Die Säge des Todes (1981)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writer:

Erich Tomek (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 March 1981 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Girls are killed at a language-school in Spain.

Plot Keywords:

School | Snake | Brunette | Scissors | Mill

Cast

Olivia Pascal	...	Angela
Christoph Moosbrugger	...	Alvaro (as Christopher Brugger)
Nadja Gerganoff	...	Manuela
Alexander Waechter	...	Miguel
Jasmin Losensky	...	Inga
Corinna Drews	...	Laura (as Corinna Gillwald)
Ann-Beate Engelke	...	Eva
Peter Exacoustos	...	Antonio
Antonia García	...	Elvira
Beatriz Sancho Nieto	...	Rita
María Rubio	...	Countess Maria Gonzales
Otto Retzer	...	Bueno (as Otto W. Retzer)
Jesus Franco	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Al Pereira	...	Man in party

Also Known As:

Bloody Moon (International: English title)
The Saw of Death (International: English title) (informal literal title)
Colegialas violadas (Spain) [es]
La lune de sang (France) [fr]
Profonde tenebre (Spain) [es]
Profonde tenebre (Italy) [it]
Sexmord på pigeskolen (Denmark) (video title) [da]
Terror y muerte en la universidad (Argentina) (video box title) [es]
The Bloody Moon Murders (Belgium: English title) (video title) [en]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:18 (cut) (video rating) (1986) | West Germany:18 (theatrical release) (1981) (uncut) | Argentina:18 | UK:18 | West Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Lisa-Film

Goofs:

Continuity: Angela is wearing a gray nightshirt when she finds Eva dead on her bed and immediately runs screaming out of the bungalow at which point Angela is suddenly wearing a sweater with a colorful forest pattern instead of the nightshirt.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Matador (1986)

early 80's Franco slasher flick is now on DVD in the US

I had been looking forward to the release of "Bloody Moon", being that I had a tape that was a horrible transfer and virtually unwatchable (Eddy Entertainment, may they rot). The Severin DVD is quite nice and actually has an interview with Franco, who looks very frail & not like someone who should still be churning out movies with lots of sex and violence.

Anyway, the movie: A group of girls at a language school are being preyed upon by...someone. There's a couple of "too obvious" someones; the loony handyman & the scarred brother of Manuela. Manuela is the assistant to the "headmaster" and niece of the ever-charming owner of the school. Manuela & brother Miguel actually have something else going on too, something brothers & sisters don't normally do, but they're not particularly normal. It's merely implied though, no graphic stuff.

Anyway, there is definitely someone lurking about the girl's bungalows at the school, and one girl is killed when she's with another, but the body disappears & no one believes Angela (Olivia Pascal) when she tries to tell them. Of course, the body turns up elsewhere. There's also some strange things happening to Angela, like voices on the language instruction tapes that no one else seems to hear, and she thinks she's going crazy. There's also a few grisly murders, one of which takes place at the handy local sawmill, and it's presented here in its supposedly uncut glory. It's nasty but it does look rather fake. Not that I'd know what the real thing looks like, mind you.

The killer eventually comes to light, of course, and if you've ever watched a slasher film, you'll probably figure it out beforehand. Still, not a bad film, but not a great one, either. Some decent moments but overall, a bit too obvious. 6 out of 10.