Leichen an der Angel

I recently watched Blood Hook (1986) on Tubi. The storyline unfolds during a fishing derby with numerous participants, but unfortunately, a serial killer with a giant fishing lure and pole is on the hunt for fishermen.

The film, directed by Jim Mallon (known for 78 episodes of Mystery Science Theater), features Mark Jacobs (Goodfellas), Lisa Jane Todd (Playback), Bill Lowrie (Prisoner), and Paul Heckman.

Embracing a classic '80s atmosphere in settings, circumstances, conversations, and acting, the movie stands out for its unique premise. The kills are unconventional, with a giant fishing lure soaring across the screen and landing on unsuspecting victims. While the film could have been better with additional gore and more impactful kills, they may have been the best they could do with low budget of $200k.

In conclusion, Blood Hook is a below-average addition to the horror genre that only for diehard fans of the '80s-era contributions to the genre. I would give it a score of 3.5-4/10 but recommend watching it once.

It is kind of funny that someone who would later be one of the forces behind a television show that made fun of bad movies would have one on his resume. Not that it is all bad, for a Troma movie it does have its moments. This one is not as goofy as a lot of Troma movies get, in fact it is one of the more straight horror movies I have seen from them. The only thing odd is that people are being killed with a fish hook and reeled in like fish. And no the people are not being killed by a giant fish (though that would have been rather good). This one instead is a basic slasher with the mode of death being the only real unique touch to it. Unlike newer Troma movies this one is a real movie too. They had a movie advertised on my copy of this called "Tales from the Crapper" and it basically looked like a tape of Girls Gone Wild. So this one looks great by comparison. Like a lot of slashers you don't know who the killer is and they try to fool you, but in this case once you know the killer the movie goes on a bit too long after. It runs about 10 minutes more than it should. Though this is not a cinematic classic it is not all bad especially considering it is a Troma picture.

Giant Musky Bait = Murder Weapon = Cheesy Fun.

This is the cheesiest of all 80's slasher attempts. It's even cheesier than Slash Dance or Killer Workout.

I put off watching the flick for years. I guess there was a reason for that. When I finally popped the tape into my ancient vcr, I giggled under my breath, but couldn't bring myself to a full laugh.

The synth score is really catchy and adds an uneasiness throughout the film, even tho you know there's absolutely nothing eerie about it.

Only die hard cheese fans will find something enjoyable about someone casting a large musky bait onto someone until they die. Very sappy.

Is it worth a watch? Hell yeah. Grab a beer, kick back, and prepare to see something like you've never before seen.

"Blood Hook", Terror of the fresh water fishermen. It's a typical slasher movie of the 80s. A group of kids go somewhere. They meet an assortment of strange characters. One by one the characters get killed off in a bloody way. Bad acting, a poor plot, and ridiculous situations permeate this movie. All the usual stuff for a rip em up movie such as this. This blood and guts spilling movie takes place on a fresh water lake among a group of fishermen during a fishing tournament. That may be unique, I don't recall seeing a fisherman slasher movie before. Someone kills off people with a huge treble hooked lure. That's what makes this movie a little different. Fishermen might get a kick out of this one. This is something to watch with your fishing buddies after a day of fishing. Sometime when your not in the mood for a really serious movie anyway. Another thing different about this movie is that Jim Mallon directed it. This is the same Jim Mallon that directed Mystery Science Theater; a show that pokes fun at badly made movies. "Blood Hook" would be a prime candidate for that show. I saw "Blood Hook" on a DVD I rented called Troma Triple B-Header containing three movies, "Blood Hook", "Blades" and "Zombie Island Massacre". Low budget, low quality, simple stuff. I got what I expected and a few unexpected laughs to go along with it.

Blood Hook is a surprisingly well-directed D-movie. What I mean is, I picked this film expecting nothing - an 80s derivative slasher with no budget that i'm likely to turn off in 10 minutes. But there are enough skillful ingredients here that I stayed for the full duration. Now, would I have done so if I double-checked and saw that it was 112 minutes long? Advisably not; BUT: this was a competently made nothing, to the degree I will be sad if the director went on to do nothing after trying their best with the nothing they had to showcase their talents with.

Pros: the 'backstory' mysterious death sequence succeeds in introducing enough unique intrigue to rope viewers in to the meandering main plot. I don't know what it is, but there's this big cart on tracks that's used to go downhill to the pier? And the use of it is the kind of odd, dreamlike imagery that really deserves a better movie. And during this-as well as being reincorporated throughout-a song that seems made for the film, a lynchian ballad about fishing, coos its way to being a signal of fishing-related terror. #2- the characters are quickly well-defined. They may be shallow, but we do get a sense easily of what their archetypes are. And they do play out their roles in the plot to entertaining effect, even if in a B-movie fashion. By the end we have a vietnam-vet nutjob, a spoiled brat boy, and a doom prophet working with our sleepy once-native-of-the-small-fishing-ville protagonist piecing together the murderer. I want to convey to you that while this movie does fall into the old shtick of a runtime mainly comprised of people ditzing around to waste time, it is all naturally-paced and cleanly edited time-wasting. Im surprised the film goes so long in the runtime because unlike typical ripoff slasher fare, it is not overly long, unmotivated scenes that roll long after someone should say 'cut'. The banal sequences clearly have directing behind them, and even plenty of thought-out shot placements and compositions to try making it more palatable.

So really I can't say this is elevated to higher art, or even horror-the gore/special effects are definitely the most miserable part of the production here-it knew how to be a movie that keeps you engaged enough to keep watching. And the mystery of who the killer is was clearly known from the start. To the point that you can easily see past the red herrings and figure it out halfway through but- that's better than slashers that just have it be totally random, right?

And yes, the gong sound made me laugh before I could name what internet phenomenon I was recognizing it from, until it happened agin and I realized they have the same gong from the Taco Bell ads, pitched descending in spooky fashion. But a real laugh, like some of the details you can pick up on in the movie.

Not a wholehearted recommendation, but... it wasn't too bad really. There is something there; at least worth a vinegar syndrome restored blu ray or something for the niche horror goons.