Warlock Moon

This appears to be the only film Bill Herbert made which is a great pity as it shows a lot of promise. He wrote, produced and directed this thriller about a naive young student Jenny (Laurie Walters) who allows herself to be picked up by journalist John (Joe Spano). On a picnic date they find themselves at an abandoned health spa where the only occupant is a kind grey haired old lady Agnes (Edna MaCafee). However, nothing is what it seems and soon Laurie is in mortal danger. The two leads are excellent in this hodgepodge of witchcraft, cannibalism and axe wielding maniacs. The photography helps along the spooky atmosphere immensely and the editing is excellent. Unfortunately the bad points outweigh the good ones, the script is muddled, the music score is all over the place and the actress playing the old lady over does it dreadfully. It is much to the credit of Bill Herbert that he manages to create an atmosphere of nightmarish uncertainty despite the obvious constraints of a very low budget.

WARLOCK MOON is one of the overlooked little classics of the American horror film's fascination with witchcraft & satanic covens that spawned dozens of adventuresome, low budget films that became staples of cult cinema: RACE WITH THE DEVIL, THE DEVIL'S RAIN, BLOOD SABBATH, NECROMANCY, ENTER THE DEVIL, WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, "Brotherhood Of Satan", etc. Europe had its vampires & werewolves, but the satanic witch covens seemed to be a predominantly American fad, and if the production of this gem had not lead up the blind alley that it infamously went it would have been regarded as a classic of the form.

This time out we meet a perky, cheerful young college coed played by "Eight Is Enough" actress Laurie Walters, who spends the first half of the film wearing a skin-tight sheer blouse that looks painted on with nary a coconut brassiere in sight. If girls dressed like that nowadays we might not have had time for the War On Terror at all let alone going to Mars. I mention her attire only because the first time through her chest was the sole focus of my attention for her entire duration on screen, resulting in my missing a delirious little nightmare of a world that the filmmakers contrived out of next to nothing.

The key feature is the beguiling location they utilized to shoot the bulk of the film: A dilapidated, creepy, run down, unwholesome looking unused health spa out in the middle of nowhere. The place is a marvel of decay, gloom, and Gothic menace worthy of a Euro Horror castle with its misty passageways & cobweb infested dungeons. Only this time its a huge, maze like series of interconnected structures that used to serve as a health resort. The walls are all falling down, the doors half off their hinges, discarded rubbish, broken glass, and household oddments litter the empty, twisting hallways that go nowhere other than claustrophobic little rooms. Some of them have padlocked meat lockers, some have cabalistic symbols drawn on the floor, and the whole setting is something right out of a nightmare.

The story concerns Ms. Walters being smooth talked by a young guy claiming to be a newspaper photographer to accompany him on a semi-romantic picnic in the country. Played by "Hill Street Blues" favorite Joe Spano, the guy comes off as charming & professional, and even though she called the newspaper looking for him and they had never heard his name before, she agrees, and he takes her to see the old spa first. There they encounter a dear little old tottering lady, living alone in a small furnished room where she makes tea and sandwiches and quickly ingratiates herself onto the young couple. The young lady gets lost in the maze of passageways, encounters ghostly figures and bizarre occurrences that the others have a hard time believing.

That's about all I want to say about the plot, which contain just as many twists, empty rooms, and unexpected ends as the spa location itself. To ruin any of the fun would be unthinkable, though it should be added that there are aspects of the movie that might strike some as shortcomings, the most important being the actress playing the elderly woman. Yes she overacts and hams it up, but I would argue that it is exactly what the film required and that she created a memorable character.

And in fact I'd say that one of the film's strengths is how it plays up this idea of forced politeness when confronted with someone so unrelentingly creepy. The social pressure to be polite in situations where things seem a bit odd is something we have all had to endure. One can sympathize with the young woman's natural urge to want to be nice to the lady, and the film does a marvelous job of taking that idea to an almost surreal barrage of increasingly creepy behavior that eventually pushes the girl over the brink in the film's most ingenious scene.

The film is ultimately perhaps more tightly written than its execution might suggest, and filled with startling little touches like the two berserk guys running around with axes, a theme involving cannibalism, some eye popping still frame photography and an unrelenting atmosphere of claustrophobia. The double twist ending is also fun, with the film ending on a decidedly downbeat paranoid 70s note that seems to have predominated in the form. Fans of the genre will be very pleased, and the background of how the movie came to be is even just as fascinating if not more.

