Dry Blood

My appreciation for horror is high and my appreciation for murder mysteries, mystery and thriller are my favourite genres (it's debatable as to whether animation is a genre but that would count too) is even higher. Really was quite fascinated for the concept for 'Dry Blood' and liked the advertising (cool and creepy, that kind of advertising does make one want to see anything). Was genuinely hoping that it would not be a waste of potential.

'Dry Blood' sadly was that and it does frustrate me when any film does little to nothing with its promise. It does have its moments and merits and it is not that bad, or at least to me it wasn't, but the things that are wrong with it are a lot and they are big and outweigh the good, also summed up well already. Which prevents 'Dry Blood' from being a good film, and most of the time from personal view it was barely watchable which is such a shame.

For a film not high in budget, 'Dry Blood' doesn't look too bad. Some nice atmospheric shots, that are not limited in use of techniques, and the scenery also has atmosphere. The music is suitably spooky without being too loud or spelling out what's happening or what the characters are thinking too obviously.

Kelton Jones gives it his all and does it without going over-the-top.

Other than him though the acting is awful and a bad mix of irritating and phoned in, a primary example being the leading lady who looks as though she didn't want to be there and it was quite depressing to watch. Didn't care for any of the characters, that either bored me, annoyed me or both. The script constantly sounds awkward to total gibberish and was in serious need of more depth and tightness.

The story takes far too long to get going and even when there is a glimpse of more happening the momentum is still dull. The flashbacks and hallucinations initially seemed interesting on paper but ended up working against it rather than making it interesting, actually felt that they confused the story which became increasingly muddled until it leaves one quite lost.

In summation, left me intrigued on paper but didn't do it for me. 4/10

Trailer was cool. So I gave it a.look. I almost didn't make it through as it's so dull until about hour in. Acting is watchable for most part but also but cringeworthy in places. As a lover of gore and splatter the ending had me pleasantly surprised. Great mix of practical and cgi which for a low budget film was better than average. The acting became better in the year crazy moments and I found myself reminded of Ash in Evil Dead when he's covered in blood and laughing insanely. I'd have had a lot more happening during the first hour to maintain interest but the ending was fun.

A good attempt at a tired cabin in woods tale.

I never write reviews, but this film is so unique and well thought out that I think it deserves a second look. I'll agree that the acting is subpar, however the story and the chills more than make up the difference. The makeup work, for the horror elements, is superb and the imagery is frightening. I even watched this a second time, so my wife could see it, and found there are ample clues and hints to the ending - a lot of detail was given to the details.

Give it a watch because for what it is - a low budget indie horror - it really shines.

Trying to quit a drug habit, a man goes up to a friends' mountain cabin to help quit, but when his hallucinations and visions begin to mess with his mind he becomes unable to distinguish fantasy from reality and turns to increasingly desperate maneuvers to stop them from happening.

This one wasn't too bad but was pretty flawed. Among the bright spots here is the central premise providing an opportunity for plenty of fun. The idea of being at the cabin and attempting to come clean and still being so unsure of himself that the distorted view of the world causes supernatural visions and images he can't control serves as a fine starting point. Those haunting scenes where the ghosts appear around the cabin are quite creepy, and the hallucinogenic battle with the deranged cop come off nicely overall as there's some brutal action featured here. The finale, which shows the reveal of the ghosts and how they come to be as well as the twist about what's already happened gives this a dark twist on top of a frenzied series of action scenes that are quite fun seeing the crazed side come out. Providing this with some great gore as well, these here are the film's positive elements. There were some flaws featured here. The main problem with this one is the agonizingly slow build in the first half which really takes a lot of energy from the film. As this goes through the tricks and tribulations of his getting to the cabin, going for supplies and settling in at the house, the pacing to this one feels rather dragged out here to stretch out an unsuitable feature-length premise to an appropriate running time as we focus on him solely for long stretches of this segment. Most of this isn't interesting as it comes off heavily favored in that regard, and while the few interactions with the locals including the suspicious police officer do manage to interject some activity into the film they tend to fall flat after a while due to the repetitive nature of many of these scenes being here to pad out the running length. The other main issue here is the general lack of horror activity featured here. The haunting scenes with the ghosts running around the cabin that only he can see happen so frequently that they rarely generate any kind of shock when they happen since they come out of nowhere in a story that forgets to include any kind of mention about them. Even the other intended scenes trying to show he's losing grip with reality have no impact because they're not that scary in concept or execution, and with so much of these scenes given no sense of urgency or immediacy as her blank-faced reaction to his genuine freakouts manage to render most of these scenes as if they're not intended to scare. The last problematic issue is the finale, where it repeats everything to the point where it's hard to tell what it meant or what was supposed to be the purpose of it all, making for the film's lowered qualities.

Rated R: Graphic Language, drug use and Graphic Violence.

I like indie horror movies. Most of them aren't very good, but there's some enjoyment to be had by watching some of them anyway. This one intrigued me because the trailer had a bunch of Lynch-ian nightmare logic images like deer head and the burned woman in the bathroom, the woman in the kitchen with the knife (no spoilers, all in the trailer). That's the kind of horror I like, so my interest was piqued.

It definitely wasn't what I expected. I was expecting a more conventional haunted house story, but what I got was really a movie about surviving addiction and paranoia. To the reviewers that claim the movie is slow, that's a legitimate stance to take, but the movie is a slow burn and it does lead somewhere. If you make it to the end, everything comes together and you understand why the movie was put together the way it was. Nothing is random. All the images serve a purpose. It's a very clever script.

Clint Carney and Kelton Jones do a good job holding down the movie. Their performances carry the film. Kelton as the cop is very fun. He's a guy you love to hate and he has some decent one liners. I was iffy on Clint's acting choices until I watched the movie - by the way, it holds up on second viewing. Knowing the ending in advance actually does help make the film rewatchable. But on the second viewing, knowing the ending, Clint's performance makes perfect sense in context. He plays a man unhinged, battling his addiction and not having anyone he can trust. It's very empathetic.

The cinematography made good use out of the locations they shot in (which is around the Big Bear, CA area). I love small towns and pine and lakes and even the small general store in the film, I get a kick out of that kind of stuff when I travel. But the images were beautiful and the shots were well composed, surprisingly so with the low budget I know they must've had. But a lot of the shots had moving camera, which means dolly, jib, or Steadicam, which adds a lot of production value. It's very stylish.

Going back to the slow burn, there is some creepy imagery sprinkled throughout, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't make it to the end. The bulk of the best scenes are backloaded and it's worth the wait. You wouldn't believe the payoff unless you see it yourself. But trust me, it leads somewhere, and I'd be shocked if anyone sees it coming. It's quite memorable.

At less than 90 minutes, I would highly recommend "Dry Blood" for folks who love horror and are interested in something different - not everybody is and I get that. That's why we get so many remakes and sequels. This is definitely different and not for everyone, but I think if you check it out, you'd be pleasantly surprised. I'd be very interested to see what these guys do next.

I'm giving it a 10/10 to offset all the 1 votes that are written by people who didn't seem to make it to the end, which is definitely the best part of the film and what makes this movie stand out from the riff-raff.