The first film I watched at this year’s Texas FrightmareWeekend 2012 was one I heard absolutely nothing about: IT’S
IN THE BLOOD. The film has a very
small main cast, is filmed in isolated and remote areas, and often times has a
very hallucinatory feel to it. IT’S IN
THE BLOOD is an indie horror film that transcends the genre and ends up being a
lot more than what it starts out as.
IT’S IN THE BLOOD is about a father, Russell (horror icon LanceHenriksen), and his son, October (Sean Elliot, who also co-wrote and
co-produced) who’re trying to reconnect after not seeing each other for
years. A terrible trauma both binds them
together and pushes them apart and it’s this horrific event in their pasts that
they’re trying to move beyond. They go
out into the wilderness to hunt and try to bond and Russell ends up injuring
himself bad (real bad) in what might
be one of the worst compound fractures ever put on film. With limited mobility and absolutely no
supplies, the two are completely at the mercy of the elements, and just when
they thought things couldn’t get any worse they realize some kind of creature
is stalking them down with the intention of killing them. From the few distant and blurry images we get
in the beginning it’s obvious this is not your typical woodland predator after
them. This thing is big, intelligent,
and fierce as hell.
The film unfolds with the father and son having to come
together to survive, all the while trying to figure out what the creature is
and what it wants. At the same time,
Russell’s compound fracture is getting worse (make that, disgusting), and
October’s recurring nightmares about his past trauma, which includes the girl
he loved, Iris (Rose Sirna), start bleeding into his waking state. This is most definitely a “slow burn” flick
and director/co-writer Scooter Downey does a really nice job controlling the
material here. We get scenes that go
from the ‘real time’ in the film to flashbacks of the horrific event that
changed all their lives, to hallucinatory scenes of the creature. In lesser skilled hands, IT’S IN THE BLOOD
could’ve been a muddled mess, but Downey masterfully controls all the various
elements like a well-seasoned pro. The
film is also shot beautifully, really embracing the dark and the isolation of
the situation, and the editing is phenomenal.
The dark and isolation become imposing characters themselves as they
threaten and consume Russell and October.
Downey’s style here reminds me a lot of Lucky McKee’s style in THE WOMAN
(my review here).
There’s a noticeable lack of a soundtrack in the first half of the film
and he builds the story in a slow yet deliberate manner where you feel the
tension building as if you were inside a pressure cooker. Downey does a fantastic job here.
As great as the direction of the film is, it’s the acting
from Henriksen and Elliot that really make this film. You all know that I’m a huge fan of
Henriksen’s. He’s an iconic genre actor
that’s been in some of horror’s best films.
His performance in NEAR DARK still sends shivers up and down my spine. But lately I’ve been seeing him popping up in
more and more B-movies. Hey look,
everyone needs to pay the bills and I’m just glad to see Henriksen still
working. But his performance in IT’S IN
THE BLOOD will remind you why you fell in love with this man in the first
place. He’s absolutely amazing here in
the range he plays and the depth of his performance. He is the sheriff in this small, very rural
town who lost his wife and had to raise his son alone (and who also adopted a
young girl and raised her as his own daughter).
He’s a tough old man who fiercely guards his emotions and feelings and rarely
lets anyone “in.” He’s also a heavy
drinker who hates where his life has taken him and who still can’t get beyond
the tragedy that destroyed he and his family’s lives. But beneath it all, Henriksen’s Russell loves
nothing more in life than his son and is trying to find the way to reconnect
with him and get them to both overcome their pasts. And if you’ve ever wondered what Henriksen
would sound like imitating a woman having an orgasm, IT’S IN THE BLOOD will settle
that for ya!!
Sean Elliot is perfect in this role as Henriksen’s troubled
son. Elliot’s October is a highly
intelligent guy with a photographic memory who essentially stopped living after
that traumatic event in the woods that fateful day. With both Elliot and Henriksen we get
believable characters who do realistic things and react in realistic ways to
the events they find themselves in. The
writing is excellent and the execution is pitch-perfect. I know this isn’t usually the kind of film I
rave about, but when there’s so few elements in a film, it only takes one small
screw up to ruin everything. The cast
and crew in IT’S IN THE BLOOD came together and executed on a very high level
and made something truly fantastic. My
only complaint is that the ending of the film got a little redundant. The film ends but we get more. It almost felt like Downey wanted to make
sure we “got it.”
I’m not gonna talk about the creature or the traumatic event
in any detail. This is a film I want you
to experience in the same way I experienced it ... without knowing a damn thing
about it. But be warned; besides one of
the most hideous leg injuries ever put on film (my leg aches just thinking
about it), there’s really not too much gore in this film. There are, thought, some really disturbing
images that’ll satisfy the horror crowd.
Some may argue that IT’S IN THE BLOOD isn’t even a horror film. I label it a horror-psychological drama. It takes it’s time developing all the
characters and themes here, but the entire time you can feel it building up in
intensity. This is a really great
film. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea,
but those of you that connect with it will have a really great experience. Check this one out!!
My Summary:
Director: Scooter Downey (& co-writer with Sean
Elliot)
Plot: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gore: 4 out of 10 skulls
Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains
Reviewed by Scott
Shoyer (Anything Horror) at the Texas Frightmare Weekend 2012
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