Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer (2025) - Movie Review

What if I told you there was a micro-budget film that kept me more entertained than the last hundred-million-dollar epic I had to slog through?

What if I told you it's ultra-microbudget and combines themes from 80s classics and modern Analog Horror?

Let’s discuss.

Full Disclosure: The writer/director/star of the film asked me to watch and review. They provided me with production notes, but did not ask for any special consideration. I paid to watch the film on Amazon Prime so that I could be as objective as possible.

Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer is a Sci-fi / Horror film brought to us by writer/director Ben Floss and writer Anthony DelMonte. These are up-and-coming filmmakers, so you are unlikely to recognize their names. That is, unless you follow the horror short film scene. Either way, you should keep your eye on these guys.

The film focuses on an unnamed freelance worker at an independent production studio. He arrives at work early to get a head start on the day, only to find that the building is deserted. It’s not unusual for artistic types to sleep in, but when it gets past midday and the office manager and staff haven’t arrived, things begin to get weirder. Shadows, movement, and noises that he can’t explain begin to wear on his sanity. Little does he know, he might be one of the lucky ones. The world around him is going mad, and the bodies are piling up. Will the Freelancer find a way to survive the cosmic nightmare, or will he just be another corpse lying under the Blood Moon’s light?

This movie is Night of the Comet meets Mandela Catalog.

Cosmic horror is hard to sum up. By its very nature, it’s made to be uncanny and alien. Things rarely make sense, and rarely relate to our everyday lives. It’s an integral part of the sub-genre. Without the confusion, hopelessness, and bizarre logic, there wouldn’t be anything to be afraid of. If done right, you don’t need to show much at all. It’s the idea of fear itself, the expectation of convention that wears the viewer down. There are big-budget, “Indies” that have showcased the body horror and absolute spectacle of cosmic horror, like 2019’s Color Out of Space and 2018’s Annihilation. It’s hard to be impressed by these, though, as the filmmakers tend to rely on the effects and set-pieces, rather than what’s most important: The Human Element.

Cosmic Horror is about the internal struggle of the individual against hopeless odds, and Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer gets it right.

That’s not to say the film is perfect, but it shattered my expectations.

I always cringe when I see the green Indie Rights production card on a film, as it’s burned me so many times before, but I can honestly say this is a good movie.

Ben Floss not only wrote the film, directed it, but he also stars. The film is essentially a one-man show, with some brief appearances by the supporting cast. He does a great job carrying the film with sparing dialogue. He gives such a great non-verbal performance in the opening few minutes of the runtime, which somehow makes hearing his first lines feel uncanny and weird. It’s an old school trick, and it was refreshing to see.

What’s impressive is that the film is almost entirely improvised, but doesn’t come off as cheap or schlocky. What little dialogue there is felt organic for the most part, and the darkly comedic elements lend themselves to the absurdity of Cosmic Horror. Here’s what the writer/director had to say:

 ‘At first, the shooting was experimental, finding a footing on what the plot would encompass, but as it moved on, it wound up being very freeing. It was very improvisational but focused. So we just kept making it up on the fly.’

The digital effects are sparing, but well done. There isn’t an overuse of gore, but the practical effects look great considering the budget. The goal when your wallet is light is to do just enough to make things believable. They succeed here. I especially liked the effect of the Blood Moon at its zenith. It reminds me of the good parts of Danny Boyle’s 2007 film Sunshine. This is because Floss and team experimented, planned, and storyboarded every sequence to make sure they could pull it off. There’s a lot that young filmmakers could learn from Floss’s process. Here’s the filmmaker providing more insight on the budgetary constraints helping shape the film:

‘That was one of the most exciting challenges that filming presented: How do we use what we have, how will it drive the plot, and how can we make it cool? The fact that we had access to the building gave us unlimited wiggle room to experiment, but it also gave us the luxury of time to try out these ideas and execute sequences we otherwise wouldn't have been able to.’

None of this would work without a solid score, and Skylar Sarkis delivers. The mix of synth, bells, and various other odd sound builds the tension from scene to scene. The sound design overall is better than a lot of big-budget horrors. Dialogue is clear and understandable, even in the more chaotic soundscapes, which is a feat unto itself.

If you’re looking for heavy exposition or prefer everything to be explained by the end of the movie, this isn’t for you. Cosmic Horror is about the fear of the unknown. You might uncover clues, snippets of what’s happening, but you rarely get any concrete answers.

This is both a positive and a negative for this film. Yes, Floss’s performance is well above what I’d expect for an Indie Rights film, but the script is sparing. This isn’t a character study. There aren’t any personal relationships, there isn’t a love story.

The film is purely about the worst day in this man’s life, which just happens to coincide with an apocalyptic event.

This will be a deal breaker for some.

The film quality is very good, but it has that “too clear for film” look that gives some scenes a soap opera appearance, but overall, the cinematography, lighting, and use of the location are solid.

Chekov said, "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off." The freelancer abides by this rule by establishing the beats of the climax in the first few moments of the film, while the freelancer is injuring himself in various ways. The use of comedy to establish the danger of the simple items makes what happens later all the more grim. It’s a simple and well-used device that Floss capitalizes on masterfully. I was so impressed by the continuity. In a time where massive budget productions like Game of Thrones forget to remove Starbucks cups, this minute production kept everything perfectly aligned, especially once Floss provided more background on the production.

We shot for a full year that way on nights and weekends. I would use the workweek to covertly storyboard and block out sequences, and with help from two close collaborators, I plotted the movie one week at a time until we finished it.

It’s amazing what can happen when a filmmaker cares about what they’re doing. In closing, Floss provided me some final words to sum up the production.

'My goal was to make a funny horror movie, have fun doing it, and at the very least make sure it’s fun to watch. I think we succeeded in that.' - Ben Floss

I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Floss. I look forward to whatever you do next.

Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer is available on most digital platforms and Blu-ray.

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