Killer's Moon (1978)

Four drugged-up mad dog lunatics undergoing experimental LSD treatment escape from an asylum and terrorize a bus load of nubile schoolgirls staying at a remote hotel in the Lake District. Writer/director Alan Birkinshaw cheerfully wallows in the grungy celluloid gutter with this gloriously ludicrous chunk of bottom-of-the-barrel rubbish: Besides the expected handy helpings of good old-fashioned raw and grisly ultra violence (the nutters are all dressed in white outfits just like the Droogs in "A Clockwork Orange"), we also have a few sadistic and appalling rape set pieces, a pleasing smattering of yummy female nudity, a handful of fetching young birds running about in flimsy nightgowns, a three-legged dog emerging as a most unlikely hero (!), nice touches of inspired pitch-black sarcastic humor, effectively bleak use of the dreary English countryside, a reasonable amount of tension, and, best of all, lots of hilariously terrible dialogue (immortal line department: "Look, you were only raped. As long as you don't tell anyone about it, you'll be alright. You pretend it never happened, I'll pretend I never saw it. If we get out of this alive, maybe we'll both live to be wives and mothers"). The competent cast struggle valiantly with the tacky material, with especially solid work from Anthony Forrest as the cynical Pete, Tom Marshall as the likable Mike, Joanne Good as the whiny Mary, Jane Hayden as the traumatized Julie, Alison Elliott as the sweet Sandy, and Georgina Kean as the catty Agatha. Moreover, David Jackson, Nigel Gregory, Paul Rattree, and Peter Spraggon are genuinely creepy and convincing as the dangerously unstable wackos. Arthur Lewis's rough'n'grainy cinematography gives the picture an appropriately grubby look while the shuddery jazz-tinged score by Derek Warne and John Shakespeare hits the spine-tickling spot. This flick starts out kind of slow and dull, but fortunately kicks into deliciously lurid high gear once the maniacs show up and embark on a bloodthirsty spree. A hugely entertaining slice of lovably low-grade schlock.

There's very little that's good about this film. A coach transporting a load of schoolgirls breaks down in the countryside and all the girls book into an off-season hotel for the night. Unfortunately a group of homicidal mental patients have just escaped from a nearby hospital. You can guess the rest.It's just plain bad all the way through. The outdoor scenes switch from day to night time all over the place. The dialogue for the girls and their teachers is atrociously written. The murders are a joke...victims never try and escape, they just stand still and wait for the murderous escapees to do their worst. One hilarious moment involves a small group who happen to be staying in a small tent in a field...as soon as night falls the scene switches to a very obvious studio interior which looks nothing like the field setting, and you can hear all the echoes of the dialogue bouncing off the walls! None of the cast are convincing actors. The script makes the mistake of giving the band of murderers far too much to say, and they come across as very affected...they may as well have had them say "Ooh, we're mad, we are!". The film just rolls along until it peters out, and it even ends with a really terrible warbling love song!! So there you have it - just one long list of bad points. Nothing good to say about this film at all. It's quite obscure and hard to find now, but save yourself the effort and leave it in obscurity where it belongs.

I was about 12 years old when i heard about this film from my stepfather. he was the owner of the Doberman dog (Hannah) who starred in the film and retired to live with his parents, Hannah was used because she was a three legged dog and this is to let you know how she came to lose her leg. my stepfather was publican and ran a very b busy pub. Hannah lived in the pub and was friendly to everyone. one night as he was closing up two men came into the pub with shotguns to rob him of the takings, one of the gunmen pointed the gun in my stepfathers face, Hannah who was behind the bar at the time jumped the bar and proceeded to jump over my fathers shoulder when the gun went off, she took the bullet saving my fathers life, the men panicked and ran. she was awarded a medal of bravery from the mayor of London and was presented with the pedigree chum golden bowl award that was presented to her by the cast of George and moldered she lived for a good few years and died in her sleep, i was lucky to see her a few times before she died and used to curl up with her in front of the fire and go to sleep. she is still spoken of in certain circles and very much missed.

A staggeringly dull and inept horror film, which amazingly enjoyed a national UK cinema release during 1978. Standards must have been lower then.The inane premise has a busload of schoolgirls meandering bafflingly through the wilds of the Lake District en route to Scotland (why aren't they going up the motorway?) They and their teachers are terrorised by four psychopaths who escaped while being given experimental drug therapy at a cottage hospital (!). You would expect the fells to be knee-deep in police searching for such obviously dangerous characters, but not one is seen until the end, when a patrol car trundles into view.Even allowing for such illogicalities, the potential is there for crude shocks but director Birkinshaw blows it entirely. Potentially suspenseful scenes are completely bungled and little dramatic use is made of the Lake District setting. The clumsy dialogue and sub-Clockwork Orange posturings of the psychopaths make parts of the film more laughable than terrifying. However, the "National Health Service psychiatrist line" is hilarious and few other horror films feature a moving eulogy to a three-legged dog!