Livro de Sangue

Clive Barker released a series of short stories back in 1984 through 1986 called the Books of Blood; exploring themes of fantasy and horror. Barker was originally a writer and later turned his interests towards that of film making. His background has allowed him to release great titles like Hellraiser (based on Barker's The Hellbound Heart), Nightbreed (A tale based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos), Lord of Illusions (The Last Illusion), and Midnight Meat Train (which also happens to be another short story from the Books of Blood). This particular films draws influence from two of his short stories, The Book of Blood and On Jerusalem Street (a postscript). There are 6 volumes to the Books of Blood, but personally I've only read Volume 4.

A paranormal investigator hires an equipment expert and a so-called psychic to explore a house - one that has witnessed a brutal murder. What they discover is not your typical spiritual activity but an intersection for the dead. This isn't your run-of-the-mill haunted house story; there is plenty to think about and consider with a fair amount of violence and thrills. The final act of this film is really awesome, almost making it worth it just for that alone. Unfortunately Barker did not direct or produce this film, but John Harrison did a wonderful job representing him. Harrison did great work of his own, such as 1990's Tales from the Darkside: The Movie and several episodes of Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Darkside.

Clive is back, in some form or another! Now, I shall recite a quote by Stephen King from 25 years ago: "I have seen the future of horror, his name is Clive Barker."

Actually I do like the theme of story. And it has a pretty good ending. The problem is, what lies before that and how the story is treated. While I haven't read the source material (book by Clive Barker), I'm sure it is a far better and more complex story to be found there, which didn't translate to the screen.

Apart from the pacing and a story twist that will leave with a bad feeling (again, I don't know if it's the same in the novel), what really gets to you, is the fact, that the actors are pretty dull. I'm not saying bad, just dull. It's exactly about sympathizing with them, but they leave you more than cold (no pun intended). Which might work for other movies, but not here. Still there are a few scares, it's quite nicely shot and the aforementioned ending ... other than that? Not much!

A young man, captured for his unique skin, is about to be flayed by a bounty hunter. But first, he tells his story of how his skin got the way it is: torn to shreds and covered in unique markings. He is, literally, a book of blood.

This is a work of Clive Barker's, originally two of his short stories combined together. The Barker themes are evident: like "Hellraiser", the dead have a gateway to this world through the flesh and blood of the living. And that gateway is connected to a certain place in space (in both cases, an upstairs room of a house). Even Simon Bamford of "Nightbreed" and "Hellraiser" shows up to continue his ubiquitous run in Barker films.

John Harrison directs this film beautifully. Between him and the cinematographer, they make a gorgeous film with a perfect setting and mood. It's delightfully haunting, and the gore effects are enjoyable (there is a face-ripping scene that stands out as one of the film's highlights). While I enjoy Harrison's "Tales From the Darkside" better, I think this better showcases his artistic abilities.

The problem with "Book of Blood" is an issue not unique to this film: it is adapted from a short story, and to stretch a short story into a full, feature film just does not always work. Some of this film is strong, but other parts just drag or seem extraneous. It could have been shortened to an hour and would have been a superior film, most likely. Chicago critics Jon Kitley and Aaron Christensen suggested that it could have been an anthology, mixed with Barker's "Dread" and "Midnight Meat Train". This is a fine suggestion... but too late now, giving us three average films rather than one superior film.

Horror Society rightly concludes that "this movie wasn't a disappointment", as it was no worse than I expected when taking my seat in the theater. Though, to be honest, my expectations were not overly high -- I had only the barest interest in this film and had heard nothing good about it. Clive Barker fans will need to see this one, but others can do fine without it. The Blu-Ray is a bare bones release, so if you're looking for features to plump this film up, you're screwed. Worth seeing? Maybe. A must-see? Definitely not.

I saw this at the fantasia film festival. Since I am a huge Clive Barker fan and have read the Books of Blood I had very high expectations for this movie. But it really let me down. It was not very exciting at all. None of the characters were interesting. I didn't feel like I was experiencing Clive Barker's stories at all. The effects were cool and there was plenty of violence just like I expected. But I didn't relate to any of the characters like I did in the book. It was still interesting to see a budget take on this type of story and I was definitely creeped out by some of the events in Tollington House. But it was almost like I kept waiting for it to get good, and it never did.

Saw this movie on 7th of march at the fantasy film fest nights in Hamburg. What a mess of a film. Unbelievable Characters with unbelievable actions without any point. Dramatic situations change into scenes like this: "OK, something supernatural just happened here what i was working and waiting for all my life, which i have never expected to happen, and which scared the hell out of me, but hey, although its dangerous and i am wounded - ah, lets just have sex..." ??? The plot jumps from one "topic" to another and everything is getting so confused that you just don't get the goal of this movie. Was it about ghosts, childhood trauma, erotic fantasies or about voyeurs? All these Topics put together in one movie make all the good, dramatic aspects look just laughable. The climax was simply ridiculous too, so to sum it all up - it was a mess of a movie with some good attempts, shocking effects and some nice visuals, but complete absence of credibility. Not worth watching it.