Bloodline Killer

I went into this hopeful there was a slasher I wanted, a slasher I needed. What I got was a mixed bag of delayed promises and a look at the potential of a slasher rising. What pulled me in was Shawnee Smith, she's in her element in the horror genre and she delivers. The rest of the cast , Tyrese Gibson, Taryn Manning and Bruce Dern are solid in their roles. There's a bit of predictability with the storyline and a lack of cohesion from time to time but the feeling of unease helps make up for it. There's a sense of foreboding that creeps in and it does, but not as often as I'd like it to. When we do meet the slasher it's a welcome sight and more of it would be better.

I will never understand how people make money in this industry by making bad movies and how such projects are financed.

The director has almost no 5-star rating in his past. How can you make such a bad movie and sell it and make money?

A movie that is a rip-off of Halloween and Friday the 13th. But the worst rip-off. We have a masked killer with a very modern haircut. Amanda, whom we know from the Saw movies, plays the mother of two men here. But the men are older than her. The acting is a disaster. The movie is not even worth watching to fill your free time.

There is no sex or nudity in the film.

Given my love of the horror genre, of course I had to sit down and watch this 2024 movie titled "Bloodline Killer", as I happened to come across it by random chance. In fact, I didn't even know that the movie existed, so I wasn't sure what I was in for here. But I figured that a movie with another masked slasher couldn't possibly be all bad.

Writers Anthony Gaudioso and James Gaudioso, however, put together a script and storyline that I found to be somewhat bland and generic. It wasn't a particularly innovative or overly interesting story and narrative. Sure, if you're a newcomer to the horror genre, then you would perhaps get a kick out of watching "Bloodline Killer", but having been watching horror movies for 40+ years, this movie just really didn't impress me.

Sure, it was a watchable movie, but nothing outstanding or memorable. It was suitable for a single viewing, but hardly a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I would be expecting a sequel to.

The acting performances in the movie were fair, but the actors and actresses were somewhat held back by an interior script that was lacking in the story and character department. There were a couple of familiar faces and names on the cast list, to help make it a bit more bearable to sit through, with the likes of Shawnee Smith, Taryn Manning, Tyrese Gibson and Bruce Dern.

The killer in "Bloodline Killer" was insanely generic and devoid of anything to make him interesting or scary. And the movie suffered terribly from that, because the killer was essentially just another random guy with a mask bought off of Wish. So writers Anthony Gaudioso and James Gaudioso sort of dropped the ball here, especially since there are so many other slasher movies out there with masked killers that shine in comparison to "Bloodline Killer".

Would I recommend you to sit down and watch "Bloodline Killer"? No, not really, especially not if you have seen a fair share of slasher flicks, then "Bloodline Killer" just simply doesn't cut it - pardon the pun.

My rating of director Ante Novakovic's 2024 movie "Bloodline Killer" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

Poorly written, poorly acted and the ending is just plain stupid. The "main villain" is a bullet proof copy of Jason Voorhees from Wish and everybody else is a one dimensional caricature made out of cardboard. People seem to trip and faint at the slightest gust of wind so that the plot can happen, if there was an actual plot.

They kept flashbacking to something that didn't connect to anything else except on the writer's head. What was the deal with the flashbacks and why were they relevant, we'll never know. The script was probably written in 10 minutes on a napkin by someone on their way to their work. Would not recommend to anyone.

Shawnee Smith (SAW FRANCHISE) her role as a mother reminds people that mothers in horror films do appreciate their sons very much. The premise is intriguing, with the killer's identity and motivations revealed early on as well as the sister shows up, stripping away the mystery that could have propelled the narrative. While the performances, particularly by Taryn Manning as Sam Marrin and James Gaudioso as Connor Cole, are commendable, they're not enough to elevate the predictable plot. The film's pacing is inconsistent, with a setup that takes too long to unfold and a climax that, despite its potential for excitement, is marred by dim lighting that leaves viewers squinting rather than shrieking. The twist of focusing on male victims is a refreshing change from the genre's norms, but it feels like a missed opportunity to delve deeper into the characters' psyches. "Bloodline Killer" tries to pay homage to classics like "Halloween," but it falls short of delivering the suspense and terror of its predecessors. The script's lack of subtlety and the film's over-reliance on clichés make it a forgettable addition to the horror roster. Is a film that might appeal to die-hard fans of the genre looking for a casual watch, but it won't leave a lasting impression. It's a middle-of-the-road effort that neither fully disappoints nor excites.