Moon Child Blu Ray Review (Cult Epics)

Moon Child (aKa El niño de la luna) is a 1989 fantasy film written & directed by Agustí Villaronga (In a Glass Cage, 99.9, El mar, Black Bread, & Aro Tolbukhin in the Mind of a Killer). It was inspired by Aleister Crowley’s 1923 novel of the same name. The extraordinary 12-year-old David (played by: Enrique Saldana) has been discovered by Victoria (played by: Maribel Martín from The Blood Spattered Bride, The House That Screamed, Roots of Evil, & Bell from Hell) & adopted by a mysterious scientific cult lead by Directora (played by: Lucia Bosé from Blood Stains in a New Car, The Legend of Blood Castle, Something Creeping in the Dark, & Chronicle of a Death Foretold). They all have extraordinary mental powers. He befriends Edgar (played by: David Sust from In a Glass Cage & L’avi Bernat) after arriving to the new community. He learns real quick that something isn’t right here after experiencing some weird experiments. David is trying to escape them to explore his true identity in the world. He travels across two continents with Georgina (played by: Composer/Singer Lisa Gerrard from Gladiator, Ali, Mission: Impossible II, & Man on Fire) to find his destiny as Child of the Moon. They must disappear before the cults finds them & makes them pay for leaving!!!!

Moon Child is visually stunning & it has a great atmosphere. It’s a very stylized feature, it definitely stands out compared to other Spanish films. The script is elevated by the talented cast put together for this project. Enrique Saldana had a great performance in this. It’s crazy that he never acted again after this. It was a unique spin on the child with a special gift story which was refreshing to see. It had a strong score & soundtrack that fit the vibe perfect for this. I will say it’s biggest flaw was the pacing. It was really slow at times & I felt it was probably 20 minutes too long. Besides that, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I haven’t seen anything like this before. If you are looking for something that’s actually original, I recommend that you give this a shot. I’ve never heard of it until Cult Epics announced that they were releasing it on blu ray. I was a huge fan of In a Glass Cage so it had my interest when I seen it was from the same director.

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Cult Epics! This 1080p (1.65:1) transfer from the original 35mm film makes it’s U.S. debut on blu ray plus it’s also the first time it’s been released on DVD for home video. As you can imagine, this one wasn’t easy to find until now. Like I said above, Moon Child is a fantastic visual experience & it has it’s own little world to it. It has two different audio options which include Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 & Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 on this release. The track really brings out the full score & soundtrack for the film. It has English subtitles to go to those two tracks.

Let’s discuss the special features provided by Cult Epics on this blu ray. “Interview” is a 15 minute chat with director Agustí Villaronga. He talks about his influences for the project. He mentions the inspiration of psychics & all the mental powers that got his creative thoughts going. He brings up his other films 99.9 & Born a King during the conversation. He talks about the cast & crew for the feature. He says Guillermo del Toro is a fan & that he’s met him a few times. “Dead Can Dance Soundtrack” that features 32 tracks & it runs a little over 52 minutes. It also has some promotional material like the original Theatrical Trailer, Photo Gallery that has a collection of lobby cards, & a trailer for director Agustí Villaronga’s most known film “In a Glass Cage” (Cult Epics also released this on blu ray, check it out ASAP!). It also has a DVD copy of the release included. It’s available everywhere right now, check it out!!!!