Horror Movie Review: Bloody Moon (1981)

Bloody Moon (Original title: Die Säge des Todes/The Saw of Death) is a 1981 slasher film directed by the infamous Jesús Franco.

A Spanish made horror, Bloody Moon was one of the video nasties. The hysteria that took over Britain in the 80s. Like most of the 72 films that made the successfully prosecuted ‘nasty’ list, Bloody Moon is now available completely uncut.

The story surrounds a group of young girls who are enrolled in a language school in Spain. The school is run by Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff), a young woman with big plans. One of which involves getting rid of her elderly Aunt so she can inherit her money. The other involves using her disfigured brother, Miguel (Alexander Waechter) to kill her students, something she manages by promising him her body once he has succeeded.

Yes, Bloody Moon has incest in it. Hardly a surprise if you know Jesús Franco’s style. Watching his movies, you have to expect a salacious amount of nudity, sex & violence. All three are in abundance here.

Bloody Moon is not Franco’s best work but it has its entertaining moments & the silliness of it all is quite memorable. Most of the film focuses on one character in particular, Angela (Olivia Pascal) who is a bit more ‘prim & proper’. She wants to be like her sex-mad friends but doesn’t have the confidence. She discovers bodies early on but no-one believes her suggesting that she has ‘such an imagination’.

All of the characters are dubbed & pretty poorly. The American style accents with cheesy dialogue does add a bit of charm to it though. It’s hard to properly judge the acting on this basis but when it comes to running, screaming, getting their clothes off & dying they do perfectly fine.

The film pours blood in some hilariously silly ways. Ones like the stabbing that go all the way through a back & out the nipple of a breast. Or the massive saw that cuts a head off an obvious mannequin. The film isn’t going to win any awards for its effects!

The film has an interesting twist that ties up the story nicely & the ending is fairly satisfying. After all, Bloody Moon is just a slasher after all. Just one with the Jesús Franco stamp on it.

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