Too much of everything

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"The Burning Moon" is a German film from 1992 and first of all it needs to be said that the runtime here on IMDb is not correct at 86 minutes because this one goes on for another roughly 10 minutes, so makes it past the 90 minute mark. The writer and director is Olaf Ittenbach (his second film and he was still in his 20s when he made it), one of the most known German horror filmmakers, especially when it comes to gore. The reason for this may not be his talent with horror, but probably his talent with comedy. His works usually put a smile on your lips occasionally because of how absurd and very much over the top they are and this one here is no exception. And lets be honest, it is a bit of an achievement if somebody makes a film like this and I as an audience member do not feel for the characters brutally slaughtered in here, but instead hope there will be as much blood as possible.So from that perspective, this film was a success I guess. But then there is also the component of the plot and story-telling and this is where this movie here disappoints about as much as most other of these very graphic horror films from the likes of Ittenbach. In the first half, there is still a bit of a story and that's also why I easily preferred the first 45 minutes. A woman has a blind date, but runs into a lunatic mass murderer afterward who keeps killing everybody that crosses his path. Can she make it out alive? Watch for yourself. And maybe switch off afterward as the second 45 minutes after a clean break is about a completely different story, so you can maybe say it is two films in one. All in all, I cannot say this was good enough to let me recommend it, maybe if it had stayed as good as the first half. Watch something else instead.

I have given this 9 out of 10 for purely the gore effects alone. The rest of the film is weak but for all the gore hounds out (myself included) it is a serious assault on the senses so don't watch this with your female partner as you will be single by the end of the film as most of the serious stuff is at the end.Believe me the effects are very very good, so good in fact that a rumour existed that this was not special effects ! but if you can find it (almost impossible here in the UK) then make up your own mind but be warned its hard viewing. I have only seen it in the original German language and I am not sure if it has even got a DVD release but I may be wrong (I am searching now).

An early ultra-splatter effort from German gore-fiend Olaf Ittenbach, The Burning Moon is very low-budget, shot-on-video, extremely violent, and, therefore, not likely to appeal to a mainstream audience. However, if you're a fan of underground horror, and love blood 'n' guts to be splashed all over the screen, then this is one to add to your 'must-see' list.The film starts rather slowly, following a teenage oik as he wastes his day attending an interview for a job (that he has no intention of doing), and taking part in a gang fight. At the end of his 'busy' day, he comes home, shoots up with heroin, and settles down to read his little sister a couple of bed-time stories that only a violent junkie would consider suitable.So far, so 'ho-hum'. But then things start to get good.Story number one is 'Julia's Love', in which a young woman unknowingly falls for an escaped homicidal lunatic. When she hears a news report about the maniac on the radio (whilst sat in a car, waiting for her new boyfriend), she realises the awful truth and runs away. Unfortunately, she has left her purse in the car, and it contains her address...'Julia's Love' has a no-nonsense plot which means that Ittenbach can cut to the chase, and get on with delivering maximum nastiness ASAP. The psycho's escape at the beginning of the tale is fairly bloody, but pales in comparison to the gory delights towards the end, when he tracks down his girl and slaughters her family: heads roll, fingers and limbs are chopped off, bodies are burnt, and blood gushes. Great fun!The second tale, 'The Purity', manages to push the depravity even further, starting as it means to go on with the rape and murder of a girl.... by a vicar! It transpires that the bible-thumping pillar of society is actually a secret Satanist, who enjoys the odd spot of killing in-between sermons. The locals are understandably annoyed by the fact that their population is rapidly dwindling, and decide on a spot of vigilantism; unfortunately, they blame the wrong person—a simple farmhand. At this point the plot becomes slightly muddled, as the vicar commits suicide, the angry rabble pay to have the farmhand murdered, and the hired killer is given a personal tour of hell.However, with absolutely tons of impressive effects and OTT violence packed into this segment, one can easily forgive the fact that the narrative goes a little awry. Ittenbach and his crew ladle on the grue, delivering some very nasty deaths, which include several shootings, a pitchfork attack, a throat slashing, a prolonged sequence in which the damned are seen tearing each other apart, and a show-stopping moment when a man is ripped completely in half.By the time junkie-boy has finished his terrifying tales, his sister is dead to the world. And I mean that quite literally—her scag-head brother has stabbed her in the chest! Realising what he has done, he takes a knife to his wrist. And nobody lives happily ever after. The End.

If you are looking for gore, guts, murder, rape, brutality, satanism and lots of blood, this is the movie for you. It makes me wonder if Evil Dead is really the best of them all...(but I know it is). Don't miss it, if you want spend a nice bloody weekend this is the one.