I should have gotten my last review done Friday night, but I ran out of steam after taking a cold pill. Those suckers can put me to sleep in no time. At least I was almost done with the review so I didn't have to write much yesterday. I got my next movie in right after, Bloodline (2004). I've had the DVD here at home since late March, so two months now. About time I got around to watching the thing and getting it back to Netflix, right?
Travis (Clay Adams) is going against his parents wishes and taking his brother Henry (Bryan Smithson) on a camping trip with his friends. Lori (Aya Sumika) is with her boyfriend, but Travis likes her or used to date her and gets into a fight with the boyfriend. This does end well and many of the friends ends up dead. Since Henry fled the scene, he becomes suspect number one, but did he really do it?
Bloodline was an odd film. Created by co-writers and directors Keith Coulouris and David Schrader, this is a tale of two brothers with a twist. Henry is the type that hardly ever talks and loves to draw, but he won't let anyone see what it is he is drawing. Their father was put away for murder, so the brothers feel it is also in their blood, hence the title of the film. Once Henry runs off, he eventually meets Al, played by Jay Anthony. Al teaches Henry what he needs to know to live out there on their own while we also follow Travis as he deals with his problems as well. As the story plays out, what happened at the camping trip changes slightly as things come to light. The twist comes when a whole different story line for the camping trip comes into play. The twist is a little confusing and I can see why people won't like it at all, as it completely wipes out what came before it. It isn't a dream, but it might as well be. The story before that could get a bit on the boring side sadly. There just wasn't much going on. Besides the murders that start the movie, there wasn't much else to be scared about. I wasn't really sure what to believe in the story anyway since it kept changing. Like they would show Henry killing his mother for some reason, but then she was alive later on. It was hard to get into the story, but I have to give Coulouris and Schrader some credit for not going with they usual slasher type film. They did at least try to be creative, even if I don't feel it completely worked.
The effects aren't great, but they get the job done well enough. They do get a little gory at times, and at other times you won't get to see much at all. Most of the effects found are from after a kill. I don't think any are done during a kill. Some can be a bit gory, but there was just something about them that didn't sit right with me. I think it was there just wasn't much blood considering the wounds. The acting was actually pretty good for a low budget film. Clay Adams stands out in this one fairly well in the lead role. Bryan Smithson also does a pretty good job with a role he shares with Josh Gibson, who also does a good job with it. Jay Anthony also stands out with his duel roles.
I was very mixed about Bloodline after I finished watching it. On one hand I didn't get into much at all, but on the other hand I was glad to see the filmmakers try to do something different with their story. I've found some reviews that give Bloodline some high praise, and I've found more than its fair share of bad reviews. I'm somewhere in the middle of that I suppose. I didn't hate it by any means, but I didn't enjoy it all that much either. Since I liked that they tried something different, I will bump up my rating just a little and give it my middle of the road rating. If I gave half stars, this one would be a good example of a movie that I would do that for actually. As for all of you, I will let you decide if you should give it a shot. It does have its fans, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of them to be honest.
3 out of 5 Maybe it was me but it seemed the scar would change
Travis (Clay Adams) is going against his parents wishes and taking his brother Henry (Bryan Smithson) on a camping trip with his friends. Lori (Aya Sumika) is with her boyfriend, but Travis likes her or used to date her and gets into a fight with the boyfriend. This does end well and many of the friends ends up dead. Since Henry fled the scene, he becomes suspect number one, but did he really do it?
Bloodline was an odd film. Created by co-writers and directors Keith Coulouris and David Schrader, this is a tale of two brothers with a twist. Henry is the type that hardly ever talks and loves to draw, but he won't let anyone see what it is he is drawing. Their father was put away for murder, so the brothers feel it is also in their blood, hence the title of the film. Once Henry runs off, he eventually meets Al, played by Jay Anthony. Al teaches Henry what he needs to know to live out there on their own while we also follow Travis as he deals with his problems as well. As the story plays out, what happened at the camping trip changes slightly as things come to light. The twist comes when a whole different story line for the camping trip comes into play. The twist is a little confusing and I can see why people won't like it at all, as it completely wipes out what came before it. It isn't a dream, but it might as well be. The story before that could get a bit on the boring side sadly. There just wasn't much going on. Besides the murders that start the movie, there wasn't much else to be scared about. I wasn't really sure what to believe in the story anyway since it kept changing. Like they would show Henry killing his mother for some reason, but then she was alive later on. It was hard to get into the story, but I have to give Coulouris and Schrader some credit for not going with they usual slasher type film. They did at least try to be creative, even if I don't feel it completely worked.
The effects aren't great, but they get the job done well enough. They do get a little gory at times, and at other times you won't get to see much at all. Most of the effects found are from after a kill. I don't think any are done during a kill. Some can be a bit gory, but there was just something about them that didn't sit right with me. I think it was there just wasn't much blood considering the wounds. The acting was actually pretty good for a low budget film. Clay Adams stands out in this one fairly well in the lead role. Bryan Smithson also does a pretty good job with a role he shares with Josh Gibson, who also does a good job with it. Jay Anthony also stands out with his duel roles.
I was very mixed about Bloodline after I finished watching it. On one hand I didn't get into much at all, but on the other hand I was glad to see the filmmakers try to do something different with their story. I've found some reviews that give Bloodline some high praise, and I've found more than its fair share of bad reviews. I'm somewhere in the middle of that I suppose. I didn't hate it by any means, but I didn't enjoy it all that much either. Since I liked that they tried something different, I will bump up my rating just a little and give it my middle of the road rating. If I gave half stars, this one would be a good example of a movie that I would do that for actually. As for all of you, I will let you decide if you should give it a shot. It does have its fans, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of them to be honest.
3 out of 5 Maybe it was me but it seemed the scar would change
