Blood Soaked

I had the luck to watch at a friend's house, had no idea what it was, and was really pleasantly surprised.

I went in thinking it was a low budget DTV thing, which my friend often forces down my throat, but this one held something special in it. Really happy to have seen it, and really proud to be able to champion it.

A diamond in a gigantic rough. There's ample gore to keep most folks happy, a few sex scenes to keep more people happy, but what I really liked what was the art behind it. It tries a bunch of weird new things in terms of plot and cinematography that you just don't see everyday. Made it refreshing.

I harbor a lot of passion for films that break molds and try new things, and BLOOD SOAKED is among an upper echelon of independent horror movies that take no prisoners and show you something you've never seen before, like it or not. In this case, you'll like it.

The plot treks through a relatively easy going first day of college for our rather attractive heroine Piper (played by Heather Wilder). She's going to art school and meets up with a standard issue art school crowd (pretentious, weird, self-absorbed, etc.) including the equally attractive and very lesbian Ashley (played by Rachel Corona). They hang out, go to a party, and Piper ends up cheating on her six-pack of a boyfriend back home and makes out with Ashley in a scene that is both exploitative and sweet at the same time.

Then, all of it goes wonderfully downhill. The new lesbian couple is ambushed by two insane neo-Nazi homophobic zombie breeding sisters, played incredibly well by the large chested Laina Grendle and the not-so-well-endowed-but-equally-easy-on-the-eyes Hayley Derryberry. Derryberry you will recognize from the horrid RABID LOVE from earlier this year, but do yourself a favor and ignore that performance (and film) completely, because this redefines her psycho persona.

Beyond that, I can't say anything more as I will get into an incredible amount of spoilers. But that's one of the things that sets this film apart from the standard issue indie dreck we all have to wade through. It's a brisk 70-something minute journey through hell for the nubile Piper that is a constant barrage of curveball after curveball of plot twists, bold cinematography moves, and seamless set design.

Many special things happen in this movie, I can't go into them all for sake of spoilers, but its main purpose is to have fun. Turn your brain off, crack a beer, enjoy the insane and illogical plot, and experience some camera moves and edits that amplify the off the wall experience. There is never a dull moment, it never takes time to breathe, and has its roots deeply planted in American grindhouse filmmaking. Not the way DEAR GOD NO did, with goofy subtext and stupid in your face delivery of ridiculous element after ridiculous element, but with a subtle seriousness that allows you to enjoy the relationships, get invested in characters, and then have a laugh as they die at the same time. Its akin to the tone of the first EVIL DEAD, where its all delivered without a flinch or a wink to the audience, yet tonally it's a straight up comedy. This kind of mixture of comedic and horrific elements is something that's constantly attempted, but rarely executed this well.

As for the DVD, the extras are worth it and include the original short film BLOOD SOAKED was based on, two commentaries (one of which includes Wilder and Grendle getting drunk), an (again drunk) introduction, and some trailers.

All in all, this is another hit for what may be becoming my favorite company, Wild Eye Releasing. 10 out of 10 stars.

We start with a pair of fresh lesbians in college, getting in fights and making out, they're stalked by some cool neo-Nazis who are breeding a zombie army and try to capture the lesbians... I don't want to say more cuz I didn't check the "spoiler" box but I loved loved loved loved this movie. Super stylized, very fun, but can't be taken seriously. Its meant to be like a fun crazy film that should be watched with friends at midnight. And yes, it switches to black and white halfway through but its a cool effect that has an emotional resonance with the story, its not just tacked on. I liked it, it makes things different and adds a dirty grit and grime that other movies just don't have that really reminds me of cool 70s exploitation. Seek this movie out of you know whats good for you, I got my copy from amazon, everyone gets drunk on the commentary track haha

With its heady concoction of lesbians, Nazis and zombies, Blood Soaked certainly has many of the ingredients necessary for a delightfully deranged cult movie in the making; sadly, a poor directorial decision midway means that the film never really fulfils its potential.

Things start off promisingly enough, with a gritty prologue that introduces its psychotic Nazi sisters Sadie (Laina Grendle) and Katie (Hayley Derryberry), before cutting to pretty freshman Piper (Heather Wilder) as she settles into her new college, quickly making a new friend in sexy sophomore Ashley. Director Peter Grendle lets the action flow at a relaxed pace, allowing the audience to get to know and like the protagonists. We don't mind, since we've already seen what's in store for them, and it looks like it'll be worth the wait.

Before long, Ashley reveals that she is a lesbian and convinces Piper that a little sexual experimentation might be just what she needs to help her get over her boyfriend, who is miles away, back in her home town. As Piper and Ashley canoodle in the desert, who should turn up but sickos Sadie and Katie, whose fascist sensibilities are offended by what they see. The scene is now set for some seriously exploitative action...

And then BAM!, just as the plot is about to head into much crazier and bloodier territory, with the abduction of Piper and the introduction of a zombie army, the fun is totally sucked out of proceedings with the inexplicable use of black and white cinematography, in conjunction with shaky hand-held camera-work and inadequate lighting, which turns the rest of the film into a muddled, murky, monochromatic mess. From this point on, it's hard to see what's happening, and even harder to care, the excess of shaky-cam and black blood making several potentially gruesome scenes extremely underwhelming.

Fed up with squinting at the screen trying to figure out what was happening, I was glad when the film finally finished—a shame, because, for a while there, I was having a good time.

"Blood Soaked" could have been a great cult film, if not for an incomprehensible directing decision.

After an expository introduction, we are introduced to Piper (Heather Wilder) arriving at college with her mother. Piper meets one of the RA's, Ashley (Rachel Corona) and despite the fact that Piper has a boyfriend back home, there is attraction. Finally, during a road trip in the desert, Piper and Ashley give in the nature, share a kiss, and begin to talk about possibly being a couple.

But that's about the end of the good times for our heroines -- enter psychotic sisters Sadie (Laina Grendle) and Katie (Hayley Derryberry) who brutally (and I do mean brutally) attack them. Things go from bad to worse as we end up back at the sisters house -- turns out the sisters are not just psychotic, they are also Nazis and have created a bunch of zombies.

Story-wise, "Blood Soaked" does almost everything right. The lead actresses are great in their roles, the story is nasty and never lets up and the story moves in ways that were unpredictable. However, there is a big problem. Just when the sisters attack, the movie -- for absolutely no reason at all -- changes from bright color to bleary, blurry black and white and stays there the rest of the film. There's no good reason for that --- maybe they saved money by not printing in color? Unfortunately, at the same time they stopped paying for color, they also apparently stopped paying for lighting, because not only is the last 2/3 of the film in black and white, it's so poorly lit that at times there just seems to be a series of gray things on the screen. This is especially bad in scenes where seeing what is happening is important -- for example, Piper is attempting a "MacGyver-style" trick on a phone, but it is impossible to see what she is going. It makes the movie virtually unwatchable. I have no idea what could have possessed the director to do this.

Also, as an aside, in addition to not paying for lighting, he apparently also stopped paying for a tripod. Because at times he flings the camera up and down and side to side... you think found footage films will make you queasy? You ain't seen nothing yet.

But all that would have been forgiven is if weren't for the decision to jettison color in favor of poorly lit fuzzy black and white. If the movie stayed in the crisp, clear color of the first third of the film, this would be an 8 or 9 for me. Now, at best a 5 and it kills me to say this because the story and acting is SO GOOD. I have to assume that the black and white was done in post-editing and can be undone. Maybe the director will read these comments and re-release the film in its original color. We can only hope.