Movie Review: High Moon (2018)

April 29, 2019

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

In the 1800’s Colt (Chad Michael Collins) sets about putting a murder on a posse of gun-slinging werewolves that murdered his wife, after which, he is promptly killed by a ninja…this is doubtless based on  a true story.

Flash forward to the modern day where a small town is being plagued by a rash of exhumed coffins devoid of corpses, which naturally is caused by those pesky aforementioned lycanthropes who have woken up and immediately went on a kill spree that resulted in a whole lot of dead bikers and our werewolves on wheels. Of course since that putrid posse have come barkin’ back from the grave, our rootin’ tootin’ hero follows suit and before long teams up with a comely widow (Chelsea Edmundson), a small-town sheriff with marital woes (Matthew Thompkins) and a crooked Mayor (Sean Patrick Flanery), to try and end the evil reign of those blood-crazed creatures!

As you can surmise, High Moon is one over-the-top, comic book style romp where much of the plot is intentionally ludicrous. Now this could lead to a picture that becomes a joke (and a chore to sit through) if handled with a non-skilled hand…but fortunately Writer/Director Josh Ridgway infuses the entire arcane affair with a sense of fun, action, engaging characters, and plenty of the ol’ red sauce splashed about (but more on that in a tick, ya dig?)! Adding to that, the cast is incredibly game, and seem like they are havin’ a hoot and a half with the material given them, especially the cats playing the wicked werewolves…which translates to an enjoyable experience for those feasting their eerie eyeballs on the pic!

As for that aforementioned bloodshed, that is where we have a bit of a mixed-bag with this fright flick. while there are some practical gags on display, the bane of my existence…digital blood…is once again utilized with it’s normal jarring effect. Much better realized are the practical make-ups used to represent our howlin’ hellraisers; these are some old-school style fang faces and I loved ’em!

If you love your creature features off-kilter and full of furious fangs a flyin’ then get in front of High Moon die-rectly…this is one good ol’ time in the howlin’ horror biz!

 

 

 

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