Blood (2023) Movie Drinking Game
Do a Shot: for every blood pack.
Do a Shot: every time Owen takes a shot of Blood
Take a Drink: for any poor animal in this film.
Take a Drink: every time Jess’ competency come into question.
By: Movie Snurb (Three Beers) –
Blood follows Jess (Michelle Monaghan) as she attempts to rebuild her life after getting sober and getting divorced from Skeet Ulrich (possibly Billy Loomis if he had had a normal life). She moves into her parent’s farmhouse with her two kids and the divorce proceeding rage on.
One night their dog runs away into the woods, then he returns, but is clearly different. Possibly ran into that theater from the film Demons, because his eyes are glowing. He attacks Owen, the young son who is his main caretaker.
Days later after this attack Owen becomes bloodthirsty, and Jess, a nurse, does what a mother does. She begins to help feed his need in an attempt to do what is best for her child. I’ll leave it there because the film does take some unexpected turns.
Do Demons (1985) and Blood (2023) take place in the same universe?
A Toast
Writer Will Honley and director Brad Anderson never go for over-the-top gore or melodramatics. Instead this is a very reserved and realistic version of what vampirism might look like. It’s closer to last year’s Bones and All rather than Dracula. Except in this version the love is between a Mother and Son and not two young lovers.
Everything remains grounded by the reserved but great performances by Michelle Monaghan, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong as Owen, Skylar Morgan Jones as Jess’s two kids, and Skeet Ulrich in his limited run-time. No one goes off the rails in their performances, instead everyone commits to the ideas in the film.
One thing that is a sign of good writing is laying the groundwork for things to come into play later. This is something that directors like Tarantino and Hitchcock were very good at, the latter for example in North by Northwest when a matchbook from a seemingly insignificant scene plays an integral part in the story later.
Now, I am not saying Will Honley is the next Hitchcock or Tarantino, but there is care and attention to detail in doing this. To a point where you know you can trust the filmmakers when watching a film like this.
Beer Two
Unless I missed it, there is a storyline that is left open and it’s the kind of storyline that will be bugging you long after you watch the film. After so much care clearly went into the script it’s weird that such a detail was completely missed in the third act.
Beer Three
At 108 minutes the run-time feels long. Especially for a small independent film. There is a very good under 100 minute film in here. The payoff is good, but the film feels like it sputters a couple times to get there.
P.S. – I don’t want to make this a critique of the film, but being a dog owner, there is a horrid scene with a dog that is difficult to watch for any dog lover. It is important to the story, it’s not a cheap device to manipulate the audience, but it might turn some people off so much that they shut the movie off altogether.
Verdict
Though a little long, Blood is still a solid indie horror that real horror fans will enjoy. It does come with a disclaimer for dog lovers, but if you can push through that a good horror film awaits. Plus it takes a dark turn I did not see coming, mainly because I didn’t think a filmmaker would go there, but he did kill a dog so…
