Deathmoon

Deathmoon (1978) - I've gotta say, Jason Palmer (Robert Foxworth) is one really nice guy.

But boy, does he make dumb decisions.

I mean, the poor guy is completely stressed out at work, and he's having vague, sweaty nightmares about crazy voodoo ceremonies on an island.

His doctor tells him it's time to chill out. Urges him to take a nice vacation.

And what does Jason do?

He sees a poster for Hawaii, and one of the images on it is a voodoo mask.

Sure, why not? Sold.

Now to be fair, Jason also goes to Hawaii because his grandfather was a missionary worker there back in the day. It was a bit of a nostalgia trip for him. He isn't aware, though, that the old man ran afoul of a voodoo priestess, who put a curse on the family.

I'm not sure that if Jason had just stayed in California - or gone to chill in, like, Vegas, he'd have started sprouting extraneous hair and fangs. But when he goes to grandpa's old stomping grounds, it sure brings out the beast in him.

This kind of throws a monkey wrench into a budding romance Jason has with a woman he meets at the resort named Diane (Barbara Trentham). Needless to say, he becomes a pain in the neck as well for the other vacationing guests on the island.

Lieutenant Russ Cort (Dolph Sweet) and out-of-sight ladies man and hotel detective/handyman Rick Bladen (Joe Penny), meanwhile, have their hands full trying to sort things out.

We're talking Made-for-TV here, so the gore is at a minimum, and the naughty bits are very, very, very tame. I wasn't on the edge of my seat very often, either. But there were some cool werewolf attack scenes in between the filler romantic overtures between Jason and Diane.

I've read a few complaints about wolfie's "look," but quite honestly, I didn't have a problem with it. There was one full transformation scene, and again, I liked it better than most. I guess I'm easy to please.

One bonus for me was that Debralee Scott made an appearance as a vacationing stewardess named Sherry Weston. Such an appealing, wonderful performer. Left acting too early and died too soon.

Oh yeah, this absolutely looks and feels like the TV movie that it is, from the moment it begins. Modest production values, overwrought presentation, and as we almost always inevitably discover, a declination of the same level of violence and darkness that would surely characterize a theatrical release of the same material. For good measure find a VHS (or digitization thereof), making the 70s aesthetics and production sensibilities all the more endearing. Of course, that the premise effectively amounts to "Werewolf in Paradise" really says a lot about what producer Jay Benson concocted to air on CBS; moreover, there's nothing particularly new or original here, with the vibes and the story being very familiar. Yet that's the nature of this format, and if you're looking for something that ostensibly fits into the "horror" genre but which is on the much lighter side of things, you could do worse than 'Deathmoon.'

Filmed in Kaua'i, we get a lot of footage of the beautiful surroundings, a fair amount of footage of beautiful and scantily clad women, and a very light, carefree tone that dominates for a long time in these ninety minutes. There are some extra nice touches throughout, even in the extra insouciant first act, but it's not until one-third of the runtime has elapsed that the story especially starts moving. This picture isn't the place to find a majorly gripping narrative, let alone thrills, but the tale is suitably engaging as workaholic Jason is directed to vacation by his doctor, and he discovers something about himself while in Hawaii as strange goings-on mount at the resort where he's staying. Benson and George Schenck's screenplay could have been more dramatic and impactful, yes, and likewise the realization by director Bruce Kessler, but the foundations are solid enough, and there's just enough strength in this iteration to keep us watching.

Paul Chihara's music is one of the more plainly admirable elements on hand. The score is sometimes varied to the point of being kind of scattered, but it helps to lend some atmosphere to the proceedings. That's helpful, in this case, since the title mostly operates as a mystery, and even though there's one attack earlier and hints of more substantive plot, it's not until the end of the second act that we're first treated to a scene which notably carries itself with more vibrancy. Nonetheless the narrative and scene writing is capable such as it is, and Kessler - and his cast - do as much as they can to facilitate the sobriety and vitality, lesser but still present, that this does boast. Among others, this is certainly a credit to lead Robert Foxworth, and co-stars including Joe Penny and Barbara Trentham. Furthermore, I appreciate the lighting that lends ambience while allowing nighttime shoots to remain duly discernible, and some sharp instances of editing, and in broad terms this is basically as well made as we'd suppose of like contemporary fare, including production design and art direction.

Among other tidbits, the feature could have done more to explore and play with the origins of Jason's condition, and more generally the angle of supernatural doings. I can understand violence being downplayed given the television format, but it's pushed to an unusually small corner even for that medium. It's also noteworthy how very, very little we see of the transformed werewolf - mere flashes, really - though in fairness that may be for the best, since the "special makeup" in this example is all but the absolute minimum. Still, for all the many shortcomings in 'Deathmoon,' it's not as if the flick is specifically flawed. It's ably made, at large, and at its best, it's fairly sharp with a minor buzz of electricity. By no means is this something that demands viewership, and anyone who has a hard time abiding TV movies won't find anything here to change their mind. For all that it is, though, 'Deathmoon' is reasonably enjoyable, and it's worth checking out if one happens to come across it.

