Bloodshed (2005)

Sadly Over-hyped

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Frank and Donnie Osmond have had a tough life. We know this because the townspeople tell us but we never hear exactly what this tough life entailed except from the drunken rebellious sheriff's son, Rodney Greene, who swears that Frank chopped up his family, except his retarded brother, Donnie. How it is that Frank murdered his family yet gets to sit in the bar and drink beer we never find out.Bad luck visits Frank and Donnie in the form of a girl whose mysterious death leaves Donnie looking guilty. Frank must decide how far he will go to protect his little brother.Overall not a bad film that except for a few slow spots and some random filler kept me interested from beginning to brutal end. The biggest weak spot and a personal peeve of mine, is that the plot relies on the characters being stupid and doing stupid things. You would think a writer could think of ways to get a character into a precarious situation without them being dumb as a rock. The acting and direction are above par for a micro-budget film. The plot and script are otherwise very good up until just past halfway when apparently the makers ran out of ideas. At this point the story begins to stray into gore zone and there is an encounter in the woods between the brothers and some backpackers that is nothing but space filler. The movie would be much stronger without those scenes. The dialog between the backpackers is the worst in the movie. The movie finds it's legs again near the end when Beth is recruited by the brothers to help with the mess.Some reviews have criticized Paul West for his portrayal of Sheriff Greene but I thought his performance among the stronger in the movie. Christopher Childs also stands out for his performance of the mildly retarded Donnie although he strays from character several times during the movie, something I would blame on poor direction before blaming the actor.The ending gets a bit Scooby Doo while the characters chase each other through the house opening and slamming doors behind themselves. The final scene contains something that may have been intended as a twist but comes off feeling like the director couldn't make up his mind how to end the movie so filmed two ideas and put one after the other.

Frankie and Donnie live in seclusion in a small town where everyone seems to accept them if not trust them. Until a group of rebellious teenagers (arn't they always?) get themselves in trouble. With the desire to remain spoiler-free I'll leave it at that.However, for a low-budget film I was surprised at how well the cinematography was and while the dialog wasn't anything amazing, that was above average for an indie horror film as well (for the most part) All in all a solid effort by first time Director, Jim McMahon... even if I might have had problems with the ending.My Grade: B- Eye Candy: Shannon Laine gets topless

Bloodshed: 8 out of 10: When I discuss no-budget horror films with my friends. (Or the voices in my head) We often sound like those Monty Python coal miners trying to out-do the horrors of each others childhood. "Raptor Island hah I sat through San Franpyscho." "San Franpyscho is an Academy Award picture compared to Dark Harvest 3. Now that's cinematic pain." So I began to question myself on why I would purposely rent such films as Heartstopper or Warriors of Terra when there are plenty of fine Hollywood productions starring Nicholas Cage such as National Treasure or The Wicker Man I could be watching instead.Okay the recent Cage oeuvre may be a very bad example but the question remains why torture myself with what is basically other people's home movies. Bloodshed is the answer to that question.It is one of those rare no-budget films where the acting isn't grating, the script is competent and the direction is actually good. The film even delivers both genuine tension and characters you actually care about.In terms of pacing and characters it handily beats out most Hollywood films let alone most Hollywood horror films. (Before you accuse me of exaggerating please remember that every Adam Sandler comedy is considered a Hollywood film. I'm grading on a curve here people.) Bloodshed is bragging rights, a true gem in a field of….. well incompetent home movies.Is the film perfect? Well no. It is slow to start (this turns into one of it's charms), the sheriff could have been played better and the ending is pretty awful.Overall a good film and considering its genre and budget a very very good film indeed.

A bunch of us got together at work and watched Bloodshed and had a blast. It was creepy in parts and kept us shouting out and cracking up. It's a good group movie, because you can shout out funny lines to bust up your crowd in between dialog. Watch out for Jam being passed around and girls remember it's O.K. to flash he boys during the topless scenes.I think it's a decent low-budget horror film, but what's different about it is it's also really funny in spots. Mix that with a little wit from the crowd and it can be hilarious to watch.There were a couple scenes which I thought were great, real gems. I'm not going to give anything away but keep your eyes open for some cool shots.There's something cool about the rawness of it. It's not all "hollywooded up" if you know what I mean.Anyway hope you have as much fun as I did watching it.