Children of the Full Moon

It was probably watching the Hammer House of Horror TV series as a kid in the 1980's that laid the foundations for my life long love affair for the genre. And this werewolf episode is one of the better ones. Yes, it's predictable and the make up is more old Universal than say The Howling or American Werewolf (which of course were made after this). But it is well acted, atmospheric, creepy and pretty shocking. Having children that are in fact monsters is always going to increase the scare factor. A nice little werewolf tale in well under an hour.

CHILDREN OF THE FULL MOON is a well-plotted episode of TV'S HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR and one that packs a heck of a lot of narrative twists and turns into its short running time. The storyline involves a young couple whose car breaks down and who subsequently find themselves staying at the home of a friendly old lady who cares for a large brood of children. Before long they find themselves menaced in the woods by hairy beast-men and realise something very odd is going on.

I enjoy Hammer's reworking of traditional horror themes in this TV series and CHILDREN OF THE FULL MOON is no exception. Expect dense plotting, dumb characters, cheap but cheerful make-up effects, and a general spooky atmosphere that works to the movie's advantage. The casting director did a good job with a central role for the effective Diana Dors, Christopher Cazenove playing the out-of-his-depth hero, and an appearance from Robert Urquhart (who starred in Hammer's first horror flick THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN all those years before).

Newlyweds Tom and Sarah set off for a small break in the country, their car spins out of control, and they end up seeking help in a nearby House, owned by the strange Mrs Ardoy.

Love it or hate it, Children of The Full Moon is without a doubt one of the more memorable episodes, it is loaded with atmosphere, it's decidedly eerie, but it doesn't take itself too seriously.

The game changer, the element that made this one a little different, for me, was the children, they're all so well presented and innocent looking, they somehow manage to unnerve.

One gripe, it's get another out of control car, it seems almost every other episode features a car that's gone out of control.

The makeup is a little on the raw side, so don't expect any kind of special effects, all I'd say is that the makeup team did a fine job with the resources they had to hand.

Hammer did Cannibalism, voodoo, and possessed children, as well as several other expected themes, it was kind of obvious that there'd be a werewolf theme, but it works well.

Christopher Cazenove and Celia Gregory are very good here, Diana Dors stole the show for me as Mrs Ardoy, what a glorious actress she was.

Thoroughly enjoyable, 8/10.

Tom Martin (Christopher Cazenove) and his wife Sarah (Celia Gregory) are taking a country drive when his car loses control.

Stranded in the middle of nowhere, they come across the country house where Mrs Ardoy (Diana Dors) is the over friendly housekeeper.

She invites them in to use the phone. With night encroaching she asks them to stay the night.

Also staying in the house are eight creepy children, they are fostered according to Mrs Ardoy. They have a taste for raw meat.

Sarah also develops a liking for raw meat after she was attacked by something in the middle of the night. While Tom ended up in hospital after he tried to clamber in from the outside and fell.

It is just now raw meat Sarah now like. She also now has a strong sexual appetite and a yearning to return to the country house.

Slightly sinister as the ever cheerful Mr Ardoy talks about her family's Hungarian roots. It is a werewolf story with a dark ending but I did thing it was flawed.

There was no reason to keep Tom alive after he fell. Even when Tom meets the the woodsman and his big chopper. You would think he would get the hell out of there.

It's that old plot device again, the one that has served many, many horror writers over the years ... a couple travelling through the countryside has car trouble, pulls over, and discovers a secluded house in the middle of nowhere. Either the house has no phone or they simply can't reach anyone, so they are forced to stay the night.

So cue the vampires, ghosts, demons ... or in this case a family of werewolves. The supposed owner of the house is an unnervingly friendly old lady played excellently by famous actress Diana Dors, just a few years before her death. She is step mother to eight creepy children. The couple become increasingly worried as strange things start happening. The husband is attacked by a strange creature in the woods, the wife has some odd encounters with the children, and eventually they are locked in their room. He tries to climb out of the window and ends up unconscious on the floor below while she is raped by a werewolf.

Already there's some pretty twisted stuff going on, enough to make me think this could be a great werewolf story. Anyway, the couple then end up in a hospital, the wife seems to have no memory of the events, claiming they simply crashed the car, and the husband thinks it was a dream. Over the next month or so she begins to act strangely, eating lots of meat and increasing her sexual appetite. However, just as it starts to get interesting ... it's the end of the episode. D'oh! I understand that there's only so much you can fit in to an hour-long episode, but if they'd just cut down on the boring scenes it could have all led to a great climax and ended up as a well-constructed, original werewolf story rather than just an interesting idea. Oh, well. I guess if you have nothing better to do, you might want to give this one a look, but don't go out of your way.