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.

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.

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.

This movie isn't awful, but it's not good. Its a B-Movie and it doesn't set itself to be a masterpiece, which I can respect.

I think that the acting was a bit awkward at times, but passable and some scenes were even good. Also, the plot isn't original, but it isn't also as cliche as many other horror films. I think the setting was interesting and it had potential. Nevertheless, I must say the film fails to reach a good level simply because in many ways the director played it safe and followed cliches and tropes from other films. The ending is worst part of all, it falls under the category of "super cliches" and it is also the result of a quite big plot-hole. I think they wasted the potential to have an entraining film, the protagonists are luckluster and most of them die in stupid or anticlimactic ways. Therefore, I can't bring myself to rate this more than 5.

Blood Vessel isn't particularly unique or innovative, but it's a solid vampire low-budget horror film. Let's start with the bad. The movie spends almost a full hour and 15 minutes before the vampires start munching on people making the story drag until the action begins. Once the action did start, it was generally quick cuts and shaky cam rather than well-choreographed fights. Now for the good. The set, costumes, creature design, makeup, and practical effects were all excellent for a low-budget film. The eyes of the vampires looked so cool! I really liked the motley crew of characters and their struggle to survive. In the end, Blood Vessel wasn't an outstanding film, but I enjoyed watching it anyway!