Deathmoon (1978)

How sad is this?

Absolutely the worst movie.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I confess that I had never heard of Robert Foxworth before watching this, the night it debuted, on CBS. But, I sure as heck kept an eye on all his subsequent television appearances!This also marks only the second time I had ever heard of Joe Penny. The first time (or, perhaps, it was the merely the first time I could put a name to the face) is when he played an Amerasian D. A. in San Francisco, battling organized crime at night as "The Samurai." But, of course, he was later able to do so more openly on the Steven J. Cannell series RIPTIDE.France Nuyen, suitably exotic as the mysterious high priestess, was a childhood crush from the first time I had seen her as the Dohlman of Elaas on STAR TREK: TOS. And the ill-fated cat burglar who never had a single line of dialogue (unless you count his death scream) later became famous as Officer Danko on HILL STREET BLUES. For all these reasons, these entertainment firsts, I give this a perfect ten.**Although, I do have to point out one thing to the gentleman who wrote the plot summary here at IMDb. Mr. Zoerner? Hawaii doesn't have voodoo! That's strictly a syncretic mix of Euro-witchcraft, Roman Catholicism, and West African tribal animism developed in the West Indies.

CURSE OF THE HAWAIIAN WEREWOLF. Terror and horror under a Hawaiian full moon... Jaahaa, sounds cool, doesn't it? Think again...While technically I remember this to be the very first werewolf film - or one of the first - I saw as a tiny little kid on a late night TV channel, I actually remembered little else of it (aside from the ending terrifying me). Probably because of the complete film being, uh, well, pretty much ballocks. What we got here, is a werewolf in Hawaii, in a motion picture flavored with ancient native sorcery (a curse, always scary stuff!), horribly colored shirts and dangerously short sporting shorts. All this could work, but it doesn't.So what did I get out of this film? Well,... a lot of muzak (seriously, will you listen to all those hideous tunes on the soundtrack) and some great textbook examples of experimental cross-cutting. Sergej Eisenstein should see this - he'd be proud. And then there's Robert Foxworth running around in werewolf make-up. I imagine this film to be a very tedious watch for the regular viewer, but if you manage to place yourself in the minds of the people who made this, you'll have a hard time wiping that grin off your face. It's just so ridiculous how they put this movie together. Especially the "cleverly planned" romantic interludes between Foxworth and Barbara Trentham are always a hoot to which you can set a timer. But the most painful thing about this film, is that Foxworth is the actual werewolf. The viewer knows this from the start, but Foxworth's character doesn't (It's you, Foxworth! Wake up, man, it's YOU! ...aw, Christ!). He always wakes up every morning, but has no clue about what he'd been up to all night ("Hmmm, must have been too much sun and alcohol..."). Now, any film in which the viewer knows everything from the first minute, but all the other characters are running around trying to figure things out, is just a plain bore to sit through. In this case, an often funny bore, yes, but you'll be glad to see the credits roll after that final "shocking" surprise end-shot.Finally, I can imagine one of the very first production meetings of this film having went a little as follows. Throw in a producer (P), director (D) and writer (W): P: "Let's make a film about a guy going to Hawaii on a holiday and have him change into a werewolf every night." D: "Great! I love werewolf movies. I want to direct one." P: "Fine! Writer, figure something out to make the guy a werewolf." W: "Okay, we could put a curse on him, because his ancestors were evil missionaries... or something." P: "Wonderful angle! I like it! Anything else?"W: "I could throw in a redundant subplot about a thief, robbing rooms. So the police can run around clueless." P: "Excellent! Who's going to play the leading guy?"W: "I suggest Robert Foxworth. He usually doesn't have a clue about the characters he's playing." D: "Uh, could I direct some romantic interludes too? I like those." P: "Yeah sure. Romance always works." D: "What about tits? I want to shoot some naked breasts too." W: "I could write a gratuitous shower-scene into the script" P: "Okay for the shower-scene. But no tits. Remember, this is going to be shown on television. And put Foxworth in a shower somewhere too, for the ladies. But don't show his butt, D." D: "Aw, darn. I like Foxworth's butt." P: "Okay, all set then. W, you get your script ready in a week. I'll book us some tickets to Hawaii. I could use a holiday myself." D: "Yipii! We're gonna make a werewolf movie in Hawaii!" P: "Shut up, D. Go shoot this movie or you're not getting paid." Sure they got away with this. It was the 70's. They got this movie made.

