Die Säge des Todes - probably best known under the title BLOODY MOON - is Jess Franco's response and share to the popular trend of teen slasher films. This subgenre was merely founded by John Carpenter when he released Halloween and it reached his top in 1980, when Friday the 13th came out.
Jess Franco is, apart from being a very creativy filmmaker, also a pretty good marketeer because he immediately joined this trend and presented us : Die Säge des Todes. True, this movie is far from being the master of exploitation's finest achievement...but his fans certainly won't be disappointed and even horror fans and gorehounds in general won't mind watching this film.
Franco's style is clearly present in several aspects of the movie. The violence and nudity is shown very explicit and the murder scenes don't leave very much to the imagination. You need to have a pretty strong stomach and nerve-system to keep watching some of these massacres !! ( if you're interested in the most brutal decapitation ever shown in films ... this is your movie !! ). The acting performances are overall better than I feared and you forgive these actresses for their lack of experience. All of them are just so pretty and the scream in such realistic ways... I hope the leading actress was payed for each yell she gave, she must be a millionaire then. My highest praise concerning this movie goes out to the great use of atmospheric and creepy music. The theme and the sound effects provide the film with a bit of tension at least... The plot is not highly memorable.***SMALL SPOILERS *** It takes place in a Spanish language school which is being led by a middle-aged, fancy looking lady. Well, she leads it but all the money and decisions being made belong to the old aunt of her. Her brother, the horribly mutilated Miguél, just got released from a mental institution and since then ... terrifying murders are being commited. It's seems fairly obvious that Miguél isn't quite cured yet but is he really the murderer ?? *** END SPOILERS ***
Recommended to all kind of horror fans : Those who like exploitation stuff ( especially FRANCO exploitation-stuff ), fans of violent and bloody slasherfilms and even to the extreme gorehounds... Enjoy !
Jess Franco is, apart from being a very creativy filmmaker, also a pretty good marketeer because he immediately joined this trend and presented us : Die Säge des Todes. True, this movie is far from being the master of exploitation's finest achievement...but his fans certainly won't be disappointed and even horror fans and gorehounds in general won't mind watching this film.
Franco's style is clearly present in several aspects of the movie. The violence and nudity is shown very explicit and the murder scenes don't leave very much to the imagination. You need to have a pretty strong stomach and nerve-system to keep watching some of these massacres !! ( if you're interested in the most brutal decapitation ever shown in films ... this is your movie !! ). The acting performances are overall better than I feared and you forgive these actresses for their lack of experience. All of them are just so pretty and the scream in such realistic ways... I hope the leading actress was payed for each yell she gave, she must be a millionaire then. My highest praise concerning this movie goes out to the great use of atmospheric and creepy music. The theme and the sound effects provide the film with a bit of tension at least... The plot is not highly memorable.***SMALL SPOILERS *** It takes place in a Spanish language school which is being led by a middle-aged, fancy looking lady. Well, she leads it but all the money and decisions being made belong to the old aunt of her. Her brother, the horribly mutilated Miguél, just got released from a mental institution and since then ... terrifying murders are being commited. It's seems fairly obvious that Miguél isn't quite cured yet but is he really the murderer ?? *** END SPOILERS ***
Recommended to all kind of horror fans : Those who like exploitation stuff ( especially FRANCO exploitation-stuff ), fans of violent and bloody slasherfilms and even to the extreme gorehounds... Enjoy !