Editorials
‘Bloodmoon’ (1990) – An Underseen Ozploitation Spin on the Classic American Slasher
As secrets come out and the body count grows, a character in Bloodmoon says to another: “This is nightmare night, the end-of-the-fuckin’-world night… all the bugs and the bats and the goblins are coming out tonight and no one can stop them.” Based on that rather dramatic statement, one delivered by actor Christine Amor without her even batting an eyelid, this underseen 1990 Australian film sounds a bit deranged. Rest assured, that assumption isn’t off the mark. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise; audacity and nuttiness tend to go hand in hand in classic Ozploitation. Nevertheless, director Alec Mills and screenwriter Robert Brennan’s collaboration was not quite like anything to come out of Aussie Horror at the time. Even today, parts of Bloodmoon feel singular when compared to films from that first slasher cycle.
Warning: Major spoilers below.
Based on one of its several striking posters — the viewer’s eye immediately goes to the blue-toned illustration’s chiseled and butt-naked subject, who looks on at his potential female victims all while holding a circular garrote made of barbed wire — Bloodmoon looks to be a sex-themed slasher. Indeed, this film is about carnal pleasure as much as it is about carnage. Although, the proposed villain’s reason for targeting horny young folks isn’t puritanical in nature. Something else is motivating the killing spree in this psychosexual slasher.
In true fashion, a boarding school is the site of unspeakable horror for credulous young women and their equally unfortunate beaus. Bloodmoon is no retread of Picnic at Hanging Rock, though; the real danger resides on campus rather than out in nature, and there is no hint of the supernatural. All the ensuing and tangible bloodletting here is the outcome of one man’s prolonged frustration. Yet before any of that is revealed, the film begins like others before and after it: visitors to the make-out point in the nearby woods are slaughtered by an unseen assailant. The killer’s identity is, as it should be, concealed for the time being with only menacing shadows and that compulsory POV shot to establish their existence. However, the barbed garrote splashed across the film’s promotional materials is in clear view as well as in explicit use. The choice of close-range weapon gives these murders a greater sense of intimacy.
Pictured: One of the eyeless victims in Bloodmoon.
Bloodmoon sets up stray subplots that come across as superfluous, yet they eventually fall into place. For starters, an elderly nun at the all-girls’ academy Saint Elizabeth — the only nun, in fact — is spotlighted at the beginning; she remains staffed despite her advanced age and supposed uselessness. After being called a good influence on the students, Sister Mary-Ellen (Hazel Howson) takes a backseat as her co-stars launch their own underplots. Meanwhile, ostensible main character and likely final girl Mary (Helen Thomson) discerns no threat to herself or others because the police refuse to rule the missing teens so far (both Mary’s classmate and her sweetheart from the neighboring all-boys’ school) as anything but hormonal runaways. Mary is more concerned with her mother, a famous actor and inattentive parent, and the townie boy Kevin (Ian Williams) with whom she has become smitten. That innocent romance is routinely juxtaposed with the killer’s grisly crimes targeting other teenage couples. A hint of what’s in store for Mary and Kevin, really.
On top of Mary’s innocent storyline is a minor yet ultimately precarious thread featuring two other Saint Elizabeth students, Michelle and Jennifer (Suzie MacKenzie, Anya Molina). These would-be cheaters get more than they bargained for when snooping around for test answers; they uncover the killer’s presence and seal their own fates. In the same breath, the film makes the misstep of identifying the culprit much too soon. The beloved mystery ingredient of whodunit slashers sadly expires here, however, the script compensates with an unusual new direction: how will the killer get away with his many crimes? All of a sudden, this Down Under take on the popular “dead teenager” film transforms into a villain-as-the-protagonist thriller. Those potentially worried about being bait-and-switched should feel better knowing the film’s slasher aspect is not completely abandoned. And if nothing, Bloodmoon is even madder now that it has unmasked the antagonist.
There is a cruel irony here about overprotective parents sending away their children to remote places on the map, in an effort to keep them safe from the real world. As it turns out, Saint Elizabeth’s headmistress, Virginia Sheffield (Amor), and her husband Myles (Leon Lissek), also the science teacher, are not who they claim to be. Horror history would suggest Myles is the one being too hands-on with his female pupils, but it is actually his wife who can’t keep her manicured paws off the male student body. This scenario of creepy cuckolding and sexual misconduct has its inevitable consequences, though, once Myles decides he will no longer tolerate Virginia’s mockery and his own sexless existence. And all the teenagers who are now discovering love and sex are the first to feel the sting of this chronically blue-balled wimp-turned-madman.
Pictured: The garrote-wielding killer spots more potential victims in Bloodmoon.
