Warlock Moon (1973) User Reviews

"It's an old family recipe. I call it hunters' stew."

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 4 March 2017]

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.

I was at the premiere...

[jimtinder · 5/10 · 11 February 2007]

"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.

An interesting obscurity!

[Greensleeves · 5/10 · 31 May 2003]

This appears to be the only film Bill Herbert made which is a great pity as it shows a lot of promise. He wrote, produced and directed this thriller about a naive young student Jenny (Laurie Walters) who allows herself to be picked up by journalist John (Joe Spano). On a picnic date they find themselves at an abandoned health spa where the only occupant is a kind grey haired old lady Agnes (Edna MaCafee). However, nothing is what it seems and soon Laurie is in mortal danger. The two leads are excellent in this hodgepodge of witchcraft, cannibalism and axe wielding maniacs. The photography helps along the spooky atmosphere immensely and the editing is excellent. Unfortunately the bad points outweigh the good ones, the script is muddled, the music score is all over the place and the actress playing the old lady over does it dreadfully. It is much to the credit of Bill Herbert that he manages to create an atmosphere of nightmarish uncertainty despite the obvious constraints of a very low budget.

Modest, but curiously diverting horror item.

[EyeAskance · 19 February 2006]

A young woman is taken for a long scenic drive by a new male friend. As the day grows shorter, they happen upon a seemingly condemned resort which turns out to be occupied by a strange, but welcoming, beldame. The young couple agrees to stay there overnight, and learn the horrible history of the old spa...as the woman's story has it, the resort was once a relaxation retreat for the world's elite and powerful, but was closed down after several sacrificial ritual murders committed by a group of Devil-worshipers. Well...predictably, there is similar carnage in store for the new guests, little of which registers as entirely interesting or especially horrifying.

WARLOCK MOON opens with a pretty strong scene, but the promise of a movie as good as that is sadly quashed by a marginal story which is paced poorly and never really gets off the ground. Still, it's mighty quirky in a weird low-budget way which may well appease fans of obscure flyball horror flicks.

5/10...perhaps not a classic, but a worthy watch on late-night television.

Local Favorite...

[arion1 · 2/10 · 26 April 2003]

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.

70's oddity

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 4 March 2019]

I always try to think about what movies I'd show together if I did a theme night at a theater. Warlock Moon is the kind of 1970's weirdness that would pair well with 1972's Terror House, a cannibal comedy that predates The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for its depiction of a family that eats human beings together.

You may know Laurie Walters from Eight Is Enough, but around here, she's a bit more celebrated for being in the 1972 made-for-TV movie The People, which also has Kim Darby and an incredulous William Shatner, shocked that kids can fly. Here, she plays Jenny Macallister, a college student who follows John Devers, a journalist played by Joe Spano (who is probably known to TV lovers as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues and FBI Special Agent Tobias C. Fornell on NCIS), to a strange house in the countryside that seems to appear and disappear.

Shot under the title Devil's Feast, this movie was lensed at the Soda Spring Spa, which was originally the Arroyo Del Valle Sanatorium, a treatment center for tuberculosis, which had been vacant for an entire decade before the movie was filmed.

Interestingly enough, on the Media Blasters DVD, Joe Bob Briggs claims that Tobe Hooper caught wind of the movie while he was finalizing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and he made a special trip to California fearing that the movies were too similar. They may be story-wise, but the tone is wildly different.

This is the kind of movie where not much happens until the last few minutes, as it all feels trapped in a hazy '70s drug world. That's not a bad thing, but it's also not the kind of pace that most people today are able to get into. For those that love it, this is exactly what you're looking for. For example, this is the kind of movie that Rob Zombie has tried to make around ten times.

