Seventh Moon
| Seventh Moon | |
|---|---|
_movie_poster.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Eduardo Sánchez |
| Produced by |
Chen On Chu Matt Compton Robin Cowie Bob Eick Gregg Hale Ann Lu |
| Written by |
Eduardo Sánchez Jamie Nash |
| Starring |
Tim Chiou Amy Smart Dennis Chan |
| Music by |
Antonio Cora Kent Sparling |
| Cinematography | Wah-Chuen Lam |
| Edited by |
Michael Cronin Johnny Rice |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Ghost House Underground Lionsgate Paradiso Home Entertainment Rok Americas Seventh Moon Partners |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Seventh Moon is a 2008 American horror film written by Eduardo Sánchez and Jamie Nash, and directed by Eduardo Sánchez. Part of Robert Tapert's Ghost House Underground DVD series, the film is based on the Chinese legend that on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open and the dead can enter the realm of the living.
Plot
Melissa and Yul, Americans honeymooning in China, come across the exotic 'Hungry Ghost' festival. When night falls, the couple ends up in a remote village, and doesn't know where they are. Plunged into an ancient custom they cannot comprehend, the couple must find a way to survive the night of the Seventh Moon.
In accordance with the Chinese Myth, on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open and the spirits of the dead are freed to roam among the living. Melissa and her husband Yul are spending their honeymoon in the month of the ghosts in China, where they intend to visit his relatives. They participate in the Senwun (Ghost Festival) during the day where they drink and celebrate. Then their driver Ping heads to Anxian when the nights falls. A couple of hours later, Ping parks his car and tells them that he is lost. He asks the couple to wait for him in his car while he asks for directions in a small village in the countryside. One hour later, Melissa and Yul decide to seek out Ping in the village, and they see the houses closed with live offering and the locals saying something in Cantonese. Yul does not understand what they are saying and the couple returns to the car and drive away trying to find the way back to the city. They then meet a stranger, Wei, wounded on the road and Melissa decides to help the man. They are attacked by creepy creatures and they discover that the spirits of the dead are hunting the living. Melissa and Yul try to find a way to protect themselves and survive the night. Melissa and Yul are captured by the villagers and tied down as offerings to the undead. When the undead appear and are about to take them both away, Yul sacrifices himself (seeming to offer himself willingly) so that the undead will take him and leave Melissa. Melissa is left behind as the undead take Yul away. Ping then returns to tell Melissa that it is over and that Yul sacrificed himself to save her. Ping reveals that in the past the undead had taken one person from his small village each year on the seventh month. At some point in the past, the villagers decided that rather than let the undead take one of their own, they would bring in outsiders to be sacrificed, and Ping had brought Melissa and Yul to be the village to be sacrificed. Melissa asks Ping whether Yul is dead. Ping reveals that the undead take the sacrifice alive to a cave, where the sacrifice will ultimately become one of the undead. Melissa insists on going to rescue her husband from the cave despite warnings from Ping that the undead will kill her if she enters. Melissa follows a trail of candles to the cave of the undead where she finds the undead sleeping along with Yul. Yul has begun to transform though the process is incomplete, and he is too weak from his injuries to move. Yul tells Melissa that he's too weak, he can not follow her, the creatures are already inside his head, and furthermore, they already know she is there. He tells her to go without him. Melissa begins to leave the cave sobbing. While at first it appears the undead are allowing Melissa to leave, partway through her exit the undead begin to chase her again and are prepared to attack her. At that moment, Ping appears, he tells Melissa to continue out of the cave. Ping kneels down, reciting a prayer, and sacrifices himself to the undead to stall for time so that Melissa can escape. Melissa manages to escape the cave but the undead creatures follow her out of the cave. They finally catch her and knock her to the ground just as the sun begins to rise. As the sun rises the attacking undead crumble away into dust, leaving Melissa unharmed. Melissa stands in the sunlight looking at the surrounding forest, and in the shade of a tree she sees Yul, fully transformed into one of the undead, staring at her sadly. They look at each other, and say nothing. Eventually he disappears.
Cast
Release
The film was originally released on September 20, 2008 at the Austin Fantastic Fest.[1] It was released on DVD October 6, 2009.[2]
Reception
Based on just two reviews, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film has a rating average of 4.9 out of 10.[3] The more favorable of the two reviews, from Steve Barton at Dread Central, stated that "Seventh Moon is a badass and at times downright chilling little movie that deserves its rightful place in your home video collection."[4] By contrast, David Nusair at Reelfilm felt that "Seventh Moon ultimately comes off as a missed opportunity that squanders the relatively promising nature of its setup."[5] Elsewhere, genre critics were enthusiastic, with Film School Rejects claiming that the film was "what I Am Legend would have been without CGI. That’s a good thing."[6] Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict called it "an inventive horror flick that reimagines the Asian ghost genre one more time.".[7] Channel Awesome's Phelous critically panned the film for its predictability, awkward and "annoyingly whiny" dialogue, shaky cam, and that it was too dark to see what was going on.[8]
References
- 1 2 Siebalt, Joshua (August 8, 2008). "Seventh Moon, Feast 2 & More at Fantastic Fest". Dread Central. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ Moore, Debi (October 5, 2009). "DVD Releases: October 6, 2009: Trick 'r Treat with The Children in a Dark Country". Dread Central. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ "Seventh Moon (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
- ↑ Barton, Steve (October 6, 2009). "Seventh Moon (2009)". Dread Central. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
- ↑ Nussair, David (June 25, 2010). "Seventh Moon (2009)". reelfilm. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
- ↑ Sweeney, Adam (September 25, 2008). "Fantastic Fest Review: Seventh Moon". Film School Rejects. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ Cullum, Brett (October 6, 2009). "Seventh Moon". DVD Verdict. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrvf44ElOaw
External links
- Official website
- Seventh Moon at the Internet Movie Database
- Seventh Moon at AllMovie
- Seventh Moon at Rotten Tomatoes
| ||||||