On the surface, Bloodmoon is all about sex, but in hindsight, the film also shadows characters who are figuring out their sense of worth. Be it to themselves or others. Sister Mary-Ellen is originally thought of as old and irrelevant by her coworkers and the students, only to then be the one who winds up saving the day (using a handy beaker of acid!). Mary’s neglectful mother is more bothered by an early-morning appointment than the fact that she hasn’t contacted her daughter in a month, and Kevin has predicted his unexceptional lot in life before even graduating. Most of all, Myles has been of no use to his wife for years; she obviously prefers her men underaged, fresh-faced and disposable. Add envy and resentment to Myles’ constant feeling of worthlessness, and this film has cooked up a considerable recipe for murder.
By the time Bloodmoon was first released, slashers had pretty much fallen out of favor overseas. That didn’t stop anyone from making them, although at that point, not everyone was willing to tweak the formula like Alec Mills and Robert Brennan did. Their own spin retains the essential fixings while also adding persuasive deviations to ensure a less typical product. And because Severin Films has issued a restored and high-def edition of the film — which includes that abrupt “fright break” intermission — John Stoke’s cinematography is now more appreciable.
Bloodmoon had the misfortune of following better received and, without much argument, less uneven slashers. Similar but different enough to warrant a glance, however, this Ozzie variation still offers an oddball killer, technical merit and, above all, some sleazy entertainment value.
Bloodmoon is now available on Blu-ray from Severin Films.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Pictured: Severin Films’ Bloodmoon Blu-ray release.
Soon after the New Hollywood generation took over the entertainment industry, they started having children. And more than any filmmakers that came before—they were terrified. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), Eraserhead (1977), The Brood (1979), The Shining (1980), Possession (1981), and many others all deal, at least in part, with the fears of becoming or being a parent. What if my child turns out to be a monster? is corrupted by some evil force? or turns out to be the fucking Antichrist? What if I screw them up somehow, or can’t help them, or even go insane and try to kill them? Horror has always been at its best when exploring relatable fears through extreme circumstances. A prime example of this is Larry Cohen’s 1974 monster-baby movie It’s Alive, which explores the not only the rollercoaster of emotions that any parent experiences when confronted with the difficulties of raising a child, but long-standing questions of who or what is at fault when something goes horribly wrong.
Cohen begins making his underlying points early in the film as Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) discusses the state of the world with a group of expectant fathers in a hospital waiting room. They discuss the “overabundance of lead” in foods and the environment, smog, and pesticides that only serve to produce roaches that are “bigger, stronger, and harder to kill.” Frank comments that this is “quite a world to bring a kid into.” This has long been a discussion point among people when trying to decide whether to have kids or not. I’ve had many conversations with friends who have said they feel it’s irresponsible to bring children into such a violent, broken, and dangerous world, and I certainly don’t begrudge them this. My wife and I did decide to have children but that doesn’t mean that it’s been easy.
Immediately following this scene comes It’s Alive’s most famous sequence in which Frank’s wife Lenore (Sharon Farrell) is the only person left alive in her delivery room, the doctors clawed and bitten to death by her mutant baby, which has escaped. “What does my baby look like!? What’s wrong with my baby!?” she screams as nurses wheel her frantically into a recovery room. The evening that had begun with such joy and excitement at the birth of their second child turned into a nightmare. This is tough for me to write, but on some level, I can relate to this whiplash of emotion. When my second child was born, they came about five weeks early. I’ll use the pronouns “they/them” for privacy reasons when referring to my kids. Our oldest was still very young and went to stay with my parents and we sped off to the hospital where my wife was taken into an operating room for an emergency c-section. I was able to carry our newborn into the NICU (natal intensive care unit) where I was assured that this was routine for all premature births. The nurses assured me there was nothing to worry about and the baby looked big and healthy. I headed to where my wife was taken to recover to grab a few winks assuming that everything was fine. Well, when I awoke, I headed back over to the NICU to find that my child was not where I left them. The nurse found me and told me that the baby’s lungs were underdeveloped, and they had to put them in a special room connected to oxygen tubes and wires to monitor their vitals.
It’s difficult to express the fear that overwhelmed me in those moments. Everything turned out okay, but it took a while and I’m convinced to this day that their anxiety struggles spring from these first weeks of life. As our children grew, we learned that two of the three were on the spectrum and that anxiety, depression, ADHD, and OCD were also playing a part in their lives. Parents, at least speaking for myself, can’t help but blame themselves for the struggles their children face. The “if only” questions creep in and easily overcome the voices that assure us that it really has nothing to do with us. In the film, Lenore says, “maybe it’s all the pills I’ve been taking that brought this on.” Frank muses aloud about how he used to think that Frankenstein was the monster, but when he got older realized he was the one that made the monster. The aptly named Frank is wondering if his baby’s mutation is his fault, if he created the monster that is terrorizing Los Angeles. I have made plenty of “if only” statements about myself over the years. “If only I hadn’t had to work so much, if only I had been around more when they were little.” Mothers may ask themselves, “did I have a drink, too much coffee, or a cigarette before I knew I was pregnant? Was I too stressed out during the pregnancy?” In other words, most parents can’t help but wonder if it’s all their fault.
