DVD released: October 3rd, 2006
Approximate running time: 92 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 & Stereo
DVD Release: Anchor Bay
Region Coding: Region 1 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.98

Cole (Eric Mabius) and Heather (Charisma Carpenter) return to the town of their youth twenty years after everyone in town except them were slaughtered. Cole summons the help of those he has helped through the years. In the battle of good verse evil Cole with the help of his friends’ come face to face with the devil himself.

Voodoo Moon takes two horror staples Voodoo and Satanism mixing them with varied results. The premise for the film comes off as poor mans version of a Steven King story. Kevin VanHook’s direction is evenhanded with a few impressive sequences most notably the possessed preacher scene. The special effects while obvious at times are for the most part well constructed and executed. The various sets and locations are used for their maximum effect.

The supporting cast is the films strongest asset with actors like John Amos, Dee Wallace and Jeffrey Combs as a zombie cop. The two leads Eric Mabius and Charisma Carpenter compliment each other nicely as they are both mostly eye candy and very little substance to their performances. The best performance in the film comes from a British actor named Rik Young who perfectly portrays Daniel (The Devil) with his subtle yet wicked turn as the prince of darkness. Ultimately Voodoo Moon waists a solid premise and the end result is a rather pedestrian affair that never tries to be edgy or surprise its audience.

The DVD:

Voodoo Moon is presented in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the films original aspect ratio. Colors are nicely saturated and details look sharp throughout. There are no problems with compression or artifacts and edge enhancement is mild.

This release comes with two audio options a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and a Dolby Digital stereo mix. Both audio mixes are in English. There isn’t that mush of a difference between the two audio mixes as the both sound robust and dialog is crystal clear on both audio mixes.

Extras for this release include trailers for The Garden, Left in Darkness, The Tooth Fairy and the Masters of Horror series. All of these titles are currently available on DVD via Anchor Bay. Also included with this release is a gallery of stills, four deleted scenes and the films original screenplay in a PDF file as DVD Rom content. Other extras include two behind the scenes segments. The first one is about fours minutes in length and it is titled “Black Magic: The Stunts, Make-up and Visual Effects of Voodoo Moon”. The other segment is titled “You reap what you sow: The Making of Voodoo Moon” which runs about twelve minutes in length. Both of these behind the scenes segments feature your standard cast & crew interviews. Rounding out the extras is an audio commentary with writer/editor/producer/director Kevin VanHook. The audio commentary is a fact filled journey and the most interesting extra included with this release.

Anchor Bay gives another straight to DVD horror film a solid DVD release that is highlighted by a wealth of extras.

For more information about Voodoo Moon visit Anchor Bay here.