Werewolves never go out of style.
The howling. The body horror on steroids. The sense that our closest friend or neighbor could be a snarling beast come nightfall.
“Frenzy Moon” leans hard into that spirit, along with some “Let’s put on a show” gumption given its small, partially crowd-funded budget. Sadly, the best genre intentions can’t lift the well-meaning shocker out of mediocrity.
A bloody prologue sets the story in motion, a cheeky nod to the film’s B-movie gumption. Three couples decamp for a, wait for it, cabin in the woods. Along the way, one of the couples hits a stranger with their car.
Said stranger knows what the six pals don’t, at least not yet. Werewolves stalk the grounds, and their vacation break will swiftly become a nightmare.
#FrenzyMoon (2025)
Six college grad students and a mysterious stranger battle a pack of ferocious werewolves in a secluded cabin.#CreatureFeature #FilmsWithBite #FilmX ️ pic.twitter.com/lwKzymlQ15— QuirkyFilms (@FilmsQuirky) October 2, 2025
Director Gregory Lamberson, who walked off with the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival’s Best Horror Movie honors, pours on the practical effects and gore. That should satiate horror junkies, as will the frequent creature close-ups.
Still, the more we see of the beasts, the less ferocious they appear.
Less history, more mystery, as the dating advice goes. Or, as Steven Spielberg learned via that malfunctioning shark on the “Jaws” set, less is more. There’s no shame in throwing shadows over scenes to camouflage sub-Savini FX.
The main characters offer enough dubious behavior to merit their potential kill scenes, but a mid-film twist and some furious, third-act gunplay can’t raise the stakes as hoped.
“Spelonk”
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.
So goeth “Spelonk,” a wildly original tale from filmmaker Desmond Denton. The hour-long feature follows a warrior with serious Mad Max vibes as he wanders through a dystopian future where water is in short supply.
The indie film stretches its modest budget to the brink, a lesson mainstream Hollywood dwellers would be wise to consider. Denton ingeniously depicts a future hellscape complete with nightmarish characters and fascinating tech tools.
It’s a triumph of production design and craftiness, a storyteller refusing to bow to his fiscal constraints. Any given scene is a visual triumph, and the film’s blend of high-tech goodies and swordplay reflects a fascinating realm worth exploring.
The story still feels undernourished, clunkily shifting from scene to scene as if critical moments were left in a dystopian scrap heap.
The film’s heartfelt moments hit harder than expected, and star Eric Uys brings a melancholy spirit to the film without shedding his humanity.
“Spelonk” feels like a work in progress, a project demanding a serious second look. That might reveal something … revelatory.
‘Beyond the Drumlins’
A kindly professor (co-writer Michael Kowalski) leads a troupe into the woods for an archaeological field trip. It’s a chance to flex his knowledge and give an inquisitive TA (Emma Jessop) some real-world experience.
The trip starts innocently enough, even if all they initially uncover is a rusty bottlecap. Soon, the TA develops a mysterious cough, the crew’s hired hand (Goodfella Mike G) falls into a stupor and a member of the group goes missing.
That’s just the beginning. The mysteries deepen, the danger escalates and we’re left wondering if any of the likable characters will emerge unscathed.
Co-writer/director Daniel W. Bowhers ladles out the mysteries with care, using the landscape’s natural beauty to his advantage. Performances are strong, and the cinematography veers from bucolic to unsettling as needed.
No spoilers here, but the film’s gentle sci-fi rhythms grow darker as the story unfolds.
The film, dubbed the PMPF’s best science fiction feature, proves a satisfying head-scratcher, even if its final seconds leave audiences hungry for more.
The 2025 Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival runs through Oct. 9.