Mjeteconer Just perfect...

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Scott LeBrun Future TV names Laurie Walters ('Eight is Enough') and Joe Spano ('Hill Street Blues') headline this obscure but reasonably amusing micro budget horror flick. Laurie plays Jenny, a college student aggressively courted by the theatrical John (Spano). After a picnic lunch in the boondocks, they end up at an isolated, run down former spa that has been closed down for four decades. They also meet a resident: affable old lady Mrs. Abercrombi (Edna MacAfee). Laurie must soon dodge attempts on her life and comes face to face with some sort of oddball ritual that must take place within a certain time frame.Written, edited, produced & directed by Bill Herbert (his only credit as a filmmaker), this is no great shakes but it entertains in decent enough fashion. It is notable for a goofy sense of humor at times: Johns' idea of impressing Jenny is wearing Groucho glasses and doing a bad Inspector Clouseau imitation. He also launches into a re- enactment of a classic horror trope in a later part of the picture, just for *beep*s and giggles. Although it has no warlocks, and the moon doesn't play into the plot (the original title, "Bloody Spa", would have been more accurate), it's got enough weirdness & atmosphere, and fun moments of grisliness to make it mildly enjoyable. Although the cast largely consists of no-names, the acting is sincere, with Walters and Spano making for an engaging primary couple. Ms. MacAfee is a gas as the supposedly harmless old biddy who does have a secret to hide. Steve Solinsky and Richard Vielle are adequate as two axe wielding goons who scowl, stalk around, and commit bloody mayhem.Before the movie / night is over, we'll also have been treated to some face painting, quail hunting, exposition, haunting, and, funnily enough, a lecture early in the picture on human "deviancy".The closing credits actually begin before the story is really over, which was supposedly an attempt by Herbert & company to get people to actually READ the damn things.Six out of 10.

VinnieRattolle I'll try to keep this spoiler-lite.When they get lost on their way back from a picnic, young lovers Laurie and John stumble upon a decrepit, closed-down spa and its sole tenant, the equally aged Mrs. Abercrombi. Soon Jenny's being haunted by a ghost bride and other strange goings-on are happening in this oddball variation of "Hansel and Gretel."Although thoroughly obscure due to poor distribution, I can't praise this little b-movie enough. There's four inherent problems with no-name '70s schlockers (horrible acting, bad continuity, abysmal effects, ridiculous plot reveals) and this movie suffers from none of them. The cast is populated by actors from the stage, many of whom give nuanced performances which might seem a little over-the-top at times, but it works. The casting might also account for the overall good continuity -- once a stage actor makes an acting decision, they tend to stick with it. The film relies more on scares than effects, and they achieved them better with the camera, the foreboding sanatorium labyrinth setting and editing than many of the era's filmmakers did with effects -- though the few effects shots are equally well executed. The plot reveal could easily have been hokey, but they sidestepped that issue entirely by refusing to explain much of anything. Aside from a few pacing issues and Jenny's sometimes-illogical actions (she drives her own VW back to the spa, so she could really leave at any time!), I've got no complaints.Perhaps it's BECAUSE there's not much explanation that the movie's memorable (much like the next year's "Black Christmas"). All of the answers aren't spelled out for the audience, so it leaves one thinking. Even a moment that another filmmaker would draw hefty attention to (Jenny discovers living flowers where dead ones had been a few moments earlier) is played fairly subtly. Without giving too much away, there's also an element that has an entirely different meaning upon second viewing. Plus the filmmakers pitched several curve-balls, and the story involves a bizarre mixture of witchcraft, Satanism, cannibalism, hillbillies and hauntings. Those aren't themes that one finds interwoven too often. And I have to mention that there's one endearing mid-movie sequence where our would-be Hansel and Gretel play make-believe which initially seems completely random but the scene absolutely oozes charm. It's really a shame that the movie got saddled with a bad title (no discernible warlocks nor a single shot of the moon), worse marketing (the poster featured a vampire bat, the VHS a shrouded warlock) and distribution (Tucson, Arizona and Alaska for a few weeks in 1974 and infrequently on late-night TV), a screwed-up first DVD release (which is edited and skips a hunk of the movie during a layer transition), the filmmakers went on to get 9 to 5 jobs, and the picture has virtually been forgotten outside of the community where it was made. It's a quirky little '70s horror flick that should have been a drive-in classic.

stevenw-1 I think it was 1982 when I saw this on late night TV, Channel 2 KTVU from San Francisco Bay Area. I was living in Nevada at the time but thanks to (then) cable TV I was able to enjoy all the gems/classic horror movies that were featured on late night TV from the Bay Area. When one is up at midnight watching TV alone in the dark you tend to remember moments that shock the hell out of you and make you want to dive under your blanket and clutch your pillow for comfort...such as the very opening sequence of this film. The best that can be said about the Shriek Show DVD is that it retains the '70's luster, look and feel that I remember. The print used has not been offered in a flawless transfer and that's fine by me. I love seeing these films as if they were playing on the drive-in screen complete with lines, speckles and reel change 'jumps'. I'm not thrilled, however, upon finding out the Shriek Show DVD has some sort of "bug" where approx. 11 minutes of footage are skipped over and completely missing. I think you can somehow see the footage but you have to scan to it first and then let it play out. Very, very odd and the issue was never resolved with that company as far as I know. I'm sure they're still selling the flawed DVD right now without corrections for the fans of this film. Anyway - a shout out to the filmmakers of this film who posted here: whatever bad experiences you had making this film it was NOT all-for-not! You have some fans who really appreciate the effort and find this film almost essential '70's film viewing. The two lead actors are great, the opening is scary, the middle is intriguing and the ending is a downbeat humdinger. THANK YOU! - A fan forever

arion1 The premise of Warlock Moon is actually pretty simple: girl meets intriguing boy, boy courts her, takes her to a mysterious building, strange things happen, mystery becomes terrifying and then not so, and then ends in a scream. In effect, this is a Gothic Mystery!Gothic stories always center around an old ruin or haunted building which acts as a center of mystery. The plot device serves to ratchet up the tension by challenging the heroine (sometimes a hero, but not often) to distinguish between what is real, and what is a result of their own nervousness. H.P. Lovecraft used the same sort of device in his famous horror stories. A proper Gothic creates its own atmosphere of mystery and creeping terror. Unlike a mystery, however, a Gothic tale also has an element of romance in it; if, however, the romance can survive the fear that ensues.Warlock Moon fails, however, because the characters never really emerge from their cardboard-cutout status. It's hard to root for the heroine, Jenny McAllister, because you always want more from her. She foresees the poisoned drink, but never quite breaks free from the mysterious events surrounding her. Compounding the problem is the stultifying pace of the film. Sometimes it seems as though the actors themselves are deliberately moving slowly so as to use up time blocks. It doesn't help that at times the picture seems to have a "frosted glass" effect on the fringes of the screen, adding to the Gothic feel of the movie.Filmed in the small town of Livermore, California, the movie still has a bit of celebrity status in that community. When Warlock Moon had finished production, it had a Grand Opening show at the local Vine Theater. All the local residents including notables like the mayor made a great show of attending the premiere screening. Of course the film bombed, which made the event all the more enjoyable, sort of in the style of MST3K!The setting for the film's climax was at an abandoned tuberculosis treatment facility, which burned down about ten years later. That area is now the site of Camp Arroyo, and is almost unrecognizable from the mysterious ruins shown in Warlock Moon.A member of the Livermore Heritage Guild, a local historical society, is looking for a copy of Warlock Moon for posterity's sake. He has asked me to relay word to any other filmmakers that he's also looking forward to seeing a much better film made in Livermore.