Blood Soaked - Heather Wilder

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Peter Grendle
USA 2014

In her sophomore year, Piper (Heather Wilder) attends college away from home, her nosy mother Amy (Lauren Myers) and her long-distance boyfriend Bobby (Leon Garcia) whose eye is already roving. She quickly makes friends with lesbian photography student Ashley (Rachel Corona), and they get even closer on the road back from a keg party in the desert. Unfortunately, they run into psychotic (and homophobic) sisters Sadie (Laina Grendle) and Katie (Hayley Derryberry) who live in a bunker with the reanimated corpse of their Nazi scientist father (Kevin Wester) and hunt victims in the desert to feed him and the zombies they have created with his secret formula to build an army (and just for kicks). Already legally blind, but also now blinded in one eye, Piper is trapped and tormented by the girls and the undead, and allowed to escape only to be recaptured and further tortured. Are the sisters just playing with her, or do they want something more from her? And what will happen to those who venture into the desert in search of her?

The combination of Nazi fetishism, zombies, torture porn, and lesbians seems like either an immature fantasy or a cynical stab at the revitalized pseudo-Grindhouse, but BLOOD SOAKED does manage to achieve intermittently a visceral HILLS HAVE EYES-esque feel, especially during some of the more grueling scenes of Piper's torment, especially the climax. The whole Nazi experimentation and zombies angle seems entirely extraneous to the already short film (indeed, it didn't figure at all into "This Side of Nightmare", the short film by director Peter Grendle that inspired this feature treatment). The film transitions to black and white when Sadie and Katie attack Piper and Ashley, and stays that way even in scenes involving supporting characters away from the action. The black and white sequences feature some occasionally striking shots but the exteriors could have used some fill and the bunker scenes generally look murky rather that moody. The sound mix is also uneven, with some of the dialogue (particularly Grendle's) getting lost under an admittedly distinctive score (credited to Latifu Sams). BLOOD SOAKED shows promise, but less might be more when it comes to throwing together exploitable elements to form an indie horror film.

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: 17 June 2014 (USA)

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DVD Review: Wild Eye Releasing - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Wild Eye Releasing Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:11:45
Video	1.73:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.36 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Wild Eye Releasing Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.73:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by writer/director Peter Grendle and cinematographer/editor Tyler King • Audio Commentary by actors Laina Grendle and Heather Wilder • Audience Track from the Polygrind Film Festival (in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo) • Short film inspiration for Blood Soaked 'This Side of Nightmare' (16:9; 11:20) • Two Drunk Girls Introduction (16:9; 0:41) • Introduction Outtake (16:9; 4:06) • Two Trailers (16:9; 1:29 + 1:14) • Wild Eye Releasing Trailers DVD Release Date: 17 June 2014 Amaray Chapters 16

Comments

Wild Eye's single-layer DVD probably does what it can with the source, which has been heavily regraded resulting in rather murky images that occasionally look more like eighties shot on analog videotape horror than edgy black and white. The film can be viewed with a choice of four audio tracks: the original stereo track (in Dolby Digital 2.0) in which the music more than occasionally overwhelms the dialogue, an audience track from the Polygrind Film Festival (also in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo), and two commentary tracks.

On the crew track, director Peter Grendel and cinematographer/editor Tyler King discuss the long shoot, how they assembled the settings from disparate locations, and the the "random shit" they found in the New Mexico desert that made for interesting props and existing set decoration. They explain that some of the look is due to the attempt at first to do color effects in camera (which they ten muted in post). The cast track with Laina Grendle and Heather Wilder is even jokier, and is stronger on anecdotes than production info. Also included is the short "This Side of Nightmare" that inspired the film (in so far as the basic setup of the college girls - including Wilder again - getting attack by two strange women, but without the Nazi bunker zombie stuff). The disc also includes a drunk introduction (and outtakes), a trailer for the film, trailers for SCREAM PARK, THE PERFECT HOUSE, THE DISCO EXORCIST, MURDER UNIVERSITY, PLAY HOOKY, FINAL ENTRIES, EXHUMED, and MOLD!

- Eric Cotenas

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