CURSE OF THE HAWAIIAN WEREWOLF. Terror and horror under a Hawaiian full moon... Jaahaa, sounds cool, doesn't it? Think again...

While technically I remember this to be the very first werewolf film - or one of the first - I saw as a tiny little kid on a late night TV channel, I actually remembered little else of it (aside from the ending terrifying me). Probably because of the complete film being, uh, well, pretty much ballocks. What we got here, is a werewolf in Hawaii, in a motion picture flavored with ancient native sorcery (a curse, always scary stuff!), horribly colored shirts and dangerously short sporting shorts. All this could work, but it doesn't.

So what did I get out of this film? Well,... a lot of muzak (seriously, will you listen to all those hideous tunes on the soundtrack) and some great textbook examples of experimental cross-cutting. Sergej Eisenstein should see this - he'd be proud. And then there's Robert Foxworth running around in werewolf make-up. I imagine this film to be a very tedious watch for the regular viewer, but if you manage to place yourself in the minds of the people who made this, you'll have a hard time wiping that grin off your face. It's just so ridiculous how they put this movie together. Especially the "cleverly planned" romantic interludes between Foxworth and Barbara Trentham are always a hoot to which you can set a timer. But the most painful thing about this film, is that Foxworth is the actual werewolf. The viewer knows this from the start, but Foxworth's character doesn't (It's you, Foxworth! Wake up, man, it's YOU! ...aw, Christ!). He always wakes up every morning, but has no clue about what he'd been up to all night ("Hmmm, must have been too much sun and alcohol..."). Now, any film in which the viewer knows everything from the first minute, but all the other characters are running around trying to figure things out, is just a plain bore to sit through. In this case, an often funny bore, yes, but you'll be glad to see the credits roll after that final "shocking" surprise end-shot.

Finally, I can imagine one of the very first production meetings of this film having went a little as follows. Throw in a producer (P), director (D) and writer (W):

P: "Let's make a film about a guy going to Hawaii on a holiday and have him change into a werewolf every night."

D: "Great! I love werewolf movies. I want to direct one."

P: "Fine! Writer, figure something out to make the guy a werewolf."

W: "Okay, we could put a curse on him, because his ancestors were evil missionaries... or something."

P: "Wonderful angle! I like it! Anything else?"

W: "I could throw in a redundant subplot about a thief, robbing rooms. So the police can run around clueless."

P: "Excellent! Who's going to play the leading guy?"

W: "I suggest Robert Foxworth. He usually doesn't have a clue about the characters he's playing."

D: "Uh, could I direct some romantic interludes too? I like those."

P: "Yeah sure. Romance always works."

D: "What about tits? I want to shoot some naked breasts too."

W: "I could write a gratuitous shower-scene into the script"

P: "Okay for the shower-scene. But no tits. Remember, this is going to be shown on television. And put Foxworth in a shower somewhere too, for the ladies. But don't show his butt, D."

D: "Aw, darn. I like Foxworth's butt."

P: "Okay, all set then. W, you get your script ready in a week. I'll book us some tickets to Hawaii. I could use a holiday myself."

D: "Yipii! We're gonna make a werewolf movie in Hawaii!"

P: "Shut up, D. Go shoot this movie or you're not getting paid."

Sure they got away with this. It was the 70's. They got this movie made.

This TV horror movie from 1978 is about Robert "Falcon Crest" Foxworth playing a burnt out business man spending a week of vacation on Hawaii. As he is suffering from weird nightmares he's trying to find enough relaxation on the beautiful tiki island, but once he has arrived a series of cruel slayers started... He is shocked to find out that a witch has put a curse on him who is turning him to a werewolf at night as his ancestor was a brutal missionary who has violently tried to convert the native Hawaiians some hundred years ago.

For a TV flick, it's a well-done scary movie with a cool setting (cheap werewolf costumes in seventies Hawaii cocktail lounge locations), a weird electronic sound track and a stunning witch queen played by France Nuyen. Though the story and the thrills are a bit weak it's worth to watch!

Death Moon (1978) is an awful movie that is boring and a tedious watch. I had the unfortunate opportunity was actually renting this garbage a while back. The videotape cover tricked me. It promised me a straight forward horror flick. All I got was a snooze fest of a television movie that was the same tired old tripe. I thought I saw some bad productions in the past but this has to rank with the worst of the bunch.

A dude is vacationing in Hawaii (I guess that's where they spent the budget) and is troubled by the natives. He infuriates them with his presence. One night he wakes up and discovers he's been cursed. By whom or what we don't know. If you want to find out why or what he's cursed with (one is appearing in this stupid movie) you'll have to go to your local independent video store and find out for yourself. Be warned this movie stinks on ice.

Not recommended. It'll neither please werewolf fans or bad movie lovers.