Blood Bound (2019), written and directed by Richard LeMay, tells us of a family of witches who, every 25 years, are bound by an ancient pact to sacrifice four lives, one of which must be a member of their own family. Now, to any smart individual, you might assume this film gets pretty dark. However, with the recent resurgence of “the witch” on mainstream television, I think I probably went into this film a little too lightly. Charmed and Sabrina are both back and, for some ridiculous reason, I saw that Blood Bound was about witches and thought “this won’t be too heavy at all.” Well, I was extremely wrong.
Related Article: SXSW Review: ‘Hereditary’ is Brilliantly Horrifying
We start the film following a group of teenagers Kerry, Sean, and Brian (played by Eden Brolin, Eric Nelson, and Justiin A. Davis respectively) who, let’s say, aren’t the most upstanding of citizens, which could have felt forced in a “kids these days” kind of way. However, we learn that these kids really are criminals, and the dialogue between them feels so real (in part due to excellent delivery by the cast), helping us relate to characters who might otherwise seem irredeemable. Equally, one of the great things about this group of teenagers is that, aside from their recreational heroin use (that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write), they aren’t “movie stupid.”
After a horrifying encounter with the family of witches, Brian sits in his room with a gun, ready to defend himself. I really do not like guns at all but, in the context of the film, it sort of makes sense. Equally, Sean does some digging and actually finds out how to kill the witches. How did he figure it out? “The internet.” It sounds simple, but honestly that makes a lot of sense. Why wouldn’t that information be on Google somewhere? Everything else is.
The family of witches is shown to us mainly through the character of David (Ross Wellinger), the “chosen one,” who must perform the sacrifices. The rest of the family blur into each other for me somewhat. Not to say that the characters are poorly acted, but there just doesn’t feel time to get to know them, nor was it necessary. Suffice to say that they all have a strange and twisted relationship with one another, summed up by David telling Kerry “I’m sorry, I’ve never had sex with anyone outside my family.” Yeah…that one gave me pause. The fact that they all blur into one mass of evil also works in making David stand out on his own as weirdly vulnerable and even troublingly child-like.
Related Article: Detective Frankenstein Series Pilot Ordered by CBS
It took me a while to figure out exactly what Blood Bound wanted to be, and it was only really in the last half that I decided this might have been a deliberate choice by the LeMay. The very first moments show us a dramatic home invasion, so maybe I’m watching something akin to You’re Next (2011)? However, by the time we are just 4 minutes in, it seems we might be watching the beginnings of a ’90s teen slasher, as we see Sean pressuring Kerry into having sex, Billy Loomis-style. But wait. There’s more. Later, when we meet David (who gives off a serious Edward Cullen vibe thanks to his brooding eyes and penchant for deep meaningful conversations in forests), I’m convinced I’m actually watching the latest Twilight instalment. All of this might sound like a plot that was floundering a bit and, I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical at parts. However, the end of the film really pulled it out the bag and I think the Twilight-esque plot points were really just there to throw us off the trail. It is the mark of a good horror film where the ending is just as good as the rest of the movie. This is just one of those films and, arguably, the last 15 minutes might be some of the best bits of the film.
Blood Bound is not the most terrifying film I’ve ever seen but, that said, the glimpses we get of the demon (the one the witches must sacrifice the lives for) is very creepy, and there were a few sightings of him that genuinely scared me. Also, the film doesn’t rely on dodgy CGI – a trap a lot of low budget films fall into. It creates huge atmosphere with chilling ritual and death scenes that, while far from elaborate, remain extremely effective and disturbing.
Related Article: Stephen King Announces Next Novel ‘The Institute’
My only real complaint with the film is that it is long for what it is. It sits at 1 hour 40 minutes, which doesn’t necessarily exceed world record film lengths, but I think it could probably have done without so many nature shots. Don’t get me wrong, the cinematography is beautiful in this film and they were clearly blessed with a lovely location that would be hard to resist. I can also understand that they were, perhaps, using these shots to establish a passing of time within the film, however, for me, these shots simply cut any tension and pacing the film was managing to build. I wonder if it would perhaps benefit from being adapted into a series? But, maybe I’ve just been brainwashed by Netflix. Oh, and one more point deducted for David describing his family by saying “we prefer to live separate from mainstream society – it destroys the soul.” I love to reminisce about my teenage Goth phase as much as the next person, but that was a little much.
Overall, Blood Bound reaches far beyond any restraints it might have had from its small budget. It really surprised me and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves in 2019.
Related Article: ‘The Shining’ Characters Become Living Dead Dolls
