Bloody Moon (and Bloody Vipco)

Jess Franco's 1981 slasher opus is a mixed bag. Suffering from the usual dubbing problems that can render even the best film laughable, the main problem seems to be that Franco is not working with complete control. The main sticking point for me was the awful hatchet job done by the fools at Vipco. Practically all the gore is missing, includinhg the infamous beheading by a giant stonesaw. And it's not the first time Vipco have been guily of this. Struggling to be fair, oit may be that this is the only print they are allowed to release in Britain but somehow I doubt it if you think about what other films you can see in their entirety. So what we're really looking at here is a 79 minute version. Would the added gore have added anything to the film? Well, yeah I think so. Without it you are left with all the padding without the rewards.

Set in a Adults Language School (filling in for the more usual campsite) someone is going about killing the ladies. Is it the disfigured Miguel, recently released from an asylum after a similar killing? Is it Antonio, the randy tennis coach? Or what about the weird gardener who only shows up right after a killing? There's many suspects but anyone familiar with slasher films will have no trouble guessing who is behind them. But that's okay, 'cause we're here for the gore. Oh no, wait. Vipco aren't showing that. Bastards. Now, I'm a big Franco fan and I believe that had this been 100% his film we would have had something better, but everytime a Franco-moment seems about to happen the action just stops and moves back to the female lead wandering about being scared which hampers the flow big time. This is an inherent problem rather being down to Vipco. It just doesn't have that Franco feeling. Shame, because it would be real interesting to see Franco do a routine slasher film, but his way. Franco would have made so much more of the incestual relationship between Miguel and his sister Manuela and their feelings towards the invalid mother. the pace may have slowed, but I think Franco does slow paced movies better than most (with the exception of the great Jean Rollin) and I would have loved to see him build a bit of suspense up slowly.

Sorry if the above seems a bit chaotic. I was looking forward to this one and I feel slightly cheated by not getting a chance to see the picture as a whole. I will try and rectify this, although I have the suspicion that it will remain a lesser Franco flick, purely because he seems like a hired hand.