MOONCHILD (1994)
2-Disc Visual Vengeance Collector Edition Blu-ray + CD
Label: Visual Vengeance
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating; Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Todd Sheets
Cast: Auggi Alvarez, Rod Will, Paul Van Dan Elzen, Julie King, Dave Miller, Kathleen McSweeney, Rebeckah Rose
As an old metal-head myself it's hard not to love a microbudget shot-on-video flick that gives partial credit for it's inspiration to the Iron Maiden song "Moonchild", it made me just want to like it from the get-go. Directed by Todd 'The Kansas City Creep' Sheets, who is a fairly well-known underground filmmaker based out of Kansas City, that has been churning out low-budget DIY horror since the mid-80's. More recently he has made slightly bigger budget flicks like Bonehill Road, Dreaming Purple Neon, Clownado, and contributing to the Hi-8 SOV horror anthology films, he is still living the DIY dream, which I resect a ton, this is a guy who did it himself, with a like-minded group of friends for over thirty yerars!
The scrappy Moonchild (1994) is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future, where a nefarious and oppressive
government have created a werewolf super soldier by way of Jacob Stryker (Auggi Alvarez, Zombie Bloodbath) who has had his genes spliced with those of a wolf. He's an incredible asset to the shady organization, problem is that he has busted out of the facility to find his missing son Caleb (Stefan Hilt, Violent New Breed). On the outside he teams up witha ragtag group of rebel fighters; Talon (Dave Miller, Zombie Bloodbath 2), Dr. Andronymous (Cathy Metz, The Witching) and Athena (Kathleen McSweeney, Violent New Breed), and together they face-off against a cannibal clan lead by Hades (Rod Will), and a squad of mutant/cyborg bounty hunters sent by the evil government, by way of a ninja, a cyborg, an evil-granny named Medusa (Carol Barta, Bloodthirsty Cannibal Demons)- wait till you see her handmade Medusa hat! - and level 7 assassin Ursula (Erika Schneider) who sports a skin tight body suit. The big bads here look pretty silly, like dollar store discount versions Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, which had me in stitches.
Despite the werewolf super-soldier angle, and how it's emphasized in the artwork, this is way more along the lines of a zero-budget Italian post-apocalyptic flick than an actual werewolf movie. Sure, there is some werewolf action at the end, including some bargain basement 90's digital morphing, but it's not the focus of the film. If you want to see Sheets really tackle a werewolf flick I recommend his later feature film Bonehill Road, it's bad-ass. Those looking for werewolf action are likely to be disappointed, but if you dig z-grade post-apocalyptic genre mash-ups and have and affinity for zero budget regional SOV oddities this is a blast - for all others who might not be not accustomed to the no-budget aesthetic of most SOV films it will likely be quite a shock how bad it is.
I certainly admire the intended scope of this sprawling, zero-budget shot-on-video genre mash-up, it's pretty ambitious stuff, and while it certainly comes up short and looks like a tarnished SOV turd I both love and respect the spirit in which it was intended. The cast are pretty amateurish and the production value is bottomed-out, but there's pretty much non-stop action including tons of backyard fight choreography, a low-speed low-stakes chase scene, and I love how it ends on a WTF scene of a black hand emerging from evil-granny Medusa mouth, looking like a turd at first, to rip the eyeballs from someone's face! The cherry on top of this no-budget trash sundae is a soundtrack featuring thrashy power metal tunes.
Audio/Video: Moonchild (1994) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from the Visual Vengeance collector's arm of Wild Eye Releasing with a new, director supervised SD master from original tapes in the original 1.33:1 fullscreen aspect ratio. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles. It looks and sounds pretty terrible, just like most of these scrappy SOV flicks, but that's what you expected, and that's what you get.
It's another stacked edition from Visual Vengeance, kicking off with a pair of brand new commentary tracks, first up is the Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and star Auggi Alvarez, the second is an Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and Visual Vengeance. We also get the Alternate VHS cut of Moonchild as originally released (89 min), and the archival 32-min Wolf Moon Rising: The Making of Moonchild documentary with Todd Sheets, actors Rod Will, Paul Van Dan Elzen, Dave Miller, Julie King, Kathleen McSweeney, Rebeckah Rose, Carol and Emmet, J.T. Taube, Make-Up FX Jeff Sisson, Cathy Metz, Jerry Angell, Tonia Monahan, John Anthony, Jennifer Geiger, which incorporates behind-the-scenes footage and local news channel coverage, plus footage of the score being made and editing of the film using the tried and true VCR to VCR process. Alog those lines we get 10-min of Archival Behind-The-Scenes Cast Interviews with actors Cathy Metz, Auggie Alvarez, Kathleen McSweeney, Rebecca Rose, Rod Will, Mark Newlan, Dave Miller. We also have the Original VHS Trailer (1 min), Original Deleted Ending (2 min), Music Video "Burn the Church" by Descension (4 min), Short Film: Sanguinary Desires (13 min)
plus Visual Vengeance Trailers for Heartland of Darkness (1 min), Violent New Breed (1 min), Zombie Rampage (1 min). The archival interviews are great, but I would have loved new interviews with the cast and crew to see what they're up to these days, and what they remember about the making of it.
This is a 2-disc set which features the CD Soundtrack, 12 songs coming in at just over an hour featuring music by Todd Sheets, Enochian Key, Matthew Jason Walsh, Jim Erwin and T.J. Erhardt; a mix of thrashy power metal, power ballads and score. This is pretty cool, I am not familiar with the bands, and these recordings are probably as rare as the underground film itself. I love the inclusion of CD soundtrack, I just wish somewhere in the sleeve or booklet that had included the track list.
The 2-disc BD/CD set arrives in a clear keepcase wit a sleeve of Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring the original VHS artwork plus a new illustration by Stemo Art that kicks some major ass. The Limited Edition Slipcover features artwork by The Dude Designs. Inside there's a Four Page Booklet with Liner the 'An American Werewolf in Kansas City' essay by Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs, which also features a unique artwork illustration, plus we get a Folded Mini-Poster
with the Stemo Art artwork, and the usual ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS Sticker Sheet.
Special Features:
- NEW! Director supervised SD master from original tapes
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and star Auggi Alvarez
- NEW! Audio Commentary with Director Todd Sheets and Visual Vengeance
- Includes the alternate VHS cut of Moonchild as originally released (89 min)
- Wolf Moon Rising: The Making of Moonchild documentary (32 Minutes)
- Archival Behind-The-Scenes Cast Interviews (10 min)
- Original VHS Trailer (1 min)
- Original Deleted Ending (2 min)
- Music Video "Burn the Church" by Descension (4 min)
- Short Film: Sanguinary Desires (13 min)
- Visual Vengeance Trailers: Heartland of Darkness (1 min), Violent New Breed (1 min), Zombie Rampage (1 min)
- Four Page Booklet with Liner notes by Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs
- Folded Mini-Poster
- ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS Sticker Sheet
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring original VHS Art
- Limited Edition Slipcase by The Dude Designs - First Pressing Only (While Supplies Last Only)
- Bonus Soundtrack CD (12 Tracks, 63 min)
Visual Vengeance continue to blow me away with their deluxe Collector's Edition releases, even when the actual films themselves do not, which is oftentimes the case with these regional shot-on-video oddities. Regardless, the stories behind the making of these passion projects is the main attraction here, and they've upped their game by including a CD soundtrack for the film, which I hope they continue with future releases.
Screenshots from the Visual Vengeance Blu-ray:
Extras:
