HUNTER’S MOON *** USA 2020 Dir: Michael Caissie. 81 mins
After the mysterious death of a serial killer a new family move into his house. His strange and gruesome demise comes to the forefront when the parents leave their three teenage daughters home alone, not only do they have to fend off whatever it is lurking about outside in their orchard but the local town delinquents decide to pay the girls a visit, leaving the local law enforcement baffled at the carnage that ensues.
Part home invasion part monster movie this light take on the werewolf troupe has an interesting concept but falls flat in execution. I expect budget restraints played a big part but it’s certainly not an all out monster fest with only a few glimpses of the creature and one brief full on reveal quite late on yet you are guided to the conclusion of the nature of the beast right from the start so none of it comes as a surprise. They also made an interesting choice to make pretty much every character a bad guy, they have their reasons but it certainly doesn’t make you route for any of them.
The cast includes Jay Mohr and Amanda Wyss as the very fake and just plain weird parents. With Thomas Jane, Sean Patrick Flanery and Katrina Bowden trying their best with a bit of a dodgy script and fairly standard character arcs. The acting for me is the most annoying thing about this movie. It does however have a good soundtrack and is strangely compelling to watch, probably because you know something might be about to happen but you don’t know what or when. The atmosphere is there, it uses all practical FX and has a creepy enough (if brief) encounter with a man-in-a-monster-suit which is always fun. It’s nothing spectacular or new to the werewolf scene but if you’re a fan you may be interested to give this one a go.
Review by Sarah Budd