Blood Moon, the newest in Hulu’s Blumhouse Into the Dark horror series, finally tackles something we haven’t seen yet: werewolves. If it’s not obvious from the title, then the lead child being named Luna might clue you in on what horror subgenre we’re tackling. Into the Dark, as a whole, is anything but consistent, and Blood Moon follows the trend of subpar entries. The story, this time around, involves a young mother, Esme (Megalyn Echikunwoke), who moves to a distant town with her son Luna (Yonas Kibreab). Esme is very overprotective and constantly makes bad decisions, justifying them via Luna’s well-being. As Luna’s behavior begins to draw attention, linked inexplicably to the lunar cycle, Esme will stop at nothing to keep him safe.
At its best, Into the Dark has delivered fun slasher riffs, like School Spirit and Pilgrim, and suspenseful thrills in Down and All That We Destroy. Blood Moon doesn’t take quite up the rear in the storied 24-film legacy they’ve built up. It’s definitely near the bottom though, coming up just above My Valentine and just below Flesh & Blood in my personal rankings.
The problem here is that the tone and themes are nothing special. Was this for fans of werewolf horror? Couldn’t be, since the wolf action only happens in the closing ten minutes. When the wolf finally shows up after being teased for the majority of the runtime, it’s just a basic wolf – no interesting creature design, no practical effects work.
Out of the long line of films in this series, Blood Moon feels the most like it was made for a lazy streaming day where you just throw it on and don’t need to pay close attention. A TV-movie feel this late in the game is a letdown. The film is too lazy in its simplicity. Blood Moon isn’t an awful movie, it’s just lacking the bite you’d expect from a werewolf Blumhouse production. Into the Dark: Blood Moon comes to Hulu Friday, March 26th.
