Review: Moonchild (2-disc: Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack Edition)

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Moonchild
Directed by Todd Sheets
Visual Vengeance; Wild Eye Releasing; Jackalope Media; Extreme Entertainment; MVD Entertainment
102 minutes, 1994 / 2022
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.MVDEntertainment.com/
Director Todd Sheets was known early in his career as a fantastical yet grainy cult-god filmmaker. After a health scare, he came back stronger than ever, with the likes of Clownado (2019), Bonehill Road (2017), Dreaming Purple Neon (2016), and House of Forbidden Secrets (2013).   

This film, however, is from his early cult days, and is well-beloved by his followers. Honestly, I have never seen it till now, like much of his early work, so I am looking forward to checking it out. This was originally shot on sVHS, so it is grainy, but this release was taken from the master tape by Sheets himself. This is the first time it has been released on Blu-ray.

Auggi Alverez

In much like the Mad Max franchise, we are introduced to a dystopian future of the Chicago area (though filmed in Kansas City) where a group called Sodality (meaning “Brotherhood” or “Community”; also, a devotional association of Roman Catholic laity) run the dictatorial government of the United Nations of America; I guess more like Gilead but almost post-apocalyptic as we see a run-down city that drives cars from the 1970s and ‘80s (it was released in 1994, so it makes sense in that way). Sodality is run by Kronos (Tom Berg), a blubbery too-white guy (think of 1971’s The Omega Man) who has 666 drawn onto his body.

Government scientists have an inner-city compound where they experiment on creating super soldiers, such as one who is a cyborg whose outer clothes makes him look a bit like a cockroach (sans extra limbs, but adds a body chainsaw). He is one of three of these hybrids that are in search of our protagonist, Jacob Stryker (Auggi Alvarez).

Dave Miller

Stryker is also a hybrid, but has retained his consciousness. He escapes from the Republicans…I mean the Sodality. He is in search of his son, Ethan (Stefan Hilts), who is being held captive somewhere. And while he is on the run after an action scene right at the start, he manages to hook up with the underground, run by Talon (Dave Miller), who mostly dress like the Arrakisians in Dune, with scarfs and hooded robes. Speaking of which, you know Stryker is the hero because of his knee-length, open military jacket (belonging to Alverez’s dad), reminiscent of The Matrix franchise.

After his experimentation results, Stryker can also turn into a semi-werewolf-like creature, hence the title, though it’s a misnomer, even though he does not need the moon to actually “change.” He’s more like The Hulk in that he turns when he is angry or in a fight. Oh, and did I mention there is a bomb in his stomach scheduled to go off in 72 hours? How Snake Pliskin!

Kathleen McSweeney, Rebecka Rose

He sets off with new love interest (his wife was killed) that took less than a day, Athena (Kathleen McSweeney) and some others: Talon, boppy Weasel (Kyrie King), Rocky (Julie King), and Teela (Rebecka Rose). From this point it is more or less a travelogue where they meet different groups, each one dresses alike within the group. Quite like The Warriors (1979).

It is worth noting that despite the low budget, the sets are amazing, the lighting and shadows work well, and the editing is spot on.

Carol Barta

Now, as for extras, oh my god, there are so many. This may take days to get through. It starts with two commentaries. The first is with Todd Sheets and star Auggi Alverez. These two are friends, and their commentary is easy and breezy, yet still informative. I really enjoyed this one. The other commentary is Sheets and Rob Hauschild of Visual Vengeance, who released the Blu-ray. That’s right, if you watch the film and the commentaries, it’s like watching the film three times. The second one is a bit more of a technical view, details on filming process, and Sheets’ career, but it is interesting for those who like this side of the method. There is very little overlap with the other commentary, which is worth a note. While this Blu-ray is the Director’s Cut, it also Includes the alternate VHS version of Moonchild as originally released, I respectfully bowed out of watching it a fourth time.

The first featurette is the documentary, “Wolf Moon Rising: The Making of Moonchild” (32 min). This is archival footage including an entire newscast about the production, backstage scenes and the creation of the music. There is no narration, just some interviews with the cast at crew at the time of filming. And speaking of “back then,” this is followed by “Original BTS Casts and Crew Interviews” (9 min) that is pure candy. The “Deleted Ending” is an extra fight scene, but honestly, the film’s ending as it stands now is much better.

The first of the last two biggies is the short film “Sanguinary Desires” (1988, I believe; 13 min), where a group of people are offered $10K to spend the night in this series of rooms, but of course, as the title indicates, there is lots of blood and guts involved as they meet up with various forms of the undead. Will any survive? The second, of course, is the additional disc that is the soundtrack of the film, which is quite good, including the expected synth pieces and the orchestrated songs as well. Worth a listen.

Then there are others like the original VHS trailer and one for one of my fave Sheets releases, Bonehill Road (another werewolf film), a music video by death metal band Descension of “Burn the Church,” and other Visual Vengeance trailers (including the new one for this film), which always plays whenever you put in the disc, and English subtitles upon request.