Oddball low-budget 70's ... "thing"

[Coventry · 5/10 · 19 November 2007]

"Warlock Moon" is a very strange and unique movie. Certainly not David Lynch strange or Alexandro Jodorowsky unique, mind you, but the plot enfolds itself so extremely unusual! Yet for some reason you unconsciously accept what's going on, even though it makes little sense, because you're somewhat curious and intrigued. The two main characters make each their acquaintance rather … exceptionally, to say the least. She's a student and he's a tacky newspaper reporter who sneaks up on her, wearing a fake mustache and ridiculous goggles, and insists that she goes picnicking with him. Odd … but effective apparently, because the naive girl falls for it and a couple of days later they head out to the countryside together. They end up in a ramshackle old spa where they get a tour from an uncanny albeit friendly lady. Yet another few days later, the spa is totally abandoned and a hunter tells the girl about the morbid past of the place. But then when the boy pops up, the old lady returns as well. And so does a guy wielding an axe. What the hell? Following the good old clichés of the horror genre, one thing's for sure: the girl just learned about deviant patterns in school, like incest and cannibalism, so they sure as hell going to encounter some of that! "Warlock Moon" isn't a very good occult horror film, but I inexplicably appreciated it, and there are still a few things to recommend to fans of low-budget drive-in movies. The film features that typically 70's atmosphere, you know? Anything can happen, even the most absurd plot twists appear to be very normal and the most likable characters can get killed off at any second. The plot is mysterious enough and even a bit compelling, but the film is unfortunately also very slow-moving and uneventful. And then I'm not even mentioning the awfully redundant and head-scratching empty swimming pool sequence. That was the second "what the hell" moment already! Around the hour, the whole thing just gets too weird and you'll wonder where the hell they're going with it, but still I'd encourage people to see it, as there are a few neat twists in the end. "Warlock Moon" is the only film (at least, that I've seen) that uses freeze-frame shots during the actual film. We've seen a lot of movies end in a freeze-frame, but this crazy flick has several throughout the film and for no apparent reason other than the lack of budgetary means. Well, those are the 70's for you, any weirdo with a typewriter and a demented idea for a horror movie could raise a handful of dollars to actually make it. And there are plenty of punks, myself included, that make it their life's mission to hunt all this obscure junk down.

Underrated 1970s horror film

[Jimmy_the_Gent4 · 7/10 · 17 January 2018]

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!

For 70s Film Buffs Only -- Everyone else, Pass

[goods116 · 5/10 · 18 January 2011]

If you like those low budget, atmospheric, bell-bottom heavy 1970s films, if you like creepy films, then take a look at this, otherwise, it is simply not worth your time. The settings, some of the characters and some of the events are well done, but much of the movie is not interesting at all. The actions of the girls are also quite annoying at time, she is simply dumb. Why do so many horror movies rely on really stupid and unexplainable actions by its victims (example below after the spoiler warning)? The ending added a little spice. Reasonable low budgeter.

(SPOILER: the girl tells the guy she is dating that she called his office and they said no one heard of him. She accepts his lame excuse without question, and then agrees to go with him again to a place which creeped her our last time)

Should Have Been A Classic!

[Steve_Nyland · 7/10 · 1 March 2010]

WARLOCK MOON is one of the overlooked little classics of the American horror film's fascination with witchcraft & satanic covens that spawned dozens of adventuresome, low budget films that became staples of cult cinema: RACE WITH THE DEVIL, THE DEVIL'S RAIN, BLOOD SABBATH, NECROMANCY, ENTER THE DEVIL, WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, "Brotherhood Of Satan", etc. Europe had its vampires & werewolves, but the satanic witch covens seemed to be a predominantly American fad, and if the production of this gem had not lead up the blind alley that it infamously went it would have been regarded as a classic of the form.

This time out we meet a perky, cheerful young college coed played by "Eight Is Enough" actress Laurie Walters, who spends the first half of the film wearing a skin-tight sheer blouse that looks painted on with nary a coconut brassiere in sight. If girls dressed like that nowadays we might not have had time for the War On Terror at all let alone going to Mars. I mention her attire only because the first time through her chest was the sole focus of my attention for her entire duration on screen, resulting in my missing a delirious little nightmare of a world that the filmmakers contrived out of next to nothing.

The key feature is the beguiling location they utilized to shoot the bulk of the film: A dilapidated, creepy, run down, unwholesome looking unused health spa out in the middle of nowhere. The place is a marvel of decay, gloom, and Gothic menace worthy of a Euro Horror castle with its misty passageways & cobweb infested dungeons. Only this time its a huge, maze like series of interconnected structures that used to serve as a health resort. The walls are all falling down, the doors half off their hinges, discarded rubbish, broken glass, and household oddments litter the empty, twisting hallways that go nowhere other than claustrophobic little rooms. Some of them have padlocked meat lockers, some have cabalistic symbols drawn on the floor, and the whole setting is something right out of a nightmare.

