The Movie Sleuth had a chance to check out an early screener of Dark Moon Rising.
There's not a whole lot you can do with horror flicks in the
way of story fluff so, as a bit of a precautionary measure, special FX guys
really work for their buck. The intro to any movie is just that, an intro. It's a first impression but if done
incorrectly could ruin the rest of the experience for the viewer. Fortunately however, Dark Moon Rising
does just the opposite, and hooks the viewer in before ever reaching any
story line.
Dark Moon Rising is the 2015 vision from Justin Price,
who also wrote and co-starred in the film himself. It deals with a run of the mill werewolf
storyline – shapeshifting werewolves, small town, and Eric Roberts, who completely
steals the show with all of his three scenes. The werewolves are in search of a
girl who is reborn every 2,000 years and just so happens to be living in the
same sleepy town. The entire sub-visual is kind of a mixture, almost a late '90s-type looking cast but with a darker, more True Blood feel.
With a slew of forces possibly against this film, and taking
the devilishly good soundtrack along with it, it's not what you'd expect when
sitting down to watch a teen werewolf flick. The writing at times goes deeper
than on the surface and has a legitimate and vulnerable storyline that grabs
the viewer with efficacy and proves that it's not just another notch in its own
trope genre. The supporting cast knows what the need to bring to really
complete this film and they do it flawlessly. A great storyline mixed with a
more lighthearted approach to editing (by its own industry standards) makes it
light and fun, while still delivering a hybrid of drama, comedy and endless
puns.
Overall, my rating for Dark Moon Rising is logically a
6 but theoretically a 7. It maintains a steady hold on those watching but can
definitely loosen the grip a little to pave way for some quippy one-liners and
covers all the bases of a werewolf franchise in the making. A good, solid story
with quintessential special effects that add finishing touches to an otherwise
pretty good movie. Overall score, 7.
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Like this? Please share.
-Sarah Shafer