Review by Lee Cushing

BLOOD MOON aka the television edited WOLF GIRL A Sideshow Productions film / Spartan Home Entertainment release Rated: US: R Germany:12

Ignore the B-Movie cover art, ignore the cheesy tagline ("It will rip your heart out"), and rent BLOOD MOON. I don't know if I've ever seen a more poorly marketed horror film. What looked on the video shelf to be at best, a lazy copycat of GINGER SNAPS, or at worst a mindless gore-fest turned out to be an exquisite dark parable that ranks among the best horror films of 2001.

Don't get me wrong. BLOOD MOON definitely evokes a bit of cinematic deja-vu. It shows influences from films as disparate as FREAKS, CARRIE, and even Cabaret. The difference is that the film's own unique voice isn't drowned out by the influences. BLOOD MOON will catch you outside your comfort zone and keep you there for an entertaining two hours.

Local misfit Ryan (Dov Tiefenbach: JASON X), however, is the son of a cosmetics researcher (Lesley Anne Warren: CLUE, COLOR OF NIGHT) who is working on revolutionary hair removal techniques. He injects Tara with a serum that's been effective in removing hair from mice, with the risk of side-effects. Sensing what may be her only grasp at normality, Tara takes the chance.

Given the brief synopsis, you might expect BLOOD MOON to take a predictable path. However, the film is woven with surrealistic and disturbing threads that come together in a rich tapestry the likes of which we've never seen. Part of this is no doubt due to the veritable army of freaks involved in the production. An orchestra of little-people, Christine/Christoph the man/woman (the scintillating Grace Jones: CONAN THE CONQUERER, VAMP), and many others round out an entertaining cast.

Curry and Jones' performances, along with a series of revolutionary images and bawdy song and dance numbers lend light to an otherwise predictably dark story (one of my favorites is when a dwarf sings "Just the Right Height for Delight" in front of a line of chorus girls).

WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'RE WORTHLESS AND YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, HOP IN YOUR CAR AND GO PICK ON THE "FREAKS".

If there's a downside to the film, it may be that it's not frightening so much as it is disturbing. It carries a poetic oddness though, by playing with the line between perception and reality, and normality and freakishness. The result yields one of the smartest and most thought-provoking horror films in recent memory.

FOUR SHRIEK GIRLS

This review copyright 2002 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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