"Bleed" surprised me. Rented this at my local national video retailer. The box caught my eye with its bright white mask -- sort of a "Michael Myers w/ big ears". From the description on the box I expected another post-modern/wise-cracking slasher item like "Scream". Not interested. Starring Debbie Rochon, perhaps the most ubiquitous "scream queen" of the past ten years. Another bad sign. Still not interested. Charles Band, executive producer.
Really bad sign. With few exceptions, his Full Moon Pictures have never lived up to the promise of their high concepts. Good looking cast though, especially the women. The film I wanted to rent was out. What the Hell. I knew I'd probably live to regret this.
Happily I was wrong. While "Bleed" itself is also guilty of not quite fulfilling the potential of its premise, it was really a lot of fun. Devin Hamilton's screenplay is built on a great concept: a lonely girl who wants friends buys into a party prank which turns out to be deadly.
Through the course of the film I imagined all sorts of scenarios which could result. Sadly, the resulting story is more paint-by-numbers than I imagined, yet along the way it sort of subverts the usual expectations of the slasher genre despite itself.
Believe me, that's a good thing.
There is nary a wink or reference to other films to tell us how clever the film makers are for poking fun at a genre they despise. No, they actually attempt (however awkward the script) to build suspense through character. When was the last time a slasher film did that? And though I'm sure the budget was about $1.98, there is some stylish direction by co-directors Petersen and Hamilton which make for a few nice gory set pieces.
Really bad sign. With few exceptions, his Full Moon Pictures have never lived up to the promise of their high concepts. Good looking cast though, especially the women. The film I wanted to rent was out. What the Hell. I knew I'd probably live to regret this.
Happily I was wrong. While "Bleed" itself is also guilty of not quite fulfilling the potential of its premise, it was really a lot of fun. Devin Hamilton's screenplay is built on a great concept: a lonely girl who wants friends buys into a party prank which turns out to be deadly.
Through the course of the film I imagined all sorts of scenarios which could result. Sadly, the resulting story is more paint-by-numbers than I imagined, yet along the way it sort of subverts the usual expectations of the slasher genre despite itself.
Believe me, that's a good thing.
There is nary a wink or reference to other films to tell us how clever the film makers are for poking fun at a genre they despise. No, they actually attempt (however awkward the script) to build suspense through character. When was the last time a slasher film did that? And though I'm sure the budget was about $1.98, there is some stylish direction by co-directors Petersen and Hamilton which make for a few nice gory set pieces.