Family Blood

When it comes to modern Horror, lowered expectations have been serving me quite well for over a decade now. Think about it, it's a lot easier to enjoy a film even when it's mediocre and below if one's expectations are for a mediocre and below viewing experience. It even allows for a few pleasant surprises, when one of these films turn out to be good. In the case of Family Blood, not expecting a masterpiece (and not getting one) has made it so I actually enjoyed it, albeit to a limited extent.

Considering this title doesn't currently have a synopsis and the limited summary gives very little details - I consider most details (even those one finds out in the first 30 minutes) as spoilers and will refrain from mentioning them. Suffice it to say that the best part about Family Blood, in my opinion, is the portraying of protagonist Ellie's attempts to cope with her addictions, both her original one and her new one. The acting is also great, especially by the younger cast, i.e. Ellie's children Kyle and Amy who are forced to see their mother spiraling out of control.

Both IMDB and Netflix have this title tagged as Horror as well as Thriller, which in my opinion is utterly misleading and almost deceptive. Three or four Horror scenes and a plot revolving around a single element usually considered a Horror component do not make a Horror film. Family Blood is a good enough Drama and quite suspenseful at times, but it is far from being actually scary in any way. As an addict myself (clean and sober, going on seven years, yay me) I got some added emotional value out of watching this, but I doubt most people would find this title to be more than average, at best.

In summary, Family Blood is not unwatchable and could even be quite enjoyable, with lowered expectations. It's one of these films available on Netflix which are suspenseful enough to enjoy and not enough scary or horrific to ruin a good meal or snack. Not really recommended, not really not recommended, just average. You might enjoy it, you might not.

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.

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.

Different from what you might be used to but with that comes intrigue. Only complaint is that despite the slow process, character development was kind of a miss, as well as certain aspects of the movie where they had a chance to totally invent itself since it was a pretty original idea. Instead they fell back on tired ideas. When it comes to casting not to bad pretty good fits except for a role that really wasn't too important. Ajiino Alexus did a fine job but doesn't pass for a high school kid, which falls on the casting director. If you have time give it a watch.

Watched this with a couple of friends, the movie was very generic and boring, overdone plot and had forgettable characters, wouldn't recommend this 3/10