Entry Thirty-One: Bloody Moon (1981)

Bloody Moon (Die Sage des Todes) (1981)

Dir: Jesus Franco

"Don't Panic...It happens only once in a...bloody moon."

Brush away that stale popcorn and take a seat; we're spending a little time with the incomparable Jesus Franco (Oasis of the Zombies, A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Vampyros Lesbos) down in the Basement of Sleaze!  In our first encounter with Franco, we find him trying his hand at the then-burgeoning slasher genre...

During an outrageous poolside disco party (complete with short skirts, insanely tight leather pants and cowboy boots...my kinda scene!), disfigured Miguel (Alexander Waechter) dons a Mickey Mouse mask (I wonder if the lawyers working for Disney are aware of this film) and graphically murders a girl who refuses his advances.  Years later, Miguel is released from a psychiatric hospital into the care of his sister, Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff), who helps run a boarding school with her bitchy aunt, Contessa Gonzales (Maria Rubio), who has recently revised her will to disinherit Manuela.  Also helping to run the school is Manuela's boyfriend, Alvera (Christoph Moosbrugger), who's introduced wearing a fantastic blue-dyed leather jacket that snaps in the front and makes him look like a suave-as-fuck European Rocketeer!  After an unseen assailant burns the Contessa to death, we're introduced to brainy star student Angela (Olivia Pascal), and it's revealed that Miguel has creepy fixation on his sister.  After her friend Eva is killed by a knife through the tit, American Angela begins receiving threatening messages during class, but receives no help from the local cops ("I wouldn't mind teaching HER the language!").  The bodies continue to mount (including a woman decapitated by a logging saw and a young boy having his head crushed beneath a car wheel, Toxic Avenger-style) and final girl Angela is left to unravel the mystery.

This slasher is quite obscure, but worth a look for genre fans.  Let's get this out of the way, this is an obvious Halloween/Halloween II knockoff (Miguel=Michael, sister fixation, brainy virginal heroine), but it has more than expected to offer for those willing to take a look.  The kills (mercifully free from the constraints of American censors) are pleasantly graphic and Franco (clearly making a bid for the mainstream), flourishes the production with stylish shots (the reflection of the moon in Miguel's eye during the opening scenes), at-the-time novel jump cuts and atmospheric lighting (thanks to cinematographer Juan Soler).  Best of all, expected-killer Miguel turns out to be a hero, albeit a doomed one, killed by Angela while trying to save her from real villains Miguela and Alvera.   This film features lots of supple, bare tits for the dolphin-flogging crowd and belies it's European origins with a parade of cigarette-stained teeth.  Worth seeking out for slasher fans.