The story concerns Ms. Walters being smooth talked by a young guy claiming to be a newspaper photographer to accompany him on a semi-romantic picnic in the country. Played by "Hill Street Blues" favorite Joe Spano, the guy comes off as charming & professional, and even though she called the newspaper looking for him and they had never heard his name before, she agrees, and he takes her to see the old spa first. There they encounter a dear little old tottering lady, living alone in a small furnished room where she makes tea and sandwiches and quickly ingratiates herself onto the young couple. The young lady gets lost in the maze of passageways, encounters ghostly figures and bizarre occurrences that the others have a hard time believing.

That's about all I want to say about the plot, which contain just as many twists, empty rooms, and unexpected ends as the spa location itself. To ruin any of the fun would be unthinkable, though it should be added that there are aspects of the movie that might strike some as shortcomings, the most important being the actress playing the elderly woman. Yes she overacts and hams it up, but I would argue that it is exactly what the film required and that she created a memorable character.

And in fact I'd say that one of the film's strengths is how it plays up this idea of forced politeness when confronted with someone so unrelentingly creepy. The social pressure to be polite in situations where things seem a bit odd is something we have all had to endure. One can sympathize with the young woman's natural urge to want to be nice to the lady, and the film does a marvelous job of taking that idea to an almost surreal barrage of increasingly creepy behavior that eventually pushes the girl over the brink in the film's most ingenious scene.

The film is ultimately perhaps more tightly written than its execution might suggest, and filled with startling little touches like the two berserk guys running around with axes, a theme involving cannibalism, some eye popping still frame photography and an unrelenting atmosphere of claustrophobia. The double twist ending is also fun, with the film ending on a decidedly downbeat paranoid 70s note that seems to have predominated in the form. Fans of the genre will be very pleased, and the background of how the movie came to be is even just as fascinating if not more.

7/10

Silly and somewhat tedious

[Gafke · 1/10 · 23 August 2004]

A young college girl in hideous red bell bottoms (Laurie Walters, who bears an odd resemblance to Gillian Anderson), agrees to accompany the creepy geek

who'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 course

to 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 old

house in her nightgown, the plot seems to have been made up as the film went

along 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 by

Joe Bob Briggs makes this snoozefest an enjoyable experience with some

interesting trivia and some much needed sarcasm.

Released before "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" it's hard to believe that Tobe

Hooper was ever worried about the competition. 1 star and a big yawn for

Warlock Moon.

I helped make this movie - it was initially for only $25,000

[dls-26 · 10/10 · 19 April 2006]

My friend Rand Herbert (Bill's brother) and I were in charge of special effects, make-up, sets and general grunt work for this movie, which Bill financed by scraping up the 25K from family and friends (like me) when Bill was at Cal, Berkeley. Considering the budget we had to work with - even in 1972 when most of the movie was shot, I'd say we did a reasonably good job. Rand and I use a variety of aliases for our jobs - as did Bill. My favorites were Jeff D. Dodat and Don U. Dodat ("did you have to do that?" and "Dont you do that" - shades of the Car Guys)

We especially liked that we had a "false" ending (in 1972 - pre-Brian DePalma)- and that the movie continued through the credits. We were trying to get people to stay for the credits). We liked the scene where the axe-man looms behind the glass door then crashes through it.

It's true that Edna McAfee played the role a little over-the-top, buts just what we wanted - this wasn't Shakespeare after all. Did anyone recognize the "Hunter"? Harry Bauerr was also in Woody Allen's "Take the Money and Run".

We all had visions of eventually working in Hollywood, but after small company in LA "bought" the movie at interlock stage and invested another $75 grand to reshoot a few scenes, score it, blow it up to 35mm and (unfortunately) re title it, it went nowhere.

For REAL trivia buffs - one of the titles we originally wanted was (for a movie that depended on cannibalism as a theme) "The Last Supper". This - of course - was vetoed by the folks in LA.

As I understand it, the principal of that small company was murdered - there was talk of mob hits and all that. The company immediately went bankrupt and the negative for our film was held hostage as collateral for the company's debts by the film processing company.

