Review: The Burning Moon (1992)
Directed by: Olaf Ittenbach
Starring: Olaf Ittenbach, Beate Neumeyer, Bernd Muggenthaler
Written by: Olaf Ittenbach
Music by: A.G. Striedl
Country: Germany
Available on: DVD (Intervision)
IMDb
I was in the mood for some dark, ultra-bloody nihilism, so I watched The Burning Moon (1992), a notorious shot-on-video gorefest from German special effects artist Olaf Ittenbach. The movie focuses on a violent, drug-addicted teen who, while on a particularly nasty downward spiral, is forced to babysit his kid sister, so he tells her a couple of depraved bedtime stories. This movie is sort of well-known in horror circles as one of the most extreme flicks in existence, at least in terms of gore. Because of the hype, I actually think it fell a little short in its delivery. There’s no shortage of blood whatsoever, but outside of a vision of Hell late in the movie that’s incredibly gruesome, this movie is about on par with stuff like Blood Rage (though that Hell scene is an absolute all-timer). But where The Burning Moon differentiates itself is in its unsettling lo-fi atmosphere. The gore is, for the most part, very realistic and on par with some of the best special effects in the genre, such as Tom Savini’s work in Day of the Dead, and when it’s shot on grainy video as it is here, it really nearly comes across as snuff. Despite the DIY aesthetic, this movie was obviously made by talented people. Outside of the special effects, the music is striking if a bit overly dramatic at times and the acting, while not professional in any sense, does seem passionate. Ittenbach has an eye for composition and drama, and effectively uses in-camera elements like color and fog to create mood that sticks. This is a vile piece of work — I mean that in the best possible way — that will leave you feeling pretty dirty and depressed afterwards, but it’s effective and I think offers something worthwhile beyond its viscera-laden trappings. Watch this as a double-feature with fellow German transgressive film Nekromantik if you really want to mess yourself up for a while.
Rating: 7 out of 10