On the non-digital side, there is a reversible sleeve featuring the original VHS art, a four-page liner notes booklet by Matt Desiderio of “Horror Boobs,” stick your own VHS sticker sheet, and a folded mini-poster

One point in the full film that confuses me is that the terribly intentionally overacting bounty hunters, especially Lothos (Harry Rose) and Medusa (Carol Barta) from the Sodality – It reminds me of the villains from the old “The Power Rangers” series – seem desperate and will use any method to catch Stryker, but if he had a bomb inside of him, why bother, as he will be dead in a couple of days? Also, the fight choreography is kind of funky, and there is a lot of it. But my big bugaboo about the film is not enough transformations. But then again on the good side, it is important to remember how low-budget this was, and some mental leeway has to give way for the zeitgeist of the film as a whole.

All-in-all, though, this was a fun ride, from beginning to end. But I can totally understand why it is a cult classic, and rightfully so, in my opinion.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Saul at Night

 Text © Robert Barry Francos / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Saul at Night
Directed by Cory Santilli
JawDoc Productions; Utopia
85 minutes, 2019 / 2022

Covid vaccines. Voting suppression. Conspiracy theories. In all of these, and more, there is a contingent of people who believe that the government is trying to control our lives. Of course, this is mostly nonsense, but this film takes it as reality in a dystopian, twisted way. No, there’s no martial law, no Big Brother monitors. It’s all sort of mundane, really. And it is expressed in the opening shot of sheep, which could be referring to sleep, or…

In this version of society, sleep is mandatory from 10 PM to 6 AM. For everybody. Well, everybody except the titular – unrelated to “Please Call” – Saul (Kentucker Audley). For he alone is, in the words of Rhonda Sheer, up all night, for the same 8 hours everyone else is in sleepyville. While he sleeps, the world goes on around him, including his wife, Kathyrn (Stephanie Ellis) and their early teenaged daughter, Cleo (Acadia Colan). Sleep is enforced and controlled, so you fall asleep and wake up on the dot, and do not wake up in-between (do people wear adult diapers to bed, or is that controlled, too, I wonder…).

Kentucker Audley

They’re all in the same house, at the same time, but when the females are sleeping, Saul is awake with nothing to do all night, and vice versa during the day as Kathyrn goes to work and the kid attends school. For him, there is no television (no one to watch it, technically, so nothing is aired), no radio, no open stores – though everything seems to be unlocked as he wanders about, including a shopping center (Swansea Mall) and museums – since no one else is awake to steal anything; and like a vampire, no sunlight (I hope he’s getting enough Vitamin D). There are only handwritten notes passed between Saul and his family. In this world, there are no home computers, and cell phones will not work for him since there is no one awake to talk. Well, the one computer proper we do get to see is an old cathode monitor rather than a slim type. And when Saul needs to check in with the government at an office, we see green text on black screen, like coding before WYSIWYG.

Suzanne Clément

When he’s not at home, he’s roaming around an empty Providence, RI (I’m surprised the street lights are on, because in real life, they would be turned off to save government funds), until he suddenly meets someone else who is awake, French-only speaking Amalur (Suzanne Clément, who is Quebecois). After being essentially alone after over 800 days with no one to talk to, or hug, this is a blessing, and a curse. Until they meet, there is perhaps only a dozen words spoken in the film. When Amalur talks, there are very easy to read big, yellow subtitles, I’m grateful to say.

For the longest time, this is a personality study about loneliness, and the lack of mutual spontaneous affection. Even though Saul and Amalur don’t understand each other’s monologs, talking past each other, the sound of another’s voice draws them to each other, even though they both have families. And yet, for some reason, we see the effects on the daytime side of Saul’s family, but not Amalur’s husband and three sons (we only see a photo of them).

There is a very subtle commentary on propaganda and mind control, as we see the rare television commercial (there is no new programming, apparently, as all we see is a clip from the politically safe The Dick Van Dyke Show from the early 1960s; MAGA?) and a billboard, both promoting sleep.

Stephanie Ellis

It’s interesting, of course, to see the slow burn relationship between Saul and Amalur, as they both try to communicate the best they can, and not let emotions muck things up, which of course they do, but not necessarily how one might imagine. The film does not take the easy or obvious road, but perhaps a more realistic one. Emotions and nerves are close to the edge for all involved, not just for Saul and Amalur.

The film has been described as science fiction, which is nonsense. I’m sure in the mind of whomever wrote their publicity the fact that it’s a dystopian, authoritarian existence that may be what gave them that idea as a descriptor, but with voting rights being stomped on and a possible Gilead in our future, where technology is controlled by the government, the alterations would be in shades of difference from our current reality, rather than some grand Zardoz (1974), Logan’s Run (1976) or even Orwell’s 1984 perspective. There is an old bon mot that states that films about the past and future are really about the present. This one is especially true.

Considering this is the director’s initial feature after a few shorts, it is quite the impressive debut. The acting is all top notch, though considering the history of the talent that is hardly surprising, and despite the slow and steady pace, there is still a feeling of tension and urgency among the angst. A beautiful and moving film, as well as a warning of what may be around the corner.

Available on AppleTV, Amazon, and Altavod.

IMBD Listing HERE