It Be an Evil Moon (2023) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I have said it many times before, but werewolves are perhaps my least favourite type of monster. I find the notion of a human turning into a wolf not that exciting. The myths and legends of werewolves stretch back thousands of years, so that is more a me problem, but it always leads to me not really feeling keen about watching a werewolf film. It Be an Evil Moon is a comedy horror film set in northern England and Scotland, written and directed by Ben Etchells (in his feature length directorial debut) and points go to it for trying something a little different. However, the balance between horror and comedy isn't that well implemented, with this feeling almost like two seperate films.

Freddy (Ian Ray-White - Darkest Hour uncredited, The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead) is a cowardly loner who lives with his bed bound elderly mother (Sue Moore). Having been fired from his job at a lab, he makes a living by making drugs for a local crime boss (Rod Glenn - World War Z uncredited), while in his spare time he works on his passion project; a cure for baldness (a noble cause speaking from my own personal experience of this confidence draining malady!). His experiments using wolfsbane bring with it success, and so he uses it on himself with initial wonderous results. With his new found confidence he finally asks out the woman he has loved from afar, and with a newly found strength the serum also brought, he begins to get his revenge on all those in his life who have caused him so much misery. Unfortunately for him however, the positive effects of the serum also come with increasingly worse effects, and soon Freddy begins to grow huge claws on his hands, and develops a snout on his face. While not that upset with these new changes, he decides to head to a remote area of Scotland to live in peace, but the crime boss's psychotic chief enforcer (also played by Glenn) is hot on his heels, looking for revenge.

If this had stuck to being a comedy, or if this had played it straight as a horror, things would have gone better. The first half of the movie was front loaded with humour, some dark, while other humour more bizarre and surreal. An early highlight had the enforcer character throwing a guy off a bridge into the path of a speeding train, one example of the dark humour that hit. Elsewhere, the comedy is more surreal than funny, such as Freddy's mums obsession with bananas, and the man's frequent fantasy dreams in which he is dressed as a cut-price knight (complete with bubble wrap armour and wooden sword and shield). Freddy was a hard character to really like too much, he is a relatively innocent person in a world of horrid characters, but he is very strange, often talking to himself about how he is going to become 'Freddy, King of the World', and finding himself endlessly amusing. There was a slight feel of Suburban Commando of all things to his first half journey. Everyone in his life who causes him so much grief, from the local criminals, to his passive aggressive next-door neighbour are dealt with in various ways as Freddy comes into his own.

The second half becomes much more serious and even a little mean spirited. There are two characters who get treated very poorly by the film, despite them being the nicest most likeable characters to be found in it. I did think this whole section was good, after a meandering plot-less middle, the film pulled itself together for a satisfying finale. By this point the comedy was completely gone, making it feel an entirely different film. With the humour not landing too well for me, I came to really wish the whole movie had been as impactful as the later half.

For someone who doesn't like werewolf films, It Be an Evil Moon was enjoyable to watch. Freddy spends most the movie slowly transforming, with his change not requiring a full moon to be in effect. A slight Jekyll and Hyde feel to his change, but it was novel that the protagonist isn't really that fazed, perhaps due to not having any decent friends or loved ones to worry about. The effects used were not fantastic, but they served the purpose well, by the film's conclusion I though these effects had become a whole lot better. There is a bodycount, but nearly all the kills are shown just off camera, something that never really felt that good. There was one kill where blood is flying from off camera everywhere, that one did look decent. Worst effect has to be a flock of seagulls attacking Freddy in a comical scene, these looked very much CG, maybe for comedic effect, maybe due to budget constraints.
Often there was good cinematography, something that becomes more easier to achieve once the story moves to beautiful looking remote areas of Scottish countryside. My favourite shot was one that was looking down at a puddle on the ground, with the reflection of a character showing from it.

Comedy horror films can be great things when handled well. It felt like It Be an Evil Moon couldn't quite work out its identity. Personally, I enjoyed the later part of this film far more than the eccentric first half, the lack of humour actually benefited this. The mismash of two different styles didn't fit together well, something which did hamper my enjoyment, though there was goodness to be found within. It Be an Evil Moon premiered at the City Screen Picturehouse at The Dead Northern Horror Film Festival, and can currently be streamed for free on Tubi and Amazon Prime.

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