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Fantastic Fest: ‘Bloodthirsty’ Hits All the Right Notes to Effectively Expand on Werewolf Lore

Published

4 years ago

October 2, 2020

Fantastic Fest has been an intense celebration of great film and werewolves this year. Bloodthirsty fits in nicely here. It’s also a great cross-pollination of Joe Dante’s The Howling and John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps and goes long way to elevate both body horror and lycanthrope lore.

Bloodthirsty comes from director Amelia Moses and writers Wendy Hill-Tout and singer-songwriter Lowell. The trio compliment each other nicely throughout the run of the film.

The story revolves around Grey a pop-star in the process of recording her second album after her first well-received entry. The pressure of being under the spotlight combined with her own past has caused her to have intense and often vicious hallucinations. That’s when Grey and her girlfriend Charlie receive an invitation from world renowned producer, Vaughn Daniels. The invitation takes them to a secluded cabin in the middle of the snowy wilderness where Grey begins to record her sophomore album. However, as Grey starts to record her album the hallucinations begin to become more intense and it turns out that their lovely producer Vaughn might have some murderous skeletons in his own closet.

The soundtrack for Bloodthirsty is a hungry and revealing through-line that ultimately separates this film from the pack. Each song, written by Lowell expands Grey and her character just as much as the visual FX do in terms of transformation. Added to that, the songs are just really good. I had to do a quick Google to see if the title track was available for purchase. Creating a great song is one thing, creating a great song that expands on an entire film arc is something else and boy is that done well here.

Bloodthirsty

Lead actress Lauren Beatty is absorbing and manages to create an onscreen transformation that feels entirely organic. Her ability to flawlessly and simultaneously be vulnerable, elegant and menacing all at the same time is the central piece of the film working as a whole. Beatty disappears into this role and emanates a deeply personal connection to Grey.

The isolation of the film works well as the backdrop for Grey’s psyche. Moses creates a constricting world that puts you and its main character in the same tight confines, and makes you just as desperate as her to escape.

“It’s hypnotic approach like rows of teeth

tightening around around your neck.”

Vaughn played by Greg Bryk brings an approach built out of a pure quite menace. The entire approach rests on charm. It ultimately makes the character of Vaughn someone that you would definitely want to keep your eye on but also has enough charm that you believe trusting him and following him down a possibly not so brightly lit path.

When it comes to werewolf films, its important to get down to brass tacks in the VFX. Ever since An American Werewolf in London and The Howling set the bar for on-screen transformations, it has become something that lycan films reach for. So, it’s great to see what Bloodthirsty does with its own transformation. We get the full on wolf out in a really well-done metamorphosis that uses pain as a backboard for stretching fingers and cracking maws and the reveal of an awesome monster.

I love films about writers block and the process of creating. Bloodthirsty almost frustratingly expresses the intricacies of that block and that fear of not knowing if your work will even be accepted once it does come out. The isolation, the transformation and constant self-discoveries are shown to great effect throughout. Best of all, all this could have been its very own drama picture without the horror elements and totally worked. But, the rage that an onscreen werewolf illustrates is at the core of many a writer block session.

Bloodthirsty hits all the right notes in furthering werewolf lore. It’s hypnotic approach like rows of teeth tightening around around your neck. A careful and plotted approach to the development of its characters carries nicely through a film that very much could have just been a drama and still worked. In fact, that’s what makes Bloodthirsty work as well as it does, it isn’t wearing its werewolf fangs on its sleeve. Instead the slow burn approach works here two-fold and makes the blood, gore and teeth pieces fly late in the film. Bloodthirsty is heatbreaking, transformative and gory, and takes you in places that few lycan films have gone before.

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Related Topics:Bloodthirsty Lowell Lycan Songwriter werewolf

News

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

20 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

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News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

22 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.