Kill the Moonlight (film)

Kill the Moonlight, completed in 1992, is an American independent film by Steve Hanft.

Filmmaker and video director Steve Hanft's first independent feature film, started when he was enrolled in CalArts in the early '90s.

The film is sampled in Beck's song "Loser". In fact, the lyrics for Beck's "Loser" are about Hanft's film, Kill the Moonlight. Hanft first met Beck when he asked Beck to write some songs for the film. They went on to become friends and played in bands together, with Hanft later directing the music video for "Loser" as well as many other Beck songs.

Kill the Moonlight had its premiere in 1995 at Laemmle's Sunset 5 theatre in West Hollywood where Beck played an acoustic set in the movie theatre.

Synopsis

A twisted mid-'90s comedy disguised as a 1970s drive-in film, Kill the Moonlight is the story of Chance, a fish hatchery worker, toxic waste cleaner and aspiring race car driver, whose goal in life is to fix up his stock car and follow his dreams of speedway glory. Director Steven Hanft captures the surreal life of a loser stock car racer, Chance, with laconic pacing, and bizarre humor.

Credits

Written and Directed by

• Steve Hanft

Cast (in alphabetical order)

• Richmond Arquette as Sandra's boyfriend
• Jaime Colindrez as Jaime
• John Hanft as Good citizen
• Steve Hanft as Dennis
• Ross Harris as Ross
• Maria Hassabi as Sandra
• Thomas Hendrix as Chance
• Beata Henrichs as Cindy
• Ralston Regan as Chance's father
• Eddie Ruscha as Surf bassist

Produced by

• Steve Hanft

Cinematography by

• Steve Hanft

Film Editing by

• Steve Hanft

Soundtrack

First issued by Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1997, the out of print soundtrack to Kill The Moonlight was reissued with the Plexifilm DVD release, this time including tracks from Beck and Steve Hanft's band Loser.

• Beck - "Leave Me On The Moon"
• The Pussywillows - "Vindaloo"
• The Dynamics - "Tube Glory"
• The Raunch Hands - "Green Room"
• Pam Aronoff - "TV Jazz"
• Go To Blazes - "Hating You"
• Loser - "Born Of Whiskey"
• Beck - "Last Night I Traded My Soul's Innermost for Some Pickled Fish"
• Delta Garage - "Blue Eyes"
• Thomas Hendrix - "Kill The Moonlight Sample"
• The World Famous Blue Jays - "Cookin' With Jay"
• Go To Blazes - "Bad Cup of Coffee"
• Beck - "Underwater Music"
• Loser - "Dad Came Home"
• Martha Atwell - "Wildwood Flower"
• Thomas Hendrix - "Can't Find My Car"
• Pam Aronoff - "Clear"
• Loser - "Fish Bait"
• The Dynamics - "Spaghetti Ride"

External links

• Plexifilm, distributor
• Kill The Moonlight at the Internet Movie Database
• Kill the Moonlight at AllMovie