Blood Relative

"Oh Goody", you might say. "Another micro-budget gangster / revenge action movie". While a market exists for cheap horror movies, I've found out (the hard way) that there's just little public interest in cheap action movies. What low budget, often-indistinguishable action movies that luckily do make it to the DVD bargain bin always star some faded action star like Steven Seagal, Dolph Lundgren, or Van Damme. So, I have to applaud any filmmaker out there brave enough to tackle the action / crime genre with no stars or any other big high-concept "hook" to it to speak of. BLOOD RELATIVE, a down and dirty little action movie, has a lot of low expectations to battle with but I have to say it pleasantly surprised me.

The Good:

• An extremely unpredictable plot for the most part. To keep a film like this fresh, you have to keep the audience from guessing what's coming next because we've all seen this a thousand times before. This film rarely falls into convention.

• Excellent use of martial arts and professional fight scenes right up there with anything you'll see in a million-dollar Canadian direct-to-video action movie starring someone like Bren Foster, Luke Goss or Darren Shahlavi. Ozuna in particular adds a Dwayne Johnson-esque presence, even wielding a large chunk of wood while he Walks Tall in one particular scene.

• The final gunfight makes up for a lot of shortcomings in the previous gun battles in the film. It makes all the difference to see practical squibs and real weapons firing blanks as opposed to the usual CGI stupidity you'll see in films like this.

• A few of the cast members do very credible jobs playing hit-men and henchmen. A few of the lower-level thugs at the boxing gym particularly put in such on-target performances that I have to wonder if they were actually acting at all. Hats off particularly to Liz Clare and James Allen Brewer who fully commit themselves to their parts.

• Better sound than you'll usually see in a movie this small, with good subtle dialog scenes well captured, particularly in the first third of the film.

• A few surprisingly beautiful shots here and there, especially where the woman hides out near the ocean.

The Bad:

• The middle section of the film sags a bit with the micro-budget often revealing itself, annoyingly so, through some uninspired dialogue scenes with mismatched eyelines, a few weak/uneven performances, and a lack of lighting in many scenes.

• A few key plot elements make little sense and/or never get resolved. At one point a character steals another's car and smashes it up, leaving it at a murder scene, but the other character (who we must assume is really stupid because he leaves his finger-print covered knife at another crime scene later in the movie), doesn't ever ask later on about what happened to his car.

• During the fights and chases, the suspension of disbelief gets compromised by an apparent over-respect for private property and the lack of money for proper stunts. For instance, nothing gets broken during the numerous fight scenes even when there's plenty of perfectly good TV's and bookcases around to destroy and throw at each other. Also notice that when a henchman chases a woman through an industrial area, they both seem a lot more interested in avoiding hurting themselves than moving as fast as truly terrified / angry people would.

• Some of the gunfire VFX and squibs earlier in the film are just not very believable, but at least kept fairly restrained. The worst offender has to be during a rooftop sniper scene where his muzzle flashes aren't even coming out of his barrel.

• The blue steel color palette gets a bit irritating at times. I can see what they were going for and it works near the start, but could have used a little more TLC to give this movie a little more visual panache.

Verdict:

Considering what the budget must have been, you'll be hard pressed to find something in the genre more credible. It's amazing that Fredianelli has directed upwards of 30 films but has yet to do one for a major (or minor) studio. That may change soon, assuming this film (or sections of it) finds the luck to land on the right person's desk.

BLOOD RELATIVE is an above average Wild Dogs crime thriller with good helpings of action and suspense. In particular, it gets a lot of bang for its buck with memorable action sequences sprinkled throughout. Plenty of blank rounds are dispensed, cars smashed, and bloody squibs discharged. Also on display in the action department are a bevy of bare knuckled martial arts scuffles choreographed by John Ozuna (who co-stars in the movie alongside lead Jeremy Koerner) and a memorable scene involving a tough as nails Koerner wielding a claw hammer.

BLOOD RELATIVE also excels when it comes to the variety of locations and memorable faces it employs. Highlights included gorgeously photographed shots of downtown San Francisco in the movie's tense (and mostly dialogue free) opening, a superb foot chase through graffitied urban ruins, a mafia run bar, tattoo parlor, fight gym, and more. Liz Clare (who could easily pass for Bettie Page!) shines as Koerner's on screen sister who finds herself in trouble when her tattoo artist boyfriend gets called on to fill in as a mafia hit-man. Koerner performs well, but he appears more comfortable and natural in the movie in full-on badass mode as opposed to his scenes working as a guidance counselor or playing a father figure to his kid sister in Clare. In a way that's kind of the point though and necessary as you learn more and more about his character. It's easy to gather John Ozuna is more of a martial arts expert than he is actor, but he fares well here for someone one can assume is fairly new to the acting game. James Allen Brewer and David Cordoni (HARD PROFIT) are great in roles as mob underbosses, while Joseph Camilleri makes for a fine kingpin (who happens to be given the funny character eccentricity of being a horrible wannabe lounge singer who can't stop belting tunes).

Look out for a twist ending that will no doubt have you thinking after the end credits have rolled. While it might seem to defy logic initially, it's a fun way to get the viewer putting the pieces together and writing their own epilogue. Seems to have been director Fredianelli's intent and not a mean spirited "@#$%* with audiences" moment. It's all in the subtext. In conclusion, BLOOD RELATIVE comes recommended. Not Fredianelli's best work, but still solid. Much superior to the filmmaker's crime thriller from last year HARD PROFIT.

What can you say about a film like this. A religious vigilante. Some dreadful acting. A cruddy script. I sat through it so you don't have to.