It took several years of negotiation to "free" our film by which time we were all so disgusted with the whole deal we had each gone our separate ways. Bill sold the now completed film to a film syndicator, which is why you only see the film on late night TV. Other than the "premier" in Livermore where it was shot, and a few test runs in drive-ins in Spokane and somewhere in Georgia, thats the only place its ever been seen. It was "designed" as a drive-in" movie actually - somewhat scary scenes to have your girlfriend want to snuggle - no complicated plot to interfere with the smooching.

Bill went on to a career in real estate, I went to law school after having spent much of the 1970s in Africa and the Middle east and South Asia, some of it with Rand and his then girlfriend, now wife. Rand owns a historical research company in Davis.

Glad to see this film got some sort of cult status eventually.

My absolute favorite story about this film is, when i was working for Thelton Henderson at U.S. District Court in San Francisco, he pointed out a story in the SF Chronicle that two prisoners were suing a local TV station for cruel and unusual punishment for having switched their listed playing of "California Split" on late night TV for a showing of "Warlock Moon". I am conflicted about whether they should have won or lost that suit.

Enjoy the film folks.

Quite good!

[berg-74532 · 7/10 · 3 June 2020]

Thank god Joe Spano found his niche as cop, sidekick because he was not meant to be a heartthrob leading man. It took me awhile (without looking) to figure out who the girl was and considering I was to young to watch 8 is Enough I'm not sure how I recognized her. The movie is far better than I expected and think a 7 is an accurate level for this movie. I understand to a point why someone would give it a lower score but what were you expecting going in. Solid acting, good creep factor and I really liked the unconventional jump scares. Typical horror movie mistakes but one thing that was off for me was how quickly Jenny got over the things that she see's. I realize that that needs to happen to continue the storyline and it was just slightly to quick for me. I used to avoid 70's and 80's horror movies but it's interesting to see that this period for what it is, a stepping stone. It shows the transition from mostly implied violence to the blood baths we have today. If you except this movie for what it is and don't compare it to now you'll enjoy it, take your jaded modern critical eye hat and put it aside and that will make all the difference. One more thing wait till after the movie to look at the extras on this movie, especially the quotes because this movie has one of my favorite lines in a movie ever and it's better to see it cold. I have to admit that that line alone moved it from 6 to 7 stars.

PLEASE DON'T SCARE ME

[nogodnomasters · 1/10 · 25 June 2019]

The good news is that there is a Joe Bob Briggs commentary at the beginning of the film. The bad news is that without it, the movie isn't worth watching. The movie starts out talking about deviant behavior such as incest, cannibalism, and homosexuality. (Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.) Joe Spano, plays John, a colorful character who role plays and does bad accents (This is the good part of the film.) He ends up taking his gf to an abandon spa that still has old Mrs. Abercrombi still living there...or is she?

The movie includes a couple of ax murderers, some bad camera angles, and near zero special gore effects. It certainly has potential as a Rob Zombie remake and it could be done rather cheaply and done well also. Sorry, but this is not a cult classic or drive-in classic.

No f-bombs. No sex. No nudity. Laurie Walters does show a lot of leg in one scene after an attack. Was that an upskirt?

comments for great film

[goodvibe-1 · 17 June 2004]

I saw this one on late night in the 70's and was absolutely creeped out! I knew I was in for another one of those low-budget cranks...but this is one I remembered and taped off of late night about 9 years ago just so I could have it. I absolutely agree that the director should have at least made one more film like it...heck, maybe not even a horror film at that. Perhaps an action flick or even more innovative for it's time would have been for him to make a post-apocalyptic film which very well could have been a percursor to Mad Max, or even the slew of like films apparently shot in Italy in the early 80's (??)

Definitely could have been better microphone placement, that's my only complaint. Warlock Moon is one of my all-time favs! I like the plot twists too. I remember it kind of took me out there after the middle of Act I and spun it off somewhere I didn't quite expect.

And what a wallop of an ending!!

