots of it. Lead actress Laurie Love (Sadie / Lucy) takes on two different roles in the film playing the first one as a tough girl with an attitude problem showing great energy to this part and really delivering her lines quickly like the story without a lacking moment and also shows off a good arrogance. The other part she plays is a great grandmopther to this part as an evil type of sorceress in which she is corny by speaking evil and sneering as well. Plus she knew how to act obnoxious and aggressive with all the nasty deeds she does along with acting believeably powerful in a slapstick horror fashion which isn't too bad at all. Also does a good job by acting demanding and vicious in a bar scene with good powerful blocking when she beats others up. She proved her versatality alltogether.
Neal Trout
(Darell Lee) as the one trying to save the day by operating a malt parlour by night was truly annoying which was the intenstion as he knew how to have a hyped of voice for the role but again you feel like slapping him as he gets on your nerves big time by watching him.
Randy Oppenheimer
(Dave) bring some characteristics as a nutty moviemaker coming across as someone who is too addicted to his work to care about the problems with the zombie's happening and was quite a ham with nhis performance in the film. He deserves a pat on the back for doing his best.
Jennifer Rio
(Tess) knew how to act stressed out as the filmmakers assistant by getting very short and frusterated with all that is happening. She seemed to know her stuff to the role that she portrays in this flick. She acted quite kookie too and can do well with the comedy elements used in this flick.
Aaron Ginn-forsberg
(Tristan) shows a perfect seriousness to his role in the flick as a werewolf trying to save the world as well from the evil's that are happening and I must say that I found him to be the best actor in this flick even if he wasn't in every scene. He really came across as very powerful in his performance.
Jose Rosette
(Sanchez) came across well as a vampire biker in the film showing great tough expressions in the film and really knowing on how to act rough and menacing too. He looked perfect for the role as if he was really like that.

Some bar dancers pull down their top exposing their breasts.
A woman is barebreasted fornicating in bed.
There's a barebreasted artwork of a woman hung in a bar.

Many heads are blown off by rifle's inclduing a bullet hole in one of them.
Zombie's are biting away on people which looked very bloody.
A hands skin is melted to the skeleton bone on a demonic woman.
Lots of blood splurting out after gun shots
A hand piece is attacking someone

There's some odd spanish guitar playing with funky saxophone music in many spots of the film. There's also the odd banjo playing too. Plus we hear some updated techno beats too.