Cold Moon (2016)

Saw 'Cold Moon', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre), Christopher Lloyd and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.Giving 'Cold Moon' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'The Haunting of Helena' is a great film because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.'Cold Moon' started off quite well, the first half is promising, unsettling and atmospheric and really does intrigue. Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere. The setting is effectively spooky and some of the acting in support was not bad. Christopher Lloyd turns his limited screen time into gold, he clearly enjoys himself here and shows everyone how it's done. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull. The direction doesn't feel phoned in and the storytelling in the first half does intrigue.However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point.Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense which dissipated as the film got duller, more predictable and senseless, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising or unnerving enough, the over-obviousness hurts it. Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a bit of cheese going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. 'Cold Moon' contains perhaps the most annoying grandmother in film history, and Candy Clark's acting is just horrendous for reasons too numerous to list (namely because it is some of the most painful over-acting personally seen anywhere). Tommy Wiseau's involvement is basically a walk on cameo if even that.Overall, better than expected but not great still. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This movie came and went with apparently little notice from the general public or horror fans, unless I just missed it. I came upon it by chance almost two years after it's release so I wasn't expecting much. Set in the 80's, it's a horror ghost story about revenge. It has more than a few genre actors that you'll recognize and a decent story. I found it well-made and entertaining, certainly better than it's rating suggest. There is a bit of a murder mystery but don't expect to much depth there. Nevertheless, I recommend this one to fans of supernatural horror.

When I saw the trailer, I was excited but mad that I had to wait a whole year for us just to rent the movie. I was happy when I rented it, sat down immediately and watched it. There were some things that I didn't know would be in the movie but I blindly went in without reading the book so...yeah. You can tell that there are some people who just started out acting because it shows. All I'm gonna say is that it is kind of boring and bland at the beginning but as the movie progresses, it becomes more interesting and pretty good. The characters do talk low to the point where you need to turn up the volume a lot in order to hear but when the intense scenes come in, it explodes in your eardrums so....just wanted to warn you.I do, however, find it as a good movie. It was kind of worth the year of waiting. I actually watched it twice and hoped that it would later be released on DVD so I can watch it whenever I please. It was bland at first but it gets juicy later on.

The movie poster is nice and inspires much higher expectations... but the story eventually meanders into a travesty of a climax and finale... It packs no mystery or intelligent story lines. The viewers are bombarded with a beaten-track B level movie-making and a story that could've worked but never did. It's got a childish plot and bad acting that's not worth the time spent on it. The characters and the ridiculous looking monsters do not develop and stay as static as the first time you meet them... they're just there to fill the screen. I gave the 3 points to the cinematographer and the set manager.