The Age of Commercialism

Lack of good storyline.

Fresh and Exciting

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was edgy, heart-warming (at times) and disturbing (at times). It took some unexpected turns and kept me guessing where it was going to end up. I feel the individual performances were strong. Jerod Howard, Jeff Dylan Graham and Sean Michael Lambrecht each made their character their own. My emotions were all over the board on this one... just the way I like a film. Watch the 10 minute mini-feature in the "extras" section to find out some of the motivations of the director and cast. Jerod delivers a great performance even when dealing with a personal tragedy during filming. My guess is that he used that tragedy in his character. Because of October Moon, I am a new fan of all three main actors (Jerod, Dylan and Sean).

Jason Paul Collum both wrote and directed this little film that resembles a gay 'Fatal Attraction' without the benefit of a tight script, good actors, suspense, or sophisticated effects and camera work. Sadly it boils down to a fifteen-minute story spread out over an almost interminable 2 hours.The story involves on Corin (Sean Michael Lambrecht), a 30-year old ad exec in a five-year bumpy relationship with 23-year old party boy Jake (Jeff Dylan Graham). Corin's boss and friend Nancy (Brinke Stevens) understands Corin all too well, appreciates his relationship, but in attempting to relieve his work duties hires an assistant Elliot (Jerod Howard), a gender confused nerdy lad who is engaged to his lifelong chum Marti (Tina Ona Paukstelis) in a push from his mother (Judith O'Dea) to make things 'right'. Elliot is befriended by Corin, brought into Corin's and Jake's friendship, and Elliot and Marti and Corin and Jake begin socializing. Elliot falls for Corin, comes out of the closet to the extreme dismay of Marti and his mother, and despite Elliot's friendship with Corin and Jake, he begins to stalk Corin. Corin's rebuff of his advances leads to disaster and the film tumbles downhill from there.Yes, some may view this weak little foray as being full of statements about love, obsession, relationships, and friendships, but all of that has been said far better before and without the seemingly tacked on genre of a horror film. The acting from the women in the film is good, but the men are blunted stereotypes. Everything about the film screams low budget. One annoying factor - a music score that sounds like lessons on electronic keyboards and obscures a lot of the dialogue - turns out to be a blessing in that the weak script is covered frequently. Most viewers will utilize the fast forward button to get through the repetitious dialogue and race for the end, a predictable, stagy tableaux that really doesn't resolve anything. Not worth two hours of your viewing time.

Here's Fatal Attraction for the gay set with a few additional twists. The basic premise holds some definite potential but it's soon stamped out by severe reality-killing amateur acting (Sean Michael Lambrecht and Jeff Dylan Graham being the worst offenders there) and mediocre writing, and ends up basically coming off like a rushed production job. The character of Elliot is potentially interesting but he's not fleshed out to the point where his sexual transition or obsession is at all convincing. Shot on video with the lowest production values you're likely to stumble across (I stumbled across them on Netflix), best I can say here is that the filmmakers tried but failed to come up with something a little different, though it's nice seeing Judith O'Dea again after such a long absence from films. Other than that, this offers very little of value and is instantly forgettable. I will not discount the director's future endeavors on behalf of this weak effort but will just advise him to sharpen up on his writing and hire better actors next time. It's also fishy that there are currently five glowing reviews for this film on IMDb. Even more fishy is that four of them were submitted in the same day!

October Moon was seen by myself and several friends at the North 94 Club Kenosha, WI-- showing this past Sunday Oct 2, 2005. Many of the cast members, including the producer, and go-between were present. These folks were as down to earth as it gets. Many times when people think of a gay film, thoughts of 'queeny princesses' pop into mind. This movie was directed and acted out by some of the most loving, wonderful, down-to-earth folks that there are in the Midwest. Everyone should see this awesome film. Since it was only done in one week......I have to say it receives a 10 from me on plot, story-line, actors, costumes, scenes, sound, visual, etc. God blesses the gay folks that really put their heart, soul, and mind into meaningful projects like October Moon! I also wanted to add that the illustrative Christ scene compared to the mothers' ignorance (in the movie) was a delightful touch. Who lies to who?, who destroys peoples lives?...many ignorant and narrow-minded straight people--that's who! Also, the passion (and reality) of gay life between the two lovers was spectacular, and I must state that because we live in a day and age where social constructs push us gay folks toward failure....we must stand up and be counted for as human beings! We too deserve a chance at long lasting relationships like the straight world! Praise is due this most delightful work my brothers and sisters regarding this most magnificent gay film project!!! I wish you the best...and know that it will go far. Good luck at the Gay-Film Festival Milwaukee! Everyone should vote in favor of this most wonderful cast! God Bless!