California Axe Massacre: The History of Warlock Moon

[Tromafreak · 5/10 · 8 May 2009]

Warlock shmorlock!! The Warlocks never showed up. Come to think of it, neither did the moon. Can't say I'm surprised. Despite the unfitting, yet semi-cool title, I just love these ultra-obscure 70's slashers, like The Night God Screamed. They always manage to capture the essence of horror perfectly, without even trying. Also known as Bloody Spa, Warlock Moon is a cross between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hansel and Gretel. About some girl (Laurie Walters from 8 is enough fame) who meets some guy (Joe Spano from other stuff) who thinks he's really good at European accents (like Mike Myers). Some girl agrees, which is strangely enough for some guy to win her over. After a quaint little picnic, the new lovebirds drive out to an abandoned health spa, out in the middle of nowhere, which, in itself is kinda weird. There, they meet some old woman, who's just a bit too friendly to be trustworthy. A few days later, The lovebirds return (why, I don't know) to the spa. This time, their visit doesn't go as planned, although, who the hell knows what they had planned? As far as what actually happens, something about Witchcraft, cannibalism... and an axe, it gets more confusing as the movie progresses, but whatever happens is definitely worth sitting through. As far as unknown 70's horror gems go, this one is hardly the best, but not nearly the worst. Despite zero character development, and some rather awkward acting, Warlock Moon turns out to be some very decent, interesting horror, low-budget or not. A nice location, plot-holes for mystery, some twists, and an all-around Gothic feel. Besides that, your pal and mine, Joe Bob Briggs offers us yet another entertaining, and informative audio commentary track, courtesy of Shriek Show, and that alone makes it all worth it, regardless the movie. Unfortunately, only those who specifically search for that next B-classic would give this one a chance, I suppose, that's all apart of the charm. Recommend it to anyone who can spot quality horror in bad cinema. 7/10

Micro budget horror

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 29 May 2021]

WARLOCK MOON (1973, aka BLOODY SPA, THE DEVIL'S FEAST) is a micro-budgeted US horror shot in California. The story concerns university student Jenny, who is befriended by kooky fellow student John (whose methods of courtship amount more to harassment these days). The pair head off for a romantic trip to an abandoned spa (!) and strike up a friendship with an eccentric old lady living there who likes nothing more than preparing them food and drink...

A strange little film, this one, cheap and tawdry but not without interesting plot ingredients: spectral ghosts, cannibalism and hillbilly axe murderers all feature here, albeit briefly as the majority of the running time is made up of mildly tedious chat between dullish figures. The characters are thinly-sketched and the horror elements are few and far between, although one fine shot of a spectral bride floating down a walkway reminded me of LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH. The plot is not entirely dissimilar to that of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, which caused Tobe Hooper to attend a screening during the making of his classic to ensure the similarities weren't too great. The ending is fun and the location workable. Not a great film, but genre fans will find elements of interest in this one.

Would have been a Drive-in classic if not for the pacing problems.

[lemon_magic · 5/10 · 25 July 2016]

In spite of its poverty row feel, there's a lot to like about "Warlock Moon". Unfortunately, there's not *enough* to like, and the results are mediocre at best.

In its favor: For a movie with such a tiny budget, the crew does a fine job of making every dollar count. The "Old Dark House" that serves as background for 80% of the story was a good choice. It provided a lot of atmosphere and gravitas to the proceedings (which I am sure was part of the director's overall plan.)

Also in its favor: the cast does a fair job within the limits of their collective talent. No one stinks on ice as often happens when something like this hits the screen. The lead actress who carries the film is blandly pretty and not especially charismatic. But she's a real actress; you can see what the character is thinking most of the time (as opposed to just emitting an attitude, which is much easier). So I give her credit for a nuanced performance of a 2 dimensional role.

There are echoes of "The Old Dark House", "Don't Look In The Basement",and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in the story. But all those stories have a lot more going on than this movie does. "Warlock Moon" is threadbare by comparison to those classics. This was odd, because there were all kinds of plot elements (the "ghost bride", the echoes of "Deja Vu",inexplicable blooming of the dead flowers, etc.) that could have been expanded in an entertaining way.

So the real problem is that the movie drags in too many spots because the screenplay is trying to pad out the minimalist story elements long enough to set things up for the climax for a movie length story. Nothing happens...a *lot*; there is too much dead air between lines of dialog, and too much of the dialog is nothing more than serviceable.

This is the other problem with really low budget movies - they often don't have the time or ability to come up with alternate or better takes of scenes; the directors tend to fall in love with their shots and compositions because there's nobody around to say, "Nope, this can be done better". So there's no time (or budget) to go back and punch things up with snappier takes and more plot points, etc.

You get the feeling that with a little more professional story telling and editing, this movie would have impressive, if still not a classic.

Also I didn't care for the double twist "downer" ending, which seemed to be thrown in just for meanness' sake. I would have rated the movie higher if they'd left well enough alone with the first "twist".

