The Film

I enjoy seeing what new gore effects filmmakers can get away with, but somewhere along the line I lost my taste for what is now known as torture porn. Films like Saw, Hostel, and others have pushed the gore envelope to new heights, but without strong storytelling to back up the blood, the result is a very shallow and draining experience. The scores of knockoffs going direct-to-DVD are even worse in that respect. Bloodlines is another film that tries to scare you by excessively hurting pretty actors. The result, sadly, is more of the same.

Bloodlines stars Grace Johnston as Amber Strickland, a young woman driving through Alabama who experiences the dreaded horror movie car problems and ends up being abducted by a family of inbreds known as the Hackfords. Once there Amber encounters other captives and learns the horrible truth: to stop the inbreeding in their family the patriarch Billy Bob kidnaps women and impregnates them. Worse still, he has the captives fight to the death to determine which would be the most suitable host for his inbred seed.

Directed by Stephen Durham, the most impressive thing about Bloodlines would be that it doesn’t hold back. However, these days it is the popular thing to do to show as much shocking footage as possible, so you lose the effect. Had this film been made five years ago, it would have been shocking to the point of making people take notice. Now it is just another movie about rape, murder, and incest. In older horror films you hoped to find at least some artistic expression or value in the mayhem of it all, but today filmmakers seem content to merely see how much gore than can put onscreen and still get an R rating.

The DVD

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is decent, but far from reference quality. Grain is a problem and is often apparent due to the lack of lighting in many scenes. The colors and flesh tones appear accurate and the print is clean as well.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with English/Spanish subtitles. With the exception of some sparse panning effects, the front-loaded track is very standard, featuring balanced elements and no distortion.

The Extras

Commentary is offered with Director Stephen Durham, actor Jason Padgett, and producers Rickie Castaneda and Zoran Jacimovic. If you want to hear about all the troubles they had, give it a listen. Otherwise there are better indie-horror commentary tracks to check out.

Also offered are the Trailer and Previews.

Final Thoughts

Torture porn fans will be sure to find something interesting in Bloodlines, but it is far from the best entry in the genre. Casual viewers should stay away. – Jeff Ritchie