Blood Is Blood, 2016.
Written and Directed by Stuart Sauvarin.
Starring Fiona Dourif, Daniel DiTomasso, Kate French, Andrew James Allen, Caitlin Harris, and Teni Panosian.
SYNOPSIS:
A young girl seeks revenge after an unexpected death, while the world around her unravels revealing horrifying secrets about her life and family.
If you don’t have a lot of money to spend but you want to make a film that sells, then the horror genre is a fairly safe bet. There’s still a big market for horror flicks and plenty of audience to cater to, whether you want to satisfy the gore hungry, lovers of ghosts, ghouls, or masked killers. Whatever tickles a horror fans fancy. Of course being such a well worn path for aspiring film-makers (especially producers) it makes creating something a little more original, or special, very difficult.
Blood Is Blood combines a few weathered horror tropes. When visions of her murderous brother begin to blur the line between hallucination and reality, Brie (Fiona Dourif) is trapped in a struggle not just for her sanity but for her life. As the film progresses and Brie makes more sense of her visions, she uncovers dark secrets about her family. This is partly a psychological horror with nods to Psycho and Silence of the Lambs among other films. There’s a certain Hitchcockian vibe with a pinch of Argento, though the film never comes close to such Auteurs at their best (or even on an off day).
There are a few problems with Blood Is Blood, many of which are fairly typical of the straight to DVD (or VOD, or whatever it is these days) horror film. For one, in order to seem fresh and original the film opts to slowly weave together its different plot strands until we have a clear picture of what’s going on. Now, when this is done right it makes for compelling viewing. The key to this is good pacing and engaging plotting. Blood Is Blood lacks both unfortunately. The film ambles a lot, even with a short run time it can’t quite keep a tight grip on the reins. A few of the twists are fairly interesting but are either undeveloped or lack the punch intended.
Visually the film is pretty routine. Director Stuart Sauvarin (who also wrote the film) opts for functional. It’s almost paint by numbers horror, but it’s efficiently done none-the-less. The photography is largely a little dull, occasionally painting a more interesting picture for a handful of the scenes.
Okay, so the film isn’t particularly hitting it out of the park, but there are some solid elements here. Caitlin Harris and Andrew James Allen offer good support as two of Brie’s siblings (each with a hidden secret). Then there’s Daniel DiTomasso who looks like he’s wandered in off a perfume ad. He’s a little too on the nose with his performance but is okay. The real star of the film is the leading lady Fiona Dourif (Yes…daughter of Brad). She’s engaging as Brie and gives a complex and committed performance. In fact she does her level best to single-handedly elevate the film and make it more watchable. Without such a strong lead the audience may drift off and lose interest. Granted you can say that about almost any film, but really, Blood Is Blood doesn’t quite make full use of its premise and doesn’t particularly draw you in, and that is why Dourif’s performance is so important. She makes the film worthwhile.
Blood Is Blood is flawed and flat but thanks to some solid acting, particularly from Dourif, it’s worth a viewing. It won’t live long in the memory but it’s all competently made.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published September 10, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
