Autumn Moon 2023 (Wild Dogs Productions) Review
Michael Fredianelli needs no introduction in the bay area scene. The man is like the Rogga Johansson of filmmaking. (Rogga Johansson is famous in the death metal scene for releasing like 8 albums in the same year). With Fredianelli, he has gotten close to releasing 8 films in the same year and we are now on movie 52, which is called Autumn Moon. This is an interesting film since it continues the horror monster theme of some of his earlier works. In fact, his vampire film, Apocrypha, released in 2011, could be seen as an representation of the early Wild Dog era. A bit rough around the edges but you could the potential drawing within. The next film in his horror monster series came with zombies and voodoo in Strange Rituals (2017), and could be seen in the middle era of Wild Dogs history. A bit more refined and ambitious. Now here we finally with werewolves, at the current Wild Dogs era.
Honestly, Autumn Moon blew me away. Michael Fredianelli has been refining his craft over 50 feature films, and here we find him and the Wild Dogs Crew in top form. The camera work on this movie is so good. Leo Moring uses a lot of steady cam and shots that move around like a stalker, creating dynamic shots. He also uses a bit of drone and aerial shots to great effect as well. When the camera slowly draws closer to Matt Monaco’s character, Brad, you can feel the epicness of his characters entrance.
There are also some cool lighting effects and use of shadows in the film as well. There is a great use of a moon lighting effect used in the films climax that just works, and overall the film just looks damn good. As for the werewolf effects, they are pulled off with class and look believable. A werewolf movie does not work without a good looking wolf. A company called ShapeShifterz made the body suit for the werewolf. Emily Haynes designed the whole face and applied some hair/fur to the suit. Major props to her as well as Stephanie Hancock and Tonia Maclean who helped with makeup and gore special effects and they really helped bring everything to life.
Michael Fredianelli has brought together a tight nit cast for this film, with Matt Monaco really stealing the show. I had to double check that he was the same actor from Wild Dog’s Justified Force (2019), because his performance and look is so different. It’s like Matt Monaco went to live in the woods for a few months to get in touch with his inner wolf to get prepared for this movie. (Which is why I assume we didn’t see him in any recent Wild Dogs films). It also helps that Matt Monaco’s character gets to say some of the coolest lines in the film as well with some fantastic monologues. When it comes time for him to wolf out, the man does not hold anything back. You feel like you are transforming along with him.
Don’t mind me, just enjoying my daily dose of Frute Brute over here.
Bryan Palacios (Terry) also does a fine job of keeping with up Matt Monaco and plays off his performance well. To my knowledge, this is the first Wild Dogs Productions to feature a gay romance. (Wild Dogs films don’t usually focus to much on romantic moments, so forgive me if there one hidden in the WD backlog somewhere). Elijah Macias (Alan) plays Terry’s love interest and does a great job as well with the amount of time he is on screen. Their relationship is fill with ups and downs and while it might have worked a tad better with more screen time between the two, it gets the job done.
It’s also great to see Wild Dogs mainstay Boynton Paek make an appearance. His mastery of the douchebag bro vibes gets a chance to shine in this film. You also have some great victims with the likes of Mila Avvenire, Savannah Lewis and Mia Parco who clearly have fun with their roles. Also, it was funny to see Mia Parco running down the neighborhood street begging for help. Hearing her knock on a door and ask for help brought me back to editing the neighborhood run scene in Sophie and the Serial Killers since it sounds so similar. I don’t know if this is a clever reference to her past performance or just an coincidence, but it is funny.
Mia Parco finds herself running again for her life, only this time the person giving chase does not sing.
You also have Andrew Bursiaga, Viv Framer, Shauna Richardson, Mike the Fred, and Emma Geleynse filling out the rest of the family. Overall, this is one of the strongest casts a Wild Dog’s Production has seen and it really pays off.
In terms of the story, Michael Fredianelli pulls an move out from The Redemption of Vincent Young as we start in the past. Which is a great excuse for Mike Fred to pull out some retro video games for our characters to play. A bizarre death happens in the neighborhood which haunts Terry as he does not know if it really happened or not. We see young Terry deal with the struggles of being gay during this time period, and come to met his strange neighbor next door who likes to give peculiar manly advice. Once the prologue of the movie is finished, we jump ahead to modern day.
“Is there a Wienerschnitzel reference in this film?” “Yes, yes there is! A great movie has to have it”
Terry returns home to deal with the passing of his parents, and runs into the same looking neighbor. From then unfolds the mystery which does a solid job of keeping you on your toes and has some surprises in store. The climax of the film has a cool sequence in the woods which really fits the werewolf and moonlit vibe.
Overall, there are few downsides or flaws, which are outshined by the great parts of this film. This is one of Wild Dog’s best shot, best acted, and best written films yet. I don’t know how long we’ll have to wait for Michael Fredianelli to continue the horror monster series. But when he does tackle a Frankenstein or Swamp Monster movie, I’ll be here for it! It’s sure to be great based on each one improves and showcases the different eras of Wild Dogs. Autumn Moon will be available on streaming platforms soon, so make sure to check it out when it launches. In the meantime, you can follow Wild Dogs on their Instagram for updates.
Yo man, you know I’m on that double cheese diet, and I get cranky when I don’t get my double cheese.
Wild Dogs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilddogs_productions/
Autumn Moon IMdB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27499073/?ref_=adv_li_tt