At one point in the film, Frank goes to the elementary school where his baby has been sighted and is escorted through the halls by police. He overhears someone comment about “screwed up genes,” which brings about age-old questions of nature vs. nurture. Despite the voices around him from doctors and detectives that say, “we know this isn’t your fault,” Frank can’t help but think it is, and that the people who try to tell him it isn’t really think it’s his fault too. There is no doubt that there is a hereditary element to the kinds of mental illness struggles that my children and I deal with. But, and it’s a bit but, good parenting goes a long way in helping children deal with these struggles. Kids need to know they’re not alone, a good parent can provide that, perhaps especially parents that can relate to the same kinds of struggles. The question of nature vs. nurture will likely never be entirely answered but I think there’s more than a good chance that “both/and” is the case. Around the midpoint of the film, Frank agrees to disown the child and sign it over for medical experimentation if caught or killed. Lenore and the older son Chris (Daniel Holzman) seek to nurture and teach the baby, feeling that it is not a monster, but a member of the family.
It’s Alive takes these ideas to an even greater degree in the fact that the Davis Baby really is a monster, a mutant with claws and fangs that murders and eats people. The late ’60s and early ’70s also saw the rise in mass murderers and serial killers which heightened the nature vs. nurture debate. Obviously, these people were not literal monsters but human beings that came from human parents, but something had gone horribly wrong. Often the upbringing of these killers clearly led in part to their antisocial behavior, but this isn’t always the case. It’s Alive asks “what if a ‘monster’ comes from a good home?” In this case is it society, environmental factors, or is it the lead, smog, and pesticides? It is almost impossible to know, but the ending of the film underscores an uncomfortable truth—even monsters have parents.
As the film enters its third act, Frank joins the hunt for his child through the Los Angeles sewers and into the L.A. River. He is armed with a rifle and ready to kill on sight, having divorced himself from any relationship to the child. Then Frank finds his baby crying in the sewers and his fatherly instincts take over. With tears in his eyes, he speaks words of comfort and wraps his son in his coat. He holds him close, pats and rocks him, and whispers that everything is going to be okay. People often wonder how the parents of those who perform heinous acts can sit in court, shed tears, and defend them. I think it’s a complex issue. I’m sure that these parents know that their child has done something evil, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still their baby. Your child is a piece of yourself formed into a whole new human being. Disowning them would be like cutting off a limb, no matter what they may have done. It doesn’t erase an evil act, far from it, but I can understand the pain of a parent in that situation. I think It’s Alive does an exceptional job placing its audience in that situation.
Despite the serious issues and ideas being examined in the film, It’s Alive is far from a dour affair. At heart, it is still a monster movie and filled with a sense of fun and a great deal of pitch-black humor. In one of its more memorable moments, a milkman is sucked into the rear compartment of his truck as red blood mingles with the white milk from smashed bottles leaking out the back of the truck and streaming down the street. Just after Frank agrees to join the hunt for his baby, the film cuts to the back of an ice cream truck with the words “STOP CHILDREN” emblazoned on it. It’s a movie filled with great kills, a mutant baby—created by make-up effects master Rick Baker early in his career, and plenty of action—and all in a PG rated movie! I’m telling you, the ’70s were wild. It just also happens to have some thoughtful ideas behind it as well.
Which was Larry Cohen’s specialty. Cohen made all kinds of movies, but his most enduring have been his horror films and all of them tackle the social issues and fears of the time they were made. God Told Me To (1976), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), and The Stuff (1985) are all great examples of his socially aware, low-budget, exploitation filmmaking with a brain and It’s Alive certainly fits right in with that group. Cohen would go on to write and direct two sequels, It Lives Again (aka It’s Alive 2) in 1978 and It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive in 1987 and is credited as a co-writer on the 2008 remake. All these films explore the ideas of parental responsibility in light of the various concerns of the times they were made including abortion rights and AIDS.
Fifty years after It’s Alive was initially released, it has only become more relevant in the ensuing years. Fears surrounding parenthood have been with us since the beginning of time but as the years pass the reasons for these fears only seem to become more and more profound. In today’s world the conversation of the fathers in the waiting room could be expanded to hormones and genetic modifications in food, terrorism, climate change, school and other mass shootings, and other threats that were unknown or at least less of a concern fifty years ago. Perhaps the fearmongering conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccines would be mentioned as well, though in a more satirical fashion, as fears some expectant parents encounter while endlessly doomscrolling Facebook or Twitter. Speaking for myself, despite the struggles, the fears, and the sadness that sometimes comes with having children, it’s been worth it. The joys ultimately outweigh all of that, but I understand the terror too. Becoming a parent is no easy choice, nor should it be. But as I look back, I can say that I’m glad we made the choice we did.
I wonder if Frank and Lenore can say the same thing.
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