BLOOD: Will Have You Thirsting For More

In just its title there is an eeriness, with no hint of direction, of where director Brad Anderson‘s Blood will take you. But from its opening moments, sight to sound, you are locked in until the very end. It is as layered as it is nuanced, its encompassing themes, metaphors and elevated horror are guaranteed to sit with you long after the film has finished. Yet, as deeply formed as it is, Blood works just as well as a standard horror, visually engaging, its intensity keeping you at the edge of your seat.

A Solid Horror

From the moment the film opens, Blood reverberates through your core, its score running through your veins and its opening shot of a tree basked in deeply contrasted lighting runs through your mind. There is a darkness that settles into the film, a grittiness that grows in unison with its growing dangers. The camera holds steady on the tree, almost as though its nothing more than a photograph, with little around to bring the image to life.

Immediately contrasting the stillness of the opening shot, viewers meet mother Jess (Michelle Monaghan) and her children Tyler (Skylar Morgan Jones) and Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) as they move into the old family home. Having recently lost their house in a contentious divorce, they work to rebuild the life they had – Jess’s recent addiction recovery compounding the family dynamic. As viewers will piece together, her addiction not only crippled her marriage but impacted the relationship with her children, Jess seeming more like a stranger than a mother at times.

There is little to go on in Blood, with viewers feeling as though they are entering an existing moment, rather than one being created. And while this feels natural of a lived in life, the film does lean into its genre-expected tropes, focusing on the ominous woods surrounding the home and their dog’s keen sense of something lurking, crafting a terrifying certainty of horror to come. As tensions brew quietly between mother and children, a horrifying attack on Owen throws the family into peril and uncertainty. Its aftermath pushes the film forward, finding an ease of tension that boils over in the final moments.

There is a pulsating force that runs through Blood. At times, it feels like hypertension in cinematic form.  There is so much within Blood to wrap your head around, visually dynamic and entrancing performances solidify it as a solid horror induction. It will play with your appreciation of elevated horror, pushing your prowess just that much further. Fear of loss, fear of relapse, fear of failure – fear is the catalyst. Fear, devotion and obsession work at the film’s core to captivate.

Monaghan is impossible to look away from, her Jess both sympathetic and obsessive. Her arc and dedication to her son feels like a modern Greek tragedy, haunted by popular lore. Jess fights for survival, both her own and her son’s, and Monaghan brings authenticity to each moment she is on screen. Morgan Jones too encapsulates the uncertainty of childhood and the need to meet a parents expectations. She becomes the film’s scales of morality, a task Morgan Jones balances well throughout the entirety of the film.

Conclusion

There is a feeling of Let the Right One In that ruminates throughout Blood, the influences noticeable but never controlling the unique narrative Anderson is determined to bring to life. And unique this film is. Deeply layered and nuanced, Blood finds the lifeline of horror and harnesses it for an experience that not only satisfies, but has you craving to return for more.

Blood will be released in theaters on January 27, 2023 and ON Demand January 31, 2023!

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