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Bloodlines
R1 - America - ThinkFilm Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (12th August 2007). |
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The Film
 This is the type of movie I enjoy. Not because it's particularly good, or particularly entertaining in itself, but because it the type of movie you'll watch with your friends and comment on endlessly. The setup is pretty simple: a group of inbred rednecks from Kentucky (!) abduct women and force them to fight. The prize for the winner is the privilege, nay, the honour of having some cheap drunk redneck implant his seed in her! I've seen this movie before, but it was called 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Wrong Turn'. The movie is actually a throwback to movies from the 1970s. With movies 'House of 1000 Corpses' and 'Cabin Fever', gory, sadistic horror movies have made somewhat of a comeback and this movie follows right along for the ride. You can see shades of 'Last House of the Left' and 'I Spit on Your Grave' in terms of its plotting, and its penchant for misogynistic violence, though this is somewhat counteracted towards the end (kind of). That last point is also probably the movie's main turn-off. For a whole heap of running time, women are pitted against each other, beaten and raped. Though it's never shot with relish, it's still an integral part of the redneck kidnapper's world. Seeing this is fine, I suppose, but it get repetitive and loses its impact after the third fight and second rape. These guy are awful and they need to be taught a lesson. I get it! Another notch on the creepy scale are the main character's brothers. At least, I think they're her brothers. The movie never really expands on that. In any case, I really loved Bear (Dorian Kingi). He can kick ass so much, and it's a nice sight to see. Once the third act kicks in to high gear, the action is pretty nice. The tussles and action don't seem have any kind of flow, taking away form their impact, it's still a nice way to end the movie. I won't talk about the plot holes or weird character swings because, quite frankly, these things are part of the fun. They let you add your own entertainment to the whole proceedings. 'Bloodlines' will only appeal to fans of horror who enjoy this type of sub-genre. Despite its low budget, it has some nice cinematography and good use of the resources it has at its disposal. In the long line of horror movies, this one is nothing special, but it does find its special way of implanting you with its seed.
Video
1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture looks good, but not great. The print is clean and contains no specks, scratches or other such blemishes. The colours are strong and clear, with good contrast. The level of grain is also never a problem. The compression is pretty good and the print doesn't generally give way to noise. The picture does look a bit flat, at times, which takes away from the detail, but that's never a problem, really. It's a good picture.
Audio
The only audio track for the movie is a fairly good Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. The biggest problem is that the dialogue is drowned out by the score at times. Other than that, the track is robust and serves the movie well. The score, at least, is loud and clear, sporting instruments such as banjos and didgeridoos. The effects are pretty clear as well. The range of everything is pretty impressive. To be honest, a 5.1 track would have helped a lot, but what's there is quite good. The movie comes with English (hard of hearing) and Spanish subtitles.
Extras
The disc has few extras, but the main extra, a commentary is pretty nice. By, writer/director Stephen Durham, actor Jason Padgett, executive producer Rickie Castaneda and co-producer/actor Zoran Jacimovic, the guys have a nice time commenting on their movie. They talk a lot about the locations, the actors, the crew and the shoot. They give a lot of praise to the actors, which, at times, is a bit undeserved, but it's mostly tolerable. The director talks a lot about the talent involved behind the camera, which is actually pretty surprising. They have fun watching the movie and making fun of whoever’s on screen, joking constantly. If you're a fan of the movie, this is a great track. Next, there are a bunch of trailers to finish off the disc. There's the 'Bloodlines' (1:48) trailer, as well as trailers for 'The Insatiable' (1:56), 'The House of Usher' (1:45), 'Going to Pieces' (1:18) and 'The Zodiac' (1:58). They're all appropriately horror movie trailers and sell their movies pretty well.
Overall
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