"VOODOO MOON"
DVD Review
by Rachel Buccicone
| MOVIE: * (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Eric Mabius as COLE Charisma Carpenter as HEATHER Rik Young as DANIEL Jeffrey Combs as FRANK TAGGERT Not Rated Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Directed by: Kevin VanHook Back to DVD Review Home |  |
Just when you thought it was safe to take a bath, your toddler attempts to toss a plugged-in radio in with you. Or so “Voodoo Moon” will have you believing. This is just one of the many absurd moments this film has to offer.
Cole (Eric Mabius) has a special gift: he can fight evil, also known as Daniel (Rik Young). Cole and Heather’s (Charisma Carpenter) parents were murdered when the siblings were young by some maniacs possessed by Daniel who took out most of their home town. Cole now does nothing but fight Daniel as he takes many forms, and Heather has joined him on his current mission to wipe out Daniel for good.
Heather has a knack for art with one setback: the scenes she draws predict horrible events. For some reason she has decided to join Cole in his endeavor along with the handful of “friends” Cole has telepathically summoned to join them.
The siblings travel back to their hometown which is now a lake. You see, the town flooded, and the area decided they needed a water source more than a town. No worries, though, Cole has a friend who owns a bed and breakfast. Thankfully, this friend, Mary-Ann (Dee Wallace) is graced with the power to heal the wounds Cole incurs every time one of his friends dies.
One-by-one each of Cole’s acquaintances arrives at the home and waits around for Cole’s instructions. While the group is waiting, Daniel knocks off Mary-Ann and befriends Heather. After luring her outside and toward the cornfield of death, Daniel is greeted by Cole who has jumped out of the window. What follows is a battle between Cole and his pals and Daniel and his army of undead who apparently reside in the cornfield.
If I didn’t explain it well enough, the story is ridiculous. The dialogue is poorly-written, the action is poorly conceived, and “horror” would be a poor description of this movie. The film’s attempt at fright is truly laughable, but not in a B-movie sort-of-way; in a we-really-meant-for-this-to-be-scary way. Now, Kevin VanHook (“Death Row”) wrote, produced, edited, and directed this monstrosity, so the blame resides with him.
Writing aside, best performance goes to Jeffrey Combs. The “Re-Animator” star takes the cake as an undead police detective who has arrived late to Cole’s gathering to fight evil. His performance reminds me of Vincent D’Onofrio’s alien-possessed farmer in “Men in Black”. Needless to say: awesome.
To top it off, the film’s effects were pretty bad. Crow puppets and CGI flames just didn’t do it for me, but nice try.
The DVD has plenty to rave about: two featurettes on the making of and the stunt work, deleted scenes, photo gallery, trailer, and the screenplay on DVD-ROM. If only good movies came with such DVD features.
If you are looking for a good laugh, go ahead a rent “Voodoo Moon”, but don’t dare buy it…unless you’re working on your Jeffrey Combs collection.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.78:1). English Language Track.
