Blood Vessel

 

Blood Vessel

2019

Director- Justin Dix

Cast- Nathan Phillips, Alyssa Sutherland, Robert Taylor, Christopher Kirby, Alex Cooke, Mark Diaco. John Lloyd Fillingham, Troy Larkin, Vivienne Perry, Ruby Isobel Hall, Steve Young, Jacinta Stapleton, Mackenzie Stephens

            During World War 2, a group of Allied servicemen find themselves adrift at sea after their ship is torpedoed by a German U Boat. The motley crew consists of an American officer and 2 sailors, a British nurse, an Australian soldier, a Russian sniper and a shady Englishman.

            Their life raft crosses paths with a Nazi ship and, figuring that possible death from the Nazis was preferable to a probable death lost at sea, they take their chances and climb aboard.

            The ship initially appears deserted but they soon discover that it is not. The ship is housing vampires that the Nazis had captured, housed in their sarcophagi. The group must deal with this threat while dealing with dissension in their ranks.

            I won’t tell you more so as not to spoil anything. I was very impressed with this film. I tend not to like most newer horror movies. It’s not that I’m a Luddite, it’s just that the horror market is swollen fat with so much content , and much of it is mediocre or worse.

In the 1980s, the video store offered an outlet for movie makers who couldn’t get their films onto the big screen. This resulted in a lot of B movie crap but also a lot of B movie gems. The current market, with so many streaming services that they cannot be easily counted, has made it even easier to get a movie into the viewer’s home. Additionally, digital technology has made it comparatively easy to make a movie look good. So we now have a sea of good looking, but never the less boring, horror movies to pick from.

Blood Vessel rises above this tide in 3 ways. First it has an excellent cast including a few long time veteran actors.  This includes Alyssa Sutherland, from Vikings and The Mist as well as Brett Farve look-a-like Robert Taylor, Christopher Kirby (Iron Sky), and Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek).

Second, it relies on more than just looking good. Don’t get me wrong, the film does look good. But it’s also a competent horror film that provides tension and creepiness.

Lastly, it has good old fashioned practical make up and effects. The CGI is minimal, which is surprising since the director, Justin Dix, cut his teeth working as a special effects technician for George Lucas on Stars Episodes 2 and 3.The vampires look superb! No emo lounge lizards here. These vampires are nightmarish, looking more like bats that assumed human form, rather than the other way around.

If you like World War 2 horror, or vampires, check out Blood Vessel. It has the look of a veteran made big budget production with the originality of a lower budget independent film.

Goes good with: If you like Blood Vessel, also check out The Devil’s Rock, the story of Allied and Nazi soldiers dealing with a succubus on the eve of D-Day.