In the 1970s, Robert Foxworth made a mini-career out of starring in such horror films as Prophecy, Incident at Lakewood Manor, The Omen II, and Invisible Strangler. Death Moon was his foray into classic monster film territory, and the film represents most of the elements that make made-for-TV 70's horror flicks so darn much fun.Foxworth plays an overworked man who begins to have unsettling dreams. Taking a vacation to a Hawaiian resort, he discovers that the sins of his ancestors have been passed down to him as a blood curse. Under the full moon, he turns into a werewolf who chews his way through the resort's guests before a final confrontation in a lonely jungle hideaway.Death Moon might not be great cinema, but it certainly is enjoyable for fans of 70's monster flicks. The werewolf effects are quite laughable, but that's part of the fun. This film will certainly disappoint fans of splatter and gore, as well as folks with high expectations of state-of-the-art special effects. But with its emphasis on character development and some winning supporting performances, this is a perfect film for a late-night, a bowl of popcorn, and a group of friends who grew up in the era of disco and leisure suits.

Death Moon tells the tale of Los Angeles real estate investor Jason Palmer (Robert Foxworth) who is a real workaholic, he is suffering from tension, stress & has been experiencing bad dreams although he can't remember them, he just knows they were bad. Seeking advice he is told by his Doctor (Don Pomes) to take a vacation, a complete break from work. Browsing the travel agents Jason sees a poster advertising the delights of Hawaii & the very next scene Jason is settling into his Hawaiian hotel. Jason begins to relax & before he knows it he has already found himself a girlfriend named Diane May (Barabra Trentham) & their relationship starts to become serious. Meanwhile Rick Bladen (Joe Penny) the house detective is trying to solve a recent spate of robberies from guests rooms when a stewardess named Sherry Weston (Debralee Scott) turns up brutally murdered & shortly after another body turns up mauled in the same way. Rick's investigations lead him to the conclusion that a Werewolf may be at large, a vicious beast who kills indiscriminately & must be stopped at all costs...Directed by Bruce Kessler Death Moon is crap, it's as simple & straight forward as that really. The fact that Death Moon appears to be pretty obscure is a bit of a blessing as it means you will probably never have the opportunity to watch it, I only wish I could have said the same thing. The script by George Schenck is as slow as you like, you could quite easily skip the entire first half of this & still pick it up. The first Werewolf attack doesn't happen until past the 40 minute mark, that's 40 minutes of dull as dishwater exposition & totally unnecessary character development & when I say unnecessary character development I mean character's who mean nothing to the overall story & just disappear anyway like the thief who steals a key-pass & breaks into people's rooms only to be killed & never referred to again. It's never really explained why Jason suddenly turns into a Werewolf every night other than some vague text at the start of the film. The whole film is deeply unexciting & very boring to watch at 90 odd minutes long. Someone should also tell the filmmakers that there is a full moon about once every month & not one every single night. The character's are dull, the dialogue forgettable & there are loads more better Werewolf films out there. Death Moon may have a cool sounding title but the film itself is total crap, less than impressive.Director Kessler does an OK job but it's very easy to see that Death Moon was a made-for-TV film. There's no scares, shocks or surprises & forget about any blood or gore as there isn't any, full stop. The Werewolf transformation is nothing more than old fashioned time lapse photography & the Werewolf itself is far from impressive, it's just a guy with bits of hair stuck to his face & fangs which are obviously so big he can't close his mouth.Technically Death Moon is alright, it's competent but it has no style or visual flair & looks every bit the made-for-TV film that it so obviously is. The acting is average & that's being generous.Death Moon is rubbish, it has no entertainment value whatsoever as far as I'm concerned & it nearly put me to sleep twice, I'm not sure how I made it to the end actually. Watch An American Werewolf In London (1981) again instead, one to avoid.