Blood

I saw this movie at the Fantasia festival here in Montreal. The first five minutes had some promise but then it quickly fell apart into a dreadfully slow and boring "story", which didn't make much sense anyway. I walked out before the end, because no human being can endure over two hours of this. It's too long, nothing happens, it could easily stand to lose an hour (not kidding), without affecting the "plot".

Just to give you an idea, the scenes which were supposed to be scary or disgusting, people in the audience just laughed (half heartedly).

Not scary at all, no suspense (because I just didn't care about any of the characters), and just too long.

STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS.

I saw this movie way back in 2004, dubbed in French, and absolutely loved it. I wasn't going to post an in depth analysis here but apparently I need 10 lines to be able to post so I have to come up with a bit more to say. Alors, the film was sexy, gory, fast paced with clean audio and a decent soundtrack. I just wish more people agreed with me. Damn, how much does one have to say about a movie here...? Sex, drugs and rock and roll baby. That's what this movie is all about, with a slightly vampiric undertone. A smaller production film with themes outside of mainstream subject matter (drug and sex addiction). I'd love to see Charlie do another film sometime. Well done mate!

When I saw that the average rating for this film was only a 4, I felt compelled to write about this captivating low budget endeavor. Blood is listed on IMDb as a horror film, when actually it should be categorized as a thriller. Does it have a vampire? Well, yes and no, as Lix, the Antagonist(?) of the story must survive on human blood. The crux is that Lix's blood is a narcotic for normal humans, and is highly addictive. This of course leads to all sorts of erotic sexuality involving blood between her and the doctor who genetically created her, who quickly becomes an addict. As with all romance and sex involving human blood, things cannot end well. The film has an excellent plot, moves along well, and the acting is very good. The actress who plays Lix is erotic and innocent at the same time, and Adrian Rawlins is superb as the doctor/geneticist who gives up everything for his addiction. Will keep you on the edge of your seat.

BLOOD starts out as a story about a woman named Lix (Lee Blakemore) who is rescued by two men from a horrible situation. Lix has been found strapped to a chair with a muzzle on her face. Her captors have been systematically draining her of blood.

However, all is not as it appears to be, and Lix's rescuers soon discover the terror they've inadvertently brought upon themselves.

BLOOD is a British horror film reminiscent of early Cronenberg. It's strange and disturbing in that sort of cold, clinical way.

Recommended for those looking for a radically different take on the vampire story, with an addiction subtext...

I'll admit right off the bat that there are some very graphic and disturbing scenes involving sexual intercourse and blood-drinking done simultaneously. But those scenes only enhance what is essentially a moving and powerful melodrama.

There are so many themes and ideas involved with this movie, like drug addiction, infidelity, shattered dreams, alienation, doomed love...the list goes on. This is one of a few "horror" movies where in the end, I really felt more sad and depressed for the characters rather than shocked or frightened. The writing and especially the performances are superb and they bring the insanely original and unique premise down to earth, making it perfectly understandable. And they leave enough information of the origin of Lix out during most of the movie so you're allowed to guess and wonder where exactly she came from.

The direction is also done very well. It's stylish, but not too stylish, not too over-the-top. Charly Cantor never once goes for style-over-substance. If I have one complaint about the movie, it's that the scene involving the three junkies coming back for Lix is done a bit carelessly and hustled. But I think that whole subplot might have been unnecessary anyway, so I'm not too hung up on it. The music, done by Erasure's Vince Clarke, is also fantastic. His deep dark synths and mournful piano melodies fit the mood of the movie perfectly, and the songs picked for the soundtrack fit rather nicely as well.

This movie is literally a rare find. On Dec. 30th, 2003, I suddenly found it brand new for rental at a videostore. So hopefully anyone who ever wanted to see this will finally get a chance, or anyone who was never aware of it will be treated to something very special indeed. But I am afraid this will likely stay one of the most underrated and unappreciated (as well as unknown) movies ever made, which is such a shame. My rating: 8/10