Family Blood

This movie was a slow burn kind of, but it is really smart, and I thought a unique take on the type of movie it is. 5/10 would rewatch this with a friend.

I just watched Family Blood on Netflix, knowing that it hadn't been favorably reviewed so my expectations were lowered. I'm still a bit surprised by the low rating on here (currently a 4.3), the film has a lot going for it, but also has it's share of issues. First off, the production values on this one are excellent, especially assuming this was likely a lower budgeted film. But a great looking and sound film does not make a film great. The story is pretty interesting, if nothing totally new. A mother of two teenagers who is trying to overcome a drug addiction becomes a vampire (via another vampire) and then begins to deal with her new addiction to blood. The blood addiction being compared to drugs is very heavy handed, but that's where this one redeems itself a bit. It focuses more on drama than horror, and so if you're looking for straight up horror this one is not for you, however if you like some drama in the mix, you might want to give it a shot. I enjoyed the slow pace, as I mentioned before, my expectations were that it was heavily focused on drama and so I didn't feel disappointed in the lack of horror on screen. However there are numerous unnecessary "jump" scares (that didn't make me jump) where they are just too forced. Also how many times are people going to call out a character's name? Holy! Half the dialogue in this was just saying the a name of a character, often multiple times over. The biggest issue to me though was the editing. I don't mean every cut, but most scene transitions were handled clumsily. It seemed like they needed to fill a gap in between scenes and transitions were awkward. Characters felt like they just appeared and disappeared as the the filmmakers needed at any moment during a scene. They'd wander down a hallway for no real reason and then they'd be somewhere else entirely a couple of shots later. It was strange.

Overall the story is decent, if maybe sometimes a bit slow, and it gets bogged down by some odd editing choices. The actors do a commendable job, and the cinematography is great. If you're looking for horror then skip it, if you are looking for something more about the drama with horror elements then it might be worth a shot.

Remember Vinessa Shaw? She was the lead female (Excluding the witches) in cult favorite Hocus Pocus (1993). Since then she's done.........and then there was.........and who could forget? Erm, stuff?

Here she leads as a former drug addict turned vampire and the affect it has on her and her two children. I can't help but feel like the whole movie was one big metaphor for addiction.

There is a problem though and it's a big one. The movie is unforgivably boring, so boring in fact I fell asleep about 1/3 of the way through and had to watch the thing from scratch again the next day.

It's SO lifeless, the characters simply aren't likeable and honestly until the last few minutes nothing happens. On top of that I see people claiming this is a new spin on the tired vampire formula, my question is how? How is this a new spin? This has been done before, the whole thing is devoid of originality.

Not one for fans of vampire cinema or for that matter cinema period.

The Good:

.......nope

The Bad:

I actually fell asleep and had to watch it again

So boring

Lifeless nonsense

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Vinessa Shaw has nothing to contribute to the industry

Regular vampires > Twilight Vampires > These vampires

I liked the story line. I liked the slow and steady pace. I really enjoy movies with those qualities. I also love that it's not a volume roller coaster. You know, louder than hell and then suddenly the actors are whispering and then loud again and back and forth. I hate riding the volume buttons on my remote as I'm watching a movie. What I didn't like is how dark it was. I love a dark themed movie but I can't stand when I can't see everything on the screen. I know that may not make sense to a lot of people but there's a difference between a dark movie and a poorly lit movie. But that's just me. My two cents.

So far, Blumhouse Films has done no wrong in my eyes. You can pretty much cover your eyes, point your finger to any one of their titles, and still come up a winner. "Family Blood," unfortunately, wasn't one of those.

Yes, it's a vampire story. And, yes, there were variations to that mythos on display here. But that couldn't make up for the fact that the movie was a long, slow-burning chore with characters you don't really care about. At least the filmmakers didn't throw the whole AA/NA concept down your throat...that much.