7/10

A young woman is taken for a long scenic drive by a new male friend. As the day grows shorter, they happen upon a seemingly condemned resort which turns out to be occupied by a strange, but welcoming old woman. The young couple decides to stay there overnight, and they learn the horrible history of the old spa...as the elderly woman's story has it, the resort was once a relaxation retreat for the world's elite and powerful, but was closed down after several ritual murders were committed there by a group of Satanists. Predictably, there is similar carnage in store for the new guests, little of which registers as entirely interesting or especially horrifying.

WARLOCK MOON opens with a pretty strong scene, but the promise of a movie as good as that is unfortunately quashed by a wispy story which is paced poorly and never really gains much momentum. Still, it's mighty quirky in a weird low-budget way which may well appease fans of flyball regional horror flicks.

5/10...Forgiven of its shortcomings, there's enough dodgy appeal here to warrant a recommendation to the 70s trash cinema brotherhood.

Future TV names Laurie Walters ('Eight is Enough') and Joe Spano ('Hill Street Blues') headline this obscure but reasonably amusing micro budget horror flick. Laurie plays Jenny, a college student aggressively courted by the theatrical John (Spano). After a picnic lunch in the boondocks, they end up at an isolated, run down former spa that has been closed down for four decades. They also meet a resident: affable old lady Mrs. Abercrombi (Edna MacAfee). Laurie must soon dodge attempts on her life and comes face to face with some sort of oddball ritual that must take place within a certain time frame.

Written, edited, produced & directed by Bill Herbert (his only credit as a filmmaker), this is no great shakes but it entertains in decent enough fashion. It is notable for a goofy sense of humor at times: Johns' idea of impressing Jenny is wearing Groucho glasses and doing a bad Inspector Clouseau imitation. He also launches into a re- enactment of a classic horror trope in a later part of the picture, just for *beep*s and giggles. Although it has no warlocks, and the moon doesn't play into the plot (the original title, "Bloody Spa", would have been more accurate), it's got enough weirdness & atmosphere, and fun moments of grisliness to make it mildly enjoyable. Although the cast largely consists of no-names, the acting is sincere, with Walters and Spano making for an engaging primary couple. Ms. MacAfee is a gas as the supposedly harmless old biddy who does have a secret to hide. Steve Solinsky and Richard Vielle are adequate as two axe wielding goons who scowl, stalk around, and commit bloody mayhem.

Before the movie / night is over, we'll also have been treated to some face painting, quail hunting, exposition, haunting, and, funnily enough, a lecture early in the picture on human "deviancy".

The closing credits actually begin before the story is really over, which was supposedly an attempt by Herbert & company to get people to actually READ the damn things.

Six out of 10.

I think it was 1982 when I saw this on late night TV, Channel 2 KTVU from San Francisco Bay Area. I was living in Nevada at the time but thanks to (then) cable TV I was able to enjoy all the gems/classic horror movies that were featured on late night TV from the Bay Area. When one is up at midnight watching TV alone in the dark you tend to remember moments that shock the hell out of you and make you want to dive under your blanket and clutch your pillow for comfort...such as the very opening sequence of this film. The best that can be said about the Shriek Show DVD is that it retains the '70's luster, look and feel that I remember. The print used has not been offered in a flawless transfer and that's fine by me. I love seeing these films as if they were playing on the drive-in screen complete with lines, speckles and reel change 'jumps'. I'm not thrilled, however, upon finding out the Shriek Show DVD has some sort of "bug" where approx. 11 minutes of footage are skipped over and completely missing. I think you can somehow see the footage but you have to scan to it first and then let it play out. Very, very odd and the issue was never resolved with that company as far as I know. I'm sure they're still selling the flawed DVD right now without corrections for the fans of this film. Anyway - a shout out to the filmmakers of this film who posted here: whatever bad experiences you had making this film it was NOT all-for-not! You have some fans who really appreciate the effort and find this film almost essential '70's film viewing. The two lead actors are great, the opening is scary, the middle is intriguing and the ending is a downbeat humdinger. THANK YOU! - A fan forever