Secrets of the X-Moor Beast: What Lurks in the Wilds?

Director: Luke Hyams

Writer: Luke Hyams (Screenplay)

Starring: Melia Kreiling, Mark Bonnar, Nick Blood, Olivia Popica, Simone Kirby (Hidden Assets), Sophie Harkness

Plot: A £25,000 reward offered by a local newspaper brings documentary makers Matt and his girlfriend Georgia to the remote North Devon moor in a bid to capture the fabled Beast purported to be a wild cat, like a panther or a puma on film.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Too Dark to Enjoy

Story: X Moor starts with Georgia (Kreiling) and her cameraman boyfriend Matt (Blood) head to North Devon to enter Dartmoor in search of the legendary beast of Dartmoor which in its glimpses has been compared to different big cats, the team is joined by tracker Fox (Bonnar) on this adventure.

The hunt takes an unexpected twist when Fox has used the team to help him try and capture a serial killer he believes is dumping the bodies of their victims on the moor. The leads to the battle to survive the horrors of the moor.

Thoughts on X Moor

Characters – Georgia is the documentary film maker that heads into the moor in search of the beast in the area, she seems to come off as a woman who wants to get ahead in the game becoming a big name in her field. Matt is the boyfriend and cameraman for Georgia that would like to enjoy a holiday in the sun but does support her decisions. Fox is the tracker that has tricked thee crew into the big discovery that even he wasn’t ready for.

Performance – The performances through the film are not the best through the film, we only get a lot of running, arguing and screaming through the film.

Story – The story does follow the documentary film crew that head into the Moors to find a creature and get more than they bargained for, simple enough to follow but very difficult to see anything. This is another film that falls into the idea of filming at night which is needed but making it nearly impossible for us to see anything going on. The story does have a twist on the idea of hunting a mythical beast and does have plenty of potential to be an enjoyable horror film.

Horror – The horror in this film is mostly survival horror which does work for the story, it all heads in a mix of directions that can only keep us wanting to see what the big bad will be capable off.

Settings – The film is set mostly in the moors of Dartmoor which shows us the mystery behind the place which is filled with legends and myths.

Special Effects – The effects are mostly down to the camerawork going on which I do feel let a large part of the film down because we are left not being able to see anything in the darkness as times.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Impossible to see the darkness scenes.

Final Thoughts – This was a good idea for a film but fails to give us the chance to see most of the important scenes due to the darkness it takes place in.

Overall: Simple Horror with nice twist on the monster hunting idea.