Moonstalker

Oh Moonstalker. We could have had the world, could have had something beautiful. But sometimes these things aren't meant to be I guess. In terms of set up Moonstalker has everything there, dumb but somewhat likable cast, threatening killer with sad, chilling back story, snowy woodland setting, lots of death, it should be a winner and almost is. But the almost that the film falls into is a giant gap, wide enough to be well, a bit crap. The problem is that up to around the hour mark, the deaths are mostly off screen or bloodless and don't have enough in the way of set-up to make an impact despite being tame. The effect is of a tease and after a while it just gets really irritating, I don't necessarily care about bloodless or off screen kills so long as the presentation is germane to the film, but here gore was clearly necessary and for the most part just not really present. Sad thing is, when the film gets to the final block it warms up miraculously, slings a bit of bloodshed, mean spirit and even tension, fairly solid stuff that comes off multiple clicks higher than the rest of it. Still, there are little perks to the film as a whole. For one it pulls a fairly ballsy turn out of the first block and the heroine only gets introduced halfway through or so, plus it has no issues with randomly offing characters, making for some element of surprise, especially when more likable characters get nixed. For another there's a great bit of counter-intuitive costume design as the killer switches from creepy potato sack mask and neck chain get up into some gear nicked from a cop, immediately going from mildly unsettling to a down-market Psycho Cop riff. Oh and the repetitive, claustrophobic score has a certain punch. I think the characters are maybe the best thing here though, in a lot of these films the characters are nothing more than sacks of meat for the offing, but here a lot of them are actually pretty fun to spend time around. Which isn't to say that ultimately they aren't sacks of meat for the offing, but you know what I mean. For instance there's Bobby (Alex Wexler) a dorky sort of a guy who wants to get laid and miraculously for such a character, manages to ramp up a bit of sympathy. Then there's Regis (John Marzilli), running his wilderness survival training camp with drill sergeant demeanour and raising smiles along the way. The name of his girlfriend slips me but she's funny too, with a tigrish sexuality to her. The ladies of the piece are all pretty attractive and charming actually, which is handy. And towards the end, (sadly too late) we get a police officer who knows the score, played with fevered intensity by a Neil Kinsella. Its a fun bunch of people and I reckon the film would have been a lot better had it dropped the height of the body count and just hung around with them, gotten into their personalities and interactions. Sadly 'twas not to be, and so things are about two thirds 4/10 level frustration and one third low 6/10 chintzy fun. Feck it, I'll give a generous 5/10, its better than a poke in the eye with a wet stick so those who just have to watch it (you know who you are) won't have serious problems.

This movie is a bad to alright rip off of Friday the 13th. The movie is about a killer named Bernie who kills people around a camp councilor training camp. He kills people because the camp councilor training camp is on land that was owned by his father, and when the police came to forcefully take his fathers land they accidentally killed his mother (Another F13th take off). The intro is seeing Bernie killing his first victims. Then we are introduced to a family going camping in the same woods, soon after they arrive they are joined by a strange old man who likes talking about his son. Later we learn that his son is Bernie and that he has him locked up in the back of his caravan after having broken him out of a mental institute. He sets Bernie after the family so they can take their stuff and then the chase is on.

This Movie is only recommended to those who enjoy B grade 80's Slashers.

It's a shame that this film is not currently available on any video format because it is actually an enjoyable piece of '80's horror. The night winter forest locations look great and the cast appears to be having a fun time making the film. The females in the cast are all attractive and fine actresses, and some of the men (specifically detective Taylor and Harry, the father) are just plain hilarious. The gore effects are primitive but serviceable, and there are moments of genuine emotional connection between the characters that was rare for the genre at that post-"Halloween" time. Watching this film brings one back to a more innocent time when real effort was put into the exploitation genre.

HEY EVERBODY ITS ME (4) and today we review ...80's horror slasher film #500183

yup its that time of year again, the leaves are changing colour and falling, the air is becoming crisp, and the birds are flying south SO that means time to watch a bagillion different slasher styled films lost to time ..... and here we have "MOONSTALKER" and I have to say the first 20 minutes or so had me hooked , having a slasher with an outfit/mash looking like he was from the cover of a quiet riot record ALSO from the 80's lol.... BUT THEN tragedy strikes !!!!!! The monstrous villain becomes ..... a ...normal ... looking cowboy with sunglasses ? ..... WOW that was a let down, probably a bigger let down than what my wife had on our wedding night .....

now over all its just a stander basic 80s slasher flick ..... for better or worse , nothing new , nothing special, so you know EXACTLY what to expect and what your getting, so if you love those styled films BAM heres another one to add to the list ...if your not into the classic tropes of "kids in the woods getting hacked up " then skip ....

sadly I don't have much to "review" here, everything is middle of the road safe, the acting is meh nothing too bad nothing too good , the lighting , nothing too bad nothing too good , the story ....middle road ....just everything is riding that center line trying to play it SUPER safe and they did , probably why this guy never became the next jason or freddy ...well playing it safe and HE TURNS INTO A COWBOY IN SUNGLASSES !!!!!!!!!!!! Literally an awesome character design in a straight jacked with this REALLY weird almost jackolantern with square eyes and mouth kind of head going on ...and an axe ....into .... urban keith ??? Boot scootin around just hacking up campers ? ...come on now .... so much potential just thrown out the window

so sadly ... imma HAVE to give this one a middle of the road score at 5/10 BUT wait theres more ! Because the ytook a great slasher look and then ....countrified it .... you get 2 points deducted ....so

3/10.

Flawed but fun typical 80s slasher. The film started out with a family and then we are introduced to "Pop". The family ends up hanging out with Pop the night they met him and Pop tells us the story of what happened with his son - but not the full story. Pop acts weird, the family leaves him, Pop goes inside his camper and we meet his son Bernie. Bernie is tied down with a chain, in a straight-jacket and special mask. Pop lets Bernie go to kill the people so they can steal their stuff. Bernie kills the family, Pop falls over and dies of ? (fright they said in the film but I thought maybe a heart-attack?) -- anyway Pop is dead and the killer Bernie is on the loose.

Next we are introduced to the main characters of the film. The main characters are part of some wilderness camp thing going on. Bernie makes his way to them and kills most all of them. Cops are also in the campgrounds investigating the murder of the family and Pop. And that's about it - minus the ending where the killer Bernie stole the cop's jacket and vehicle then drives way leaving it open for a part 2 or to simply show viewers he's still alive.

It's an okay time waster film, not grand but a watchable slasher. It has a few story flaws that most viewers will notice quickly but is a "B" slasher - and we all know what to expect of most of them.

Another reviewer mentioned the music of the film is similar to that of the classic Halloween 1978 - and that is true!! This film is not nearly as good as Halloween '78 but an alright watch.

5/10