Two sisters who suffered abuse as children at the hands of their sadistic father decide, after his death, to use witchcraft to bring his spirit back to get revenge.
When the film opens up, we meet Minister Hall (Dave Sheridan) who partakes in drinking, smoking, stealing from the parish and burying things under half an inch of dirt. Fast forward a bit and we meet Serena Hall (Angie Duke), daughter of Minister Hall, who works as an adult entertainer. One night after work she receives one of the most questionable official letters from the County Clerk’s office of her home town, stating that her father has passed. Once back in the old homestead, she runs into her sister Grace (Madeleine Wade). As the sisters reminisce the extent of the abuse by the hand of their father starts to show through some well-done flashbacks. We then get a visit from Tyler Water (Michael Welch) as someone who knew the sisters in the past and is also the one who sent the letter to Serena.
What follows is a mix of horror, humor and some very awkward moments. Trying to peg down exactly which sub-genre of horror this would fall into can be tough as there is witchcraft, ghosts, body horror and different forms of abuse. While most of the abuse in implied, it can still be rough for anyone with a sensitivity towards that. One thing I will add though on the subject though, the roll of the abuse isn’t just used for shock value and is handled in a way that shows real consequences to a very real issue.
On the acting front, everyone does well with what they’re given but the real stand out is Michael Welch. Due to a turn of events during the movie, he gets to play someone else and he nails it. He is able to seamlessly shift between the two roles. Also of note is Angie Duke, who in the last act of the film as Serena turns into more of a dramatic role and she conveys the pain and confusion of the character very well.
The overall visuals ranged from made for TV to pretty darn good. It’s apparent that Director James Bressack is comfortable behind the camera. The sets and lighting were okay with the shots being well done. There some scenes that really stood out for how well they just worked. One of the biggest issues is the audio, dialog would fluctuate from normal levels to barely a whisper while the ambient sound and background remain the same. This made it incredibly difficult to hear what was being said and would lead to missing entire conversations.
Going into this film, I thought it would be similar to The Craft (witchcraft getting out of hand) which isn’t helped by the fact that Madeleine Wade looks a lot like Fairuza Balk, but my expectations were definitely challenged. Running through a range of genres, injecting humor and addressing serious issues can be a tough juggling act to bring together. Some scenes work and some do not. The humor can be unfunny and forced. The serious parts can be undermined by the aforementioned audio issues creating awkward scenes since you’re not entirely sure what’s going on or why certain lines are crossed. There is a good story buried under the heavy-handed foreshadowing, audio problems and inconsistent tone. Just keep in mind that you might want to watch it with subtitles
Blood Craft | ||
RATING: | UR | BloodCraft - Trailer |
Runtime: | 1 hr. 34Mins. | |
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