Half Moon

I have to admit that it’s a nice surprise to find a low budget horror film that actually seems to have the same idea I always say these types of movies SHOULD have, and that is to focus on what you have and can do and not what you cannot do. Too many indie horror films try to shoot for the stars when they don’t have the budget for it and in the end they look foolish. Movies are successful when they understand their limitations and what they can accomplish with their funding. It is ingenuity and skill that will make up what the budget cannot afford, and Half Moon seems to understand that. Well, until the end, that is.

In Half Moon we have the story of a young hooker who ‘borrows’ a regular client of another girl for the night after and finds out she has signed on for more than she bargained for. The lure of money leads her away from where her pimp has any power so she knows this has to be a big, easy score. What she finds though is not what she had been expecting. Waiting for her in the motel room is a well spoken man who is more interested in getting to know the girl than he is the sex. He has dinner ready for her, has wine, and wants to know about her, and who she is, something the girl is unused to. The night becomes a sort of date between the two and all is going well until the girl’s greed gets the better of her and she starts to snoop into a bag the man has in the bathroom. Finding supplies that look like they might be for a kidnapping, the girl knocks her client unconscious and calls her pimp who, despite his anger at her, wants the money in the john’s safe as much as she does. What the two of them don’t know though is that the man was once bitten by something and since that bite has slowly becoming less and less human. The money in the safe is to pay for the last treatment that will cure the man. As time slips away it falls to the young prostitute to decide whether she will remain true to the man that uses and abuses her or will take a chance on the one man that was kind to her, and her choice will mean life or death because the moon has risen, and the wolf is fast approaching.

This is a really solid film. Instead of relying on cheap special effects we have a pretty well acted character piece and the two leads are very good in their roles. There are some corny moments but overall it’s pretty solid. I appreciated that they didn’t even really focus on the horror of the film until near the end. As well made as the film is there are some unfortunate bumps along the way. Awkward sound issues, some awful shots of a digital moon, and a horrible ending really keep this from being not just decent but very good. It’s hard to fault the filmmakers completely though because they did a very good job otherwise. I truly applaud them for staying within a budget and making an effective film with it. Not at all what I expected.

While there are some issues it’s still worth a look and shows some real talent from the cast and crew. Let’s hope that this is just the first step in a long career.

6 out of 10