I found this on YouTube on a forum member's recommendation, and it was worth watching once. That's more than I can say for a lot of movies of this caliber.

Makes no sense but it's fun

[ebeckstr-1 · 6/10 · 4 July 2021]

Atmospheric, ultra-ultra low budget early 70s horror flick. The script makes absolutely no sense but it is nonetheless a fun and sometimes atmospheric ride, especially if you are a fan of drive-In horror from that era.

Overlooked B-Movie Gem

[VinnieRattolle · 8/10 · 25 May 2011]

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.

A nice'n'spooky low-budget 70's drive-in horror flick

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 6 June 2006]

Spunky college student Jenny (a breezy and engaging performance by the pretty Laurie Walters, who also popped up in "The Harrad Experiment" around the same time and later became a regular on the fluffy 70's sitcom "Eight Is Enough") and goofy aspiring newspaper reporter John (winningly played by Joe Spano, who went on to become a prominent cast member of the gritty 80's police TV drama "Hill Street Blues) take a road trip across the California countryside and discover an old, abandoned and decrepit health spa during their travels. They also meet and befriend nice elderly lady Agnes Abercrombie (a pleasingly lively turn by wizened old crone Edna Macafee). Moreover, our young couple discover much to their dismay that rumors of the old spa being a front for a crazed cannibal cult aren't nearly as far-fetched as they initially thought.

Director William Herbert elicits uniformly solid acting from the entire cast (Walters and Spano in particular are very likable and impressive), keeps the pace bumping along at a steady clip, stages the shock scenes with a reasonable amount of flair, and effectively creates an eerie, mysterious and unnerving creeped-out atmosphere that's both strangely compelling and oddly unsettling in comparable measure. Charles R. Blaker's funky score neatly alternates between groovy'n'jazzy lounge tunes and more typically shivery'n'shuddery "scary" music. Larry Secrest's grainy, unpolished cinematography gives the film an appealingly rough'n'ragged look while making artful use of such fancy flourishes as dissolves, freeze frames and slow motion. John Sykes' well-plotted script offers an intriguing set-up, a few dandy surprise twists, and a truly horrific climax. Excellent quintessentially 70's downbeat nihilistic ending, too. A bit slow, static and talky in spots, but overall a genuinely spooky and satisfying little fright film sleeper.

I love this movie!!!!!

[stevenw-1 · 22 May 2009]

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

A rare classic

[GOWBTW · 8/10 · 28 June 2020]

A rare type of film is overlooked and underappreciated. This movie is one of them. "Warlock Moon", is about a student who discovers an abandoned spa with a lot of mysteries yet to be solved. It's owner is an old lady. And more characters are appearing on site. An hunter. Two men with axes. And a woman in a white dress. She sees a door with a padlock, which spurred her curiousity. The only person who can help her is the woman in white. This low budget film is a true horror movie. Joe Spano before "The Enforcer" and "Hill Street Blues" played John, an newspaper writer and secret cannibal! Laurie Walters plays both Jenny and the mystery woman in white. This movie needs to be watched and appreciated. 2 out of 5 stars

Spa Treatment...

[azathothpwiggins · 14 September 2020]

WARLOCK MOON opens with Jenny and John (Laurie Walters and Joe Spano) going for a drive, and winding up at a seemingly abandoned old spa. They are greeted by a nice old woman named Agnes (Edna MacAfee), who makes them some nice tea.

Uh oh!

Edna's been slipping something extra into the brew, and the young couple soon find themselves in a nightmare involving sharp axes, and the crazed, hippie cultists who wield them!

The plot stops, starts, and meanders quite a bit, but has its moments. Spano's character spends much of his screen time being "funny" in a rubber crutch sort of way. The twist toward the end isn't a big surprise, but it does make the story a lot more enjoyable.

In summation, don't drink the tea, and for God's sake, don't eat the food!...

Like wine: it improves with age.

[dariobillani · 8/10 · 25 June 2022]

Very interesting and almost lost film. One of those rarities that become jewels over time. A more than interesting script that mixes murderous cannibals with a ghost story that takes place in the background of the story. The actress who plays the "caretaker" of the abandoned spas has a superb performance that, inevitably, leads us to associate her with Bette Davis. If they find it, it is to see it and have it at home.