Movie Review: Blood Bags (2018)

December 8, 2019

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Tracy (Makenna Guyler) and Petra (Marta Tananyan) are two free wheelin’ college co-eds down Turin way. Tracy is b.d. into being a photog, and the one thing that makes her pants tighter as far as subjects go are moldy-oldie abodes.

Well, our heroines find just such a structure, break in, and soon find they are trapped inside. Well at least the home isn’t the den of a bloodthirsty creature that hunts Tracy and Petra, ever-lusting for their demise. Oh, wait… it is! Man, these ladies are done for…

The first thing you may notice about Blood Bags is that it has style to spare. Emiliano Ranzani directed and shot the film to perfection, and there are moments that truly evoke the golden age of Italian horror cinema which is Ranzani’s chief source of inspiration… though I would wager both he and co-writer Davide Mela are at least aware of the basics of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Lurking Fear.

As far as the narrative is concerned, this is a well traveled road; old, dark house, women in peril, a creature with a strange past… it’s all here; but there is a reason such material has become tried and true in our beloved horror biz, and that’s because it works (and it does here as well). To the film’s credit, there are some new twists and turns presented here in regards to that creepy-crawlie chasing our heroines down, as well as some surprises regarding other characters as well (how’s that for some vague-ass shit, eh, boils n’ ghouls?).

Another area in which Blood Bags succeeds is in the special effects department; the beast at hand is well done (and practically realized), and the gore, while not plentiful by any means, gets the job done quite well when it’s on screen.

The biggest negative to Blood Bags is it’s conclusion. The entire affair ends on a shock sequence that doesn’t quite stick the landing. I applaud the filmmakers for trying, and it isn’t a deal-breaker by any means, but it definitely could have used another pass.

If you are looking for a fright flick that harkens back to the “good ol’ days” of Italian shock cinema, then give Blood Bags a wicked whirl; it’s a well made effort with a lot of things going for it, and I truly dig what these cats are layin’ down!

 

 

 

Share This Article

You May Also Like…