Bloodgnome

In this unofficial sequel to Critters (or maybe it's Ghoulies), a bunch of evil latex puppets terrorize anyone foolish enough to partake in BDSM. The sad part is, there's almost an interesting idea here, but it is totally wasted. It would have been nice if the writer would have actually done some research, rather than just watching Exit to Eden a couple of times and assuming he knew anything about the fetish community.

There's a goofy walkthrough by Scream Queen Julie Strain (which may be the highlight of the movie, sad to say). This movie would make Lloyd Kaufman, Roger Corman and Charlie Band cringe.

What I hate is that actress Ms. Pursley gets absolutely no credit for being the one single believable character in the movie. Considering the ridiculous writing, she probably did the best that was possible in such a mess. Entertaining, oddly. I hope the people controlling the camera shots are never involved in any movie, ever again. I made a better cinematographer when I was six. No, I'm not a cinematographer... that's how bad it was. The idea for the movie was not at all horrific. It certainly should not be considered a horror. Let's give credit to Ms. Pursley for her acting, shoot the cinema crew and at least thank the writers for a new and genuine idea.

This is the first new "nasty little buggers on the loose" movie since, probably the last Critters film in the 90's, that I've seen sneak it's way onto Blockbuster's shelves. So what does this film have that previous little hellion-based films don't have? Gratuitous nudity and tons of S & M, that's what.

This movie is apparently about a woman who had a bunch of tiny little monsters living with her that are called "Blood Gnomes." The woman is into sado-masochism, and lo and behold, so are the little monsters because they really get off on eating those types of people. You know, people that like bondage and that sort of crap. Well, of course, these little monsters are leaving a lot of dead kinky people in their wake and the police simply must investigate the deaths. Well, plucky crime scene photographer with a problematic past (of course) begins to see the little monsters at the crime scenes. Oh and he gets involved with a chick that operates a BDSM store—so it has a tender side, too. Just for you softies out there. Hey, it sounds pretty stupid, but is at least more tolerable than some of the crap coming out Hollywood these days that's being called "horror."

Here's the breakdown:

The Good:

--The tons and tons of nudity is really nice. What'd you expect here? Acting?

--The movie is surprisingly watchable for a low-brow, straight to DVD movie.

--Amusing story.

--Decent blood and gore.

Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:

--The acting is nothing special, but not as bad as I had feared.

--The look of the puppets is pretty cool, if not very original—they do look an awful lot like the Ghoulies and those little buggers from "The Gate."

--Uninspired music and average atmosphere.

The Bad:

--The little blood gnome guys look awfully puppety every now and then—and very rubbery.

--While the nudity and S&M crap really make the movie watchable, it feels like that's the only reason to watch this film.

--While amusing, the story is also nothing exceptionally new or special.

--Some of the acting is pretty bad.

--The writing is awfully unsophisticated.

The Ugly:

--Occasionally, characters talk to themselves in a mindless attempt to let us, the viewer, know what they're thinking. Apparently, the filmmakers didn't know any better way to do it.

--Claustrophobic camera use with an offensively high amount of close-ups. There was approximately three long shots in the whole film—that's hardly an exaggeration.

--Spends more time meandering around as a really soft-core nudie flick with S&M subtleties than it does building atmosphere for a good horror flick.

Memorable Scene:

--When the hero actually talks with the blood gnomes—via an internet instant message program! Really!

Acting: 5/10 Story: 6/10 Atmosphere: 3/10 Cinematography: 2/10 Character Development: 4/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 8/10 (lots of nudity, though mostly chests and asses of women, with mild S&M) Violence/Gore: 7/10 Dialogue: 5/10 Music: 4/10 Direction: 6/10

Cheesiness: 6/10 Crappiness: 2/10

Overall: 5/10

Hey, if you like horror movies with total assloads (pun intended) of nudity and some decent violence and funny little creatures that like hurting people, then weirdo, this one's for you. People who like their movies with a lot of quality might want to steer clear.

(www.ResidentHazard.com)

Invisible, blood thirsty gnomes from another dimension kill people who are engaging in some S&M! Yes, really!! Utterly crazy plot with no explanation to this madness. Micro budget movie, so perhaps having the creatures invisible saved money on special effects (they can, however, been seen through the lead character's video camera & to be fair the effects are actually quite reasonable). As S&M is central to this film there is a lot of sex & nudity, which does hep detract from the awfulness of this ridiculous movie. Wooden is generally poor & in one scene a guy can be seen in the background setting up a prop. This is a seriously bad movie - I expected nothing less - but there is some fun to be had from watching it too.

The sheer stupidity of this movie I can get past. But the fact they tried to take themselves seriously for this pile of crap I can't. You really don't want to see this movie, and if I hadn't gotten a free copy of it, I wouldn't have seen it either. Do yourself a favor, go watch Gremlins, cause this movie isn't scary, funny, or sexy. They want you to think so, but it just isn't

Julie Strain, what were you thinking????