directed by:
Ben Etchells written by: Ben Etchells genre: Horror, Comedy |
"Well, I didn't come here for your sparkling company, Freddy, did I?" Our main character definitely seems to be running with the wrong crowd, and his genius is very much underappreciated. What's also clear is that he makes a shite cup of tea, but we can't hold that against him. Freddy is all kinds of awkward when it comes right down to it, spending his time playing the role of a mad scientist in his mom's basement, tending to her needs, and supplying a mobster with unknown substances. Then, much as I'm sure you were suspecting, he decided to be the person to cure hair loss. How's that grab ya?
So…yeah…I mean, it's fair to say that "It Be An Evil Moon" has got more than a little goin' on and tries to tackle quite a lot of it straight off the bat. As viewers, we can follow it well enough and understand that it's going to be Freddy that we're following along with - but at the same time, it's a bit overwhelming at the start while trying to discern which of the many extraneous things shown - are going to factor in later on down the road, if at all. On the bright side of things, Freddy, played by Ian Ray-White, is a fairly watchable main character who is able to garner our interest pretty quickly. On the flip side, "It Be An Evil Moon" feels a bit too scattered within its first half hour - and perhaps not as focused as it might need to be in order to keep the entirety of its audience engaged and attentive. As a man who has personally been described as "the missing link" for my entire life, the concept of desiring hair growth is completely and utterly horrific to me. Do people want MORE of this stuff? Why? Alright, obviously, I get it – not everyone out there has it growing out of every crack, crevice, and pore - like I do – and we all want what we don't have, right? As Freddy begins to find success with his experimentation, we see some great scenes that include his pet hamster ending up with quite the quaff, and our main character finds that everything in life seems to come easier with a full head of hair, too. Heck, even his love life has improved! Freddy goes from being virtually ignorable by one and all to being the new ladies' man on the scene with his long, luscious new locks. As with all horror movies, clearly, nothing goes wrong from there, and we celebrate Freddy's good fortune right through to the very end. Alright, maybe not. Maybe there might be at least a few complications to be found with his chemical concoctions, like, say, becoming a werewolf? But there could potentially be some advantages too – like maybe Freddy will finally be able to get these mobsters off his back as he becomes a one-person A-Team. As Freddy becomes more wolf-like and starts to resemble my own face in the mirror, staring back at me right before I have a good wash, his antics and killing spree soon have this hunter becoming the hunted.
Positives! I really thought the monsters looked pretty cool. The makeup was really well done, and director Ben Etchells made wise decisions in terms of how things are shown to us onscreen. Quick cuts, and not too much time spent looking directly at what frightens us…these are classic techniques that allow our imaginations to fill in the blanks, and that's usually to any Horror film's benefit. As for the potential drawbacks, personally, I felt that there were a few. "It Be An Evil Moon" seems to wander forward in search of a plot that'll work out, and we're never really put in a position that makes us feel confident it's going to find one. Being billed as a Horror/Comedy might also not be the best of ideas. The Horror aspect works reasonably well – the bloodiest scenes are some of the most fun this film provides, but the Comedy is extremely scarce. The parts of the movie that are arguably going for some laughs aren't really able to generate them - on account of "It Be An Evil Moon" never really finding that pace it needs and continuously feeling a little off balance. Even the "Horror" isn't a dominant trait – it's just where werewolves tend to be found, is all. In my humble opinion, anyhow. For the most part, "It Be An Evil Moon" plays much closer to what you'd find in a Drama/Mystery – but I'd be the first to admit, it'd be weird to find this movie there too. While "It Be An Evil Moon" does eventually tie things together in enough of a cohesive way by the time all is said, done, and eaten… it's hard to say whether or not there's been enough to leave us all feeling satisfied. The first half of the movie felt like it was scattered, but the latter half felt like a full-second act that didn't quite measure up to the way things began. It really comes down to balance, I suppose…and it seemed like "It Be An Evil Moon" never quite found a pace that worked in its favor. Still, with all that written, I did find I was able to stick with it, and I appreciate that writer/director Etchells found a way to give it an ending that worked. I'll also probably continue on with my habit of staying outta the woods, lest I run into some hairier character than me roaming the forest one day. I'm going to split the difference with this film and give it two and a half stars out of five. It feels like we needed a bit more than we got out of "It Be An Evil Moon," but there is also plenty of good stuff to be found in the direction and the way it was filmed. One hundred percent a decent film. l |
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