Hunter's Moon 2020 * * * Stars

Director: Michael Caissie
Year: 2020
Rated R
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Thomas Jane, Jay Mohr, Katrina Bowden

"You've gotta be kidding me". I wish I was my fellow Redbox viewer.

Anyway, a family of five metros who move into a remote home, get terrorized by some young ruffians bent on fiscally robbing the place. Oh and there are some gigantic werewolves and a dirty cop hanging around too. That's the thin blueprint of 2020's, off the rails Hunter's Moon. At a running time of 80 minutes that don't feel too short, it's my latest review.

Produced at the executive level by LA Lakers president Jeanie Buss (huh?), shot almost three years ago in October 2017, and channeling a little Sam Raimi (minus the legendary Dutch angle), "Moon" is a smorgasbord splicing of movie genres and the kind of pic that resurrects actor Jay Mohr (I sort of forgot about that dude).

"Moon" is Straw Dogs-like, it's small-town, it's overly game guessed, and it's truly a nasty creature feature. Call it an "American werewolf in Cali" (or Kentucky which is the flick's other shooting location). Heck, you can even call on The Howling or Sliver Bullet to add to the mix.

Hunter's Moon has rookie director Michael Caissie using flashbacks, a low budgeted Hitchcock effect, and actor Thomas Jane in his umpteenth role as a brute authority figure. Along with not showing the wolves for an extended period of time, Caissie throws in twists and turns for the heck of it. Yup, he makes you wanna watch the pic again just to put the darn puzzle pieces together (don't worry, it's not that hard).

I liked the originality (and novelty) of Hunter's Moon, I was blindsided by most of it, and I liked the sort of fragmented, Twilight Zone residue. When "Moon's" ending hits you, you realize that it's a better film than it really is. Rating; 3 stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson