The Bleeding House

This film would actually make a very good film school project. It is by no means a professional production. The story though is good, solid, and climaxes great. It is written much better than the big budget Hollywood productions we see nowadays. The actors are above decent, the dialogues and plot are well written, and the characters are strong (except for the brother and girlfriend). Of course due to the amateurish feel of the film, when it comes to music, camera and lights, we go way below average. Special effects are not even worth mentioning as they are nonexistent. In general, this is not a film that I think will ever be on the big screen, but it is fine to watch on the TV if there is nothing better on. The unfair thing is that if the serial killer was played by a big shot actor and there were actually some money to be spent for music, photography and special effect, this would actually be a blockbuster !!! Unfortunate indeed.

Driving this indie film is the "Devil" sent me to collect your soul story. The white-suited silver tongued Dude with the well worn doctor's bag is a pulp-fiction icon. So we have a blood-letting that is neither surprisingly sordid or unusually gruesome.

It is all done matter of fact with a sermon like accompaniment of Southern Preacher platitudes and ironic overtones. Nothing here is exceptionally creepy or scary and is not profound just functionary. There is very little suspense and even less that is horrifying.

One is reminded of a tale from the dark side or an E.C. Comic adaptation without the twist ending or a satisfactory denouement. This movie is all surface with no penetration into a warped mind that seems to be the point of it all. Only a home (is where the heart pump is) invasion that clicks off the victims in a predictable pecking order.

A stranger with mysterious intentions (Patrick Breen) comes to stay the night at a secluded country home, but what he finds inside is a family torn apart by a violent past and a secret more deadly than he expected.

For whatever reason, Netflix recommended this one to me as something I would enjoy. And while I must admit I did enjoy it, I think they could have recommended 100 other titles just as easily. The concept here is good, but not really all that different from a number of other films... a stranger who wants to stay overnight, and can we trust him? That is old hat.

Although I thought Patrick Breen was excellent in this, his accent seemed a bit forced. I kept thinking at any moment he would stop and say "just kidding" about his Southern roots. But alas, no, it was not to be.

It amazes me that a good deal of the horror watching public passed this movie over or looked at the characters as hollow or awkward. That is what this movie was all about, strained relationships, pulled emotions, and people behaving like they do in a normal family. Their relationships are petty, full of kind of masked grief, and longing each of the characters looking for a way out of themselves and out of where they are. The visitor they invite into their home, although he turns out to be their downfall, is exactly what they are looking for, someone to just talk to. Each of the members of the house in turn try to talk with this newcomer, and each time a little more of the story unfolds. It is a beautifully shot movie as well, wide panning shots around the small family table, the hallway up the stairs being narrow and tall. Even the doorways and the rooms only slightly decorated, as though they were planning to leave at a moments notice, or had only been there for a few months. This claustrophobia builds as the movie progresses, and becomes ever more intimate until the end. That building sense of dread is the hardest thing to capture in a horror movie, and this one does beautifully. We as viewers know what is coming, we know the outsider is either in for a shock or going to cause one, but it is the anticipation of such an event that drives us to keep watching. I loved watching this movie with its subtlety and poise, keeping you on the edge with the back story being slowly revealed and the veil lifted a little bit minuet by minuet.

A stranger only known as “”Nick” runs into some car trouble on his way out west and asks for the hospitality of the Smith family and a place to stay the night. Marilyn Smith is skeptical at first, but she decides to give him a chance. She clearly is the alpha male of the family. Nick is invited to the dinner table and the awkwardness of the family ensues with her husband Matt and daughter Gloria (Blackbird). He discovers the Marilyn has cut his food for him, which is a bit of literary irony on the fact that he turns out to be a surgeon, and he cuts people up.

Clearly, something is amiss, After dinner Nick ends up wandering into Gloria's room in which she proceeds to snap the neck of a blackbird in front of him. After Marilyn witnesses the debauchery, she rushes him to the attic. She is embarrassed and explains her daughter is not considered “normal”.

Nick reminisces about the last family he “helped” and the madness begins… This movie is very unexpected and deserves credit where it is due. The characters are multi-dimensional and their dialogue is crafted well in a way that creates believability. The reasoning behind the title “Bleeding House” becomes apparent halfway throughout the film and it’s worth the wait.

6.10