KILLER'S MOON

1970's Britain culturally seems a universe away from modern society today…in the 70's there was three channels on TV, unemployment was rife and workers were striking across the land fighting toe to toe with the police against the government, political correctness was the butt of jokes in mainstream comedy and exploitation cinema was the masses accepted norm. It is with that background that perhaps one should wish to view Alan Birkinshaw's truly bewildering exploitation opus 'Killers Moon' - a snapshot of an era that whilst had its cheesy oddball moments in reality is one that we should look back on with mature disdain.

'Killers Moon' opens with a coach load of singing overage schoolgirls en route to a big singalong festival but being vintage exploitation fare the coach (driven by the stereotypical 'cor blimey guv' On The Buses driver) soon breaks down and the girls all head off through the forest (god forgive staying on the road) only to find a desolate country house hotel and its host Mrs May (aka Nana Moon from TV soap Eastenders). After lashings of tea with bread and butter the girls settle down for the evening but not before being visited by a gaggle of escaped psychopaths…worse though is that these psychos have been victims to bizarre NHS drug testing having been given some mysterious medication that makes them believe that they are in fact dreaming…so in turn the poor misguided souls really do believe that it's perfectly fine to rape, abuse and murder to their hearts content as it's only a dream after all!

And so with that truly bizarre (though admittedly somewhat amusing) set piece 'Killers Moon' then sets about the remaining running time utilizing every possible opportunity to bare some breasts and bombard viewers with some nudge nudge wink wink sensory depravity as the psychos go about their deranged business attending to the aforementioned schoolgirls. Along the way the film is peppered with much hilarity, both intentional (the psycho ramblings regarding the NHS are indeed amusing) and unintentional which means when not gawping slack jawed at the exploitative nonsense unfolding onscreen (including a three legged dog that would put Lassie to shame) you'll be mostly groaning at the woeful dialogue throughout (which is doubly astounding when you note that the infamous Fay Weldon was brought in to 'rescue' the script, oh dear!)

And whilst it may seem that I'm somewhat down on 'Killers Moon' as a viewing experience if truth be told I in fact found it to be an enormously entertaining way to spend 90 odd minutes as the film is indeed a perfect example of everything that was wrong about the woeful pig ignorant British mentality back in the 1970's - sexist, misogynistic and an insult to any right minded souls intelligence 'Killers Moon' is a chance to both balk and laugh yourself senseless at an era these days (more so for younger genre fans) that has been long forgotten.

It's also well worth noting that other 1970's nightmares godly campaigner Mary Whitehouse and film censor James Ferman have long left this mortal coil as astoundingly (and welcomingly of course) 'Killers Moon' is presented here by the fine folk at Redemption fully restored and uncut. The anamorphic image looks great, especially so considering the age and obscurity of the title and is in the main pretty much solid throughout (outside of the odd pops and grain). Thankfully the temptation to add a faux 5.1 soundtrack has been resisted (I've never understood the need for any audio track outside of the original theatrical experience) and we are given a nice simple sharp mono sound.

Redemption though have also pushed out the boat for this release (and as 70's TV critic Barry Norman would say 'and why not') offering some fun extra features for this sterling DVD. Of most interest perhaps will be the onscreen interview features conducted by Redemption's James Blackford with director Birkinshaw and (not so) schoolgirl actress Joanne Good - both are rightly enthusiastic about discussing the films re-release here (though to declare the film has aged well may be somewhat amusingly misguided) but both interview features are very welcome entertaining additions. Birkinshaw also contributes a full-length audio commentary (does anyone listen to these anymore?) and alongside a nice collection of stills galleries there's two vintage trailers for the movie on show.

Kudos to Redemption for digging 'Killers Moon' up from the grave for a restored and revitalized revisitation. A finer example of 1970's British exploitation you'll likely never see and with this release Video Nasty collectors out there can happily send their old VHS tapes to the recycle bin (or Ebay of course!) Thankfully as the 1980's approached a new breed of quality genre cinema was approaching (with films like Alien and American Werewolf in London) casting the hapless exploitation off cinema screens evermore. Here though with this DVD it lives once more!

Review by Alan Simpson