Blood Quantum

I only watched this because I signed up to a cheap trial of Shudder and have been working my way through their titles out of boredom...

I reached this title, read the description and thought 'meh, sounds ok' and clicked play.

I was expecting something low budget, low quality and low entertainment but what I got was a pretty decent zombie survival movie. It is (as far as I know) low budget but some of the performances were good enough to keep me engaged and the grandad was in my opinion very cool.

It's a movie I'd happily sit through again.

The downside is that the plot seems to be a bit... random. One minute you have a group of people pulling together and then - not so much. I won't say more because it is entertaining and is worth a viewing but it's a solid midrange movie to pass a couple of hours with.

This movie is definitely not for everyone. Here zombie fans get what they ask for. This movie ticks the boxes & doesn't mess around. It packs a punch and hits its mark. Unlike so many other movies which try to target a broader audience, by adding drama, comedy, meaningfulness and other crap, thus diluting the zombie experience, this movie stays true to the genre and is therefore intended mainly for pure zombie aficionados.

(I gave it a 7 which is a very high score - an 8 would be in Romero territory, but I think it truly deserves it because: the genre is still alive and well, and with its limited resources it achieved a lot...)

This movie is not for everyone, so if you want to leave the theater (something you might wish you'd be able to do right now, Quarantine and all), do so and don't blame the movie if it doesn't do you, as you'd wish it'd do you. Don't get me wrong, the movie has quite a lot of flaws, but it also has some neat and interesting ideas overall.

The mixing of native americans and immunity and other stuff really elevate this to a degree. The constant uses of cliches drag it back down many times too though. The beginning though is ripe and rich with tensions and suspense. And then it does something unexpected, time wise ... which I thought a good movie. Unfortunately this new setting does not last long and the ticking time bomb goes off as expected ... Samurai swords (cool) and unnecessary sacrifices included ...

With the lack of a trailer or really any information, I had no idea what to expect from this film, especially the tonality. The worry I have when watching a new Canadian film is that it will be as the majority are; slow, cheap, and morbid. But, I'm thankful to say Blood Quantum is a step above the average morbid Canadian film, and it even manages to get an important and overlooked message across amidst all the blood and gore.

The performances are all around very good, and to my satisfaction felt like honest portrayals of the Indigenous peoples of Canada. And the fact that a movie like this exists, featuring a majority-Indigenous cast in a bloody, gory zombie film, is very exciting for the ever growing presence of Indigenous peoples in cinema.

This film also offered a ton of blood and gore, which starts I'd say not even 10 minutes into the film. No time is wasted getting to all of the gory fun stuff, but it doesn't forget about its characters, managing to create relationships which I became invested in. I would say I think the handling of some critical moments of emotion could have been handled with a little more power, but with that said, the tone of this film is fairly lighthearted at times despite its core message (this is not to say the film is lighthearted). And I should also add, the gore effects are all awesome. Lots of practical work done, and so much of it is very creative and inventive. I had a blast during these scenes, and there are more than enough of them.

I could go on about the minimal, but very good musical score, which builds a tension of eeriness, and at times reminds you that this is in fact an indigenous film. The cinematography is also very good for a Canadian production, with most of the lighting and blocking feeling very expensive and consistent. Some aerial shots even reminded me of the intro to Kubrick's 'The Shining' in which a camera hauntingly looms over the Torrance car.

I enjoyed this film, and it offers a lot of quality effects, passion, and entertainment to be had. Not to mention it manages to leave us with an important, optimistic look towards the future relationship between the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the non-indigenous (English) peoples of Canada, a message that needs to be in the minds of every Canadian today and so forth.

If you get the chance to see this film, do see it, and pay for a ticket if you have the option, because there's no telling how much box office success a film like this will attain, and it deserves more than it may very well get.

7/10

"Just like the dog. Just like the fish." The dead are coming back to life in Jeff Barnaby's socially aware zombie flick, Blood Quantum. As an impressive ode to the legacy of George A. Romero, Barnaby has given us a tale of the end of the world-where only indigenous peoples are spared as the world burns in chaos.

Six months after the apocalypse, those who have survived now reside on Mi'gMaq reserve of Red Crow, where they have regrouped and implemented new rules to live by. Along with mostly indigenous people, a small handful of non-indigenous survivors have escaped the dead for now.

Joseph (Forrest Goodluck) and Lysol-yes that was the character's name well before Covid introduced surreal anecdotes regarding disinfectants, (Kiowa Gordon) are two brothers who have arrived at fundamentally different understanding as to why the dead keep coming back to life.

The relationship between the two brothers is in constant flux as they try to grasp the fact that their father; town sheriff (Michael Greyeyes) was never around for his first born, Lysol, but was seemingly always present for Joseph, to dire consequence for the two brothers.

Just as the community of survivors comes to find practicality in their new reality a war is waged and a final battle begins, pinning the walking dead and humans alike of one belief system against people of a different view. In the third and final act the depravity of men becomes worse than what Mother Earth has unleash.

With a little tightening of the wrench, Blood Quantum could compete with the best of 'em. It is an entertaining zombie film; those of us who love the genre will especially dig it. The movie's message is spelled out clearly and it plays out well as the metaphor that all of our decisions will come back and haunt us. Had the dialog used a little fine tuning, Blood Quantum could soar.