It would be very hard to actually call this a film. It's more of a collection of bad, poorly lit shots.
I would first like to mention that the majority of the good comments here are biased. And they all admit to being so. An unbiased review of the film would be the one to look for if you're going to be downloading or, god forbid purchasing this film.
The main reason I am saddened by watching this atrocity is that I am a struggling film-maker. And many of my favorite directors (and influences) have made their debut feature films with very very little money. Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, and Robert Rodriguez all filmed beautiful extremely low budget films. The films in order are: Following, Pi, and El Mariachi.
All three films had been performed by either non-professional, or non-actors. And all three films were originally shot for less than $10,000. Pi was the only one that cost more than $7,000 to shoot (listen to commentaries of these films, and/or read 'Rebel Without a Crew').
This film (Dead moon rising), for lack of a better word, is a steaming pile of waste. I continue to ask myself 'Where in the world did the $50,000 go to making this film?'. If anyone has a real answer to this, i'd love to hear from you. Email me at: Hellfire@hellfire.TV But I digress. Lets look at the reasons this film deserved a 2-star rating. Well, lets talk about the camera work to start. There were rarely any smooth pans, and suffer countless zooms. I'm sorry, but you never, ever ZOOM! Bring the camera to the subject/object with a dolly, or a steadicam.
Okay lets talk about sound. I don't know how or why this film came to be with such horrible sound. The quality, cutting, effects, everything was either off, or just bearable. Once again I ask myself what happened to the $50,000? Everyone that has praised this film has said that "it's a very low budget film, what do you expect?". I say that if there was any planning at all to this film, it was done horrifically.
You don't have a $50,000 budget and end up with one of the worst films i've ever seen. But then again there are tons of 10-20 million dollar films that are horrible. I should re-phrase that: You don't shoot a $50,000 film and not even BUY (not rent) at least an XL2 (less than $3,000) camera. That is probably the cheapest way to get 24P (Film speed), and the quality of video that is more than acceptable. Sadly it looks as if the consumer camera being used might have been one that a crew member, or the director himself already had.
There are countless errors in the plot, story structure as well. But there isn't a point in getting into every single detail. In fact, i've written too much on this film.
My advise to you Mark, if you're reading this is to PLAN! Plan every shot. Have auditions, and rehearse with your actors. Watch a lot of zombie movies. If your intent is to continue with the genre, pay attention to them. Zombies are better shot at night (less detail needed in make-up, etc) than broad day-light. Start by working with a lot of static shots. Read books on filming (if you email me, i'll suggest some excellent books on editing, cinematography, etc) techniques. Take to criticizing with out effecting you (hardest part of this industry). PLAN every move! Storyboard and make scene lists. Any scene should be able to flow visually and through sound on its own. This is extremely important when it comes to omitting useless scenes.
