Warlock Moon (1973)

A Disappointing Continuation

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Jenny, a college student meets John, a cub reporter and together they find horror at an abandoned spa.Like many others, I discovered this on late night TV when WOR in New York showed low budget and forgotten horror films. This is low on gore but great on atmosphere and shocking twists. Laurie Walters (later on Eight Is Enough) and Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues) are likable as the couple. Edna Macafee is creepy as the initially kind old woman they meet. She is the kind of scary old hag you may see in other films of the time like "Lemora-The Lady Dracula" and "Don't Look In The Basement". The low budget and grainy photography, so prevalent in early 1970s horror are great assets in this film. This also touches on subjects such as Satanism, cannibalism and ghosts. Other similar films are the well known "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the lesser know "Terror At Red Wolf Inn".Don't miss this one if you like these type of films, the ending is a shocker!

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

"Warlock Moon" offered B-movie suspense, coupled with a small budget. The film was made in my hometown of Livermore, CA in 1972, but was held from release until 1975 because of reasons already commented upon by another poster.The premiere was held at the Vine Cinema in Livermore. As I recall, the theater was packed with teens, mostly from the two high schools in town (Livermore and Granada). It was on a double bill with "The Other." Girls screamed in horror throughout the film, although in hindsight the film had little horror. One teen got tired of the screaming, and told the audience to shut up, which brought some laughs.It was interesting to see scenes of Livermore on the screen...the public library, the abandoned TB center, the old Vineyard shopping center. If you grew up in Livermore in the 70s, you might remember this little film.

A young college girl in hideous red bell bottoms (Laurie Walters, who bears an odd resemblance to Gillian Anderson), agrees to accompany the creepy geekwho's been hitting on her to a picnic in the countryside. The two come upon the site of an abandoned spa with a tragic history - it seems that a young girl was murdered there years ago on her wedding day and served as the main courseto the unsuspecting guests. Ew. But wait! The spa isn't as abandoned as it seems! A creepy old woman with a penchant for tea parties lives there still, and she's very eager to have the young couple join her...forever. Will our young heroine escape before dawn? Who cares?Okay, so there's no warlock, and no moon, but there is a ghost in a bridal gown, a couple of axe-wielding hippies and a lot of drugged beverages. However, none of it is enough to make this very entertaining or interesting. The camera follows Laurie as she slooooooooooooooowly wanders around the spooky oldhouse in her nightgown, the plot seems to have been made up as the film wentalong and even after the end credits stop rolling, the film keeps right on going! It refuses to end! Admittedly, the acting of both Laurie and Joe Spano as her geeky love interest isn't really bad at all, but they weren't given much to work with. There's some great shots of the Northern California Bay Area, including the small town of Livermore, where much of this was filmed. (I used to live there, it really is beautiful.) But, for the most part, this film plods along for a very long time and keeps plodding on until I finally got irritated with the final extended freeze frame and turned off the TV. Once again, the comedy commentary byJoe Bob Briggs makes this snoozefest an enjoyable experience with someinteresting trivia and some much needed sarcasm. Released before "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" it's hard to believe that TobeHooper was ever worried about the competition. 1 star and a big yawn forWarlock Moon.