Navio de Sangue

"It ain't about luck mate. It ain't. It's how you play the hand you're dealt."

My feelings towards this Aussie horror film are pretty much the same as a year ago when I caught it at a film festival. Generic, if slickly-competent potboiler. It feels like it was taking cues from 'Death Ship' and '30 Days of Nights'. Then trying to add its own spin to the familiar formula, but not completely landing it. By the end the pacing, script and performances probably lets it down.

Set during the end of the Second World War. A small group of survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship adrift at sea in a life raft board a passing Nazi vessel. The Germans were going to be the least of their worries, especially when they find out it homes much more of a threat than they could ever imagined. Something which rid the vessel of its original crew. It's a typical group of cliched caricatures in presenting their personalities and nationalities. The performances of the cast fall into the same pattern as the script. Not awful, just bland and mechanical in delivery.

A lot of the first half is spent on lazy scripted feuding between the characters and wandering dimly lit corridors of a ghost ship figuring out the mystery to what happened to the original crew. Too long is spent on those actions in-spite of the miraculously crafted and photographed set-designs. Very gothic in its vibes. Because when we find out about the real threat, it seems to rush through it without really establishing it properly. So it doesn't feel all that effective when it gets to the bloody carnage. It's one thing to start late, but disappointing when you think there's too little of it for your liking. The FX for the ancient Romanian vampires looked decent enough, but how they presented them in character seemed more laughable then imposing. Too exuberant. You know you're in trouble when the kid feels far more threatening then the adults. I would have been more interested in seeing what happened to the original German crew, then following this ragtag group. Especially with the interesting lore of the Nazi's curiosity in the occult/supernatural.

My expectations were kind of low, so I was surprised in a good way for a change. The acting was ok and also were the effects, it has a nice atmosphere wich overall made this movie a nice experience as for myself . I enjoyed this hour and a half, way more than I thought I would, so for me is a solid 6, for these quarantine days.

Australian movie industry seems to have enjoyed its involvement in a cult Finnish sci-fi satire "Iron Sky" so there's no wonder they ultimately decided to solely shoot their own 'alternate history' flick. "Blood Vessel" is a fun thrill ride fueled with nations conflict ('...and Australia? I ain't even know you people were in the war', desperately shouts Bigelow, an American cook stuck on the Nazi ship) and ancient East Europe evil (no, it's not Teplov, perhaps the finest film's character of Russian descent).

The screenplay doesn't offer much to reflect on and instead fully relies on visuals and actors. Both are indeed solid for an indie level. Nathan Phillips and Alex Cooke had some chemistry which was exteremy important when there's nothing but people talking (more often arguing, truth be told), the rest of the cast, excluding Robert Taylor's unnecessary cameo, also did their best to make their dull characters looks as alive as possible until they're dead. The aforenamed evil also lacks any signs of premise but doesn't make it a big deal when it's finally on loose. We've seen 'Nazis love occult stuff' trope for so many times that there's even no time to ask what the hell does it do here in the first place.

Summing it up, Justin Dix and Jordan Prosser had made a decent B-movie that works in its own cheap way and doesn't leave the prepared audience expecting more than "Blood Vessel" is capable to give.

The offerings of the considerably small niche of horror movies set during a war or another are always welcome in my world, despite most of them being lacklusters - "Blood Vessel", for the most part, is exactly that. Coming from Justin Dix, a special effects aficionado turned writer and director, "Blood Vessel" offers entertainment in the form of 80's best aesthetical traditions, and very little besides that. For extra bonus points, one must take this shlock horror not seriously.

It is 1945 and the middle of the ocean. A real ragtag team - including a tough but righteous Russian sniper, a moronic Englishman, an American cook, an Australian soldier, a useless captain, an all-motherly Alyssa Sutherland, and more - are hopelessly drifting on a raft to a certain death, but a chance at survival presents itself in a form of an eerie, silently drifting German minesweeper. As we tag along our indubitably stereotypical team of heroes on the mysterious Nazi ship, the excursion takes us through ~40 minutes of slow building of a shallow story that has frequent issues, before it kicks the gear into ~40 minutes of a tad bit more entertaining horror feast - none of which is scary. Frankly, "Blood Vessel" is almost entirely void of tension, and the turns of the plot are more likely to elicit a dry response rather than a surprising one.

One thing that "Blood Vessel" has going for it, is the fact that its maker knows and loves practical special effects. Though a low budget feature and playing out as such, among a little confusing action scenes there are mildly satisfying 80's kind of gore and make-up galore. Set designs are also quite fine, but cinematography's uneven and the original score - a highly typical one, not counting the chanting Nazi occult jingles. However, perhaps the most awesome part of "Blood Vessel" is comedy value. Some of it is intentional, some is not, but either way Teplov (Alex Cooke), Sinclair (Nathan Philipps), and even the villain will make up for some amusement, especially if You're not watching it alone.

The lovers of modern shlocks reminiscent of the 80's, and fans of horror movies set in wartimes, such as myself, can try and find some fun in "Blood Vessel", preferably with a friend and a beer. My rating: 4/10.

I had really high hopes for this film after reading many comments. This film both worked and failed for me. It worked as a thriller more than a horror film, the acting was good on most parts, not all. The story was good to. The bad, why Tue bickering between characters, this to me fell right from the start and got on my nerves. There was no surprise at the end, so this was a bit of a let down foe me. The main problem I had was the film was slow in some parts and I found myself getting bored waiting for something to happen. Nearly an above average film but not this time.