Review: The Blood Hunter

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

The Blood Hunter

Written and directed by Trevor Styles and Chas Llewellyn
RPG Entertainment / Shempstone Studios / RazorsEdge Films
103 minutes, 2019

Vampire films are a dime a dozen, and yet even with a low budget, sometimes you get to find one that is not only a decent story, but stretches the boundaries in new ways that add to the legend rather than taking away from it.



Tom Baxinos

For our tale here, we meet our pitiful (to start) hero Deckard (Tom Paxinos), a survivor of being in the armed services in the Middle East (Afghanistan?). Since returning home, his wife left him, his teaching job is gone, his daughter died, and his son is in a wheelchair. It’s no surprise that he is deep into his own cups, i.e., he’s an alcoholic, and dealing with depression with a feeling of no where left to go. He’s even lost his faith (more on that later). But then something happens, which is where the story takes off into a blood and gore soaked extravaganza.

 

He manages to join a small group of vampire slayers called, yep, the Blood Hunters, who seem to shoot up a bunch of vampires but have trouble killing them, or at least this particularly robust, young-looking trio of blood suckers who are dicks, reminiscent of The Lost Boys (1987). The Blood Hunters pull the teeth of the vamps, and sell them to the highest bidder for their powers which are achieved if the teeth are ground up and ingested. You see, the older the vampire, the more power they have. Okay, that’s as much as story as I’m giving, but there is a lot to unpack, which is great.



Amy Traux

There are some parts of the story that are predictable, such as the arrival of the bad crew who come as no surprise, mixing Knock Knock (2015) and the opening of Blade (1998), but even within those tropes, the story takes some incredibly interesting turns that you just don’t see coming.

 

On the good side you have Deckard, the elder Vinnie (Timothy Patrick Quill) and his two sons Mack (Aaron Malek) and the oddly cowboy dressed and named Poker (Robert Bradley), the bodacious and flexible Moxie (Amy Truaux), and in the supportive/supplier Q role is Dick (Dan Hicks). For the bad lot there’s leader Caleb (Chas Llewellyn, who is also co-writer and co-director of this film), Eli (Gary Busby), and Amber (Cortney Llewellyn, giving off a strong Gwyneth Paltrow vibe), who run amok searching for a bottle of powerful elders’ blood.

What I especially liked about the film – well, there was a lot to enjoy; one case was the take-no-prisoners approach in that you really never know who is going to die in many cases, both good and bad guys, old and young. Also while there is no nudity (but nice cleavage), the gore is way plentiful and most of it looked great, even with the blood being a bit too brownish (much of the film seems to be shot with a yellow or brownish filter).



Timothy Patrick Quinn

There is an undercurrent of Christianity and faith that runs through the film both in literal and symbolic ways. I am not a Christian and by God never will be, but even though it permeates the entire film in both subtle and explicit ways, it also never deflects from the story, so I didn’t feel like I was being hit over the head with it (unlike the Left Behind franchise).

 

The acting is pretty solid. While I don’t buy all of the relationships, and that Deckard never shakes his alcohol addiction (which I believe should have been better addressed within the storyline), it still holds together cohesively, with all the double crosses, playing with the viewers’ emotions, and a new take on vampires that, as I said, adds to rather than takes away from the story.



Cortney Llewellyn

The only real complaint I have is the film’s length, at over 100 minutes. I’m a firm believer that to keep the keenest attention, unless you’re someone like Kubrick or Scorsese, a film should top out at most 90 minutes. It’s not this film I’m whining about per se, as it kept my interest, though there were a few of lag moments (again, this is true of nearly all releases), horror is best when it’s in and out like a quick stab of a stake.

 

What I also want to point out is that the film is shot beautifully. The area around Billings, MT, is used with nice brushstrokes, especially those around farms. The pacing of the editing is well done, with the action scenes a bit quicker, but not to the music video speed where you can’t make out what the hell just happened. It’s actually used the way many Westerns are, with long, lingering scenes that let the viewer absorb not only the action, but the surroundings, which I always enjoy. Sunlight and shadows, dusk and dawn, all are played out in tones that are warm and lush, without being overly romantic. Just enjoyable handiwork.



Robert Bradley and Dan Hicks

I really hope that (a) this film makes a big splash on the Festival circuit because it is better than a lot of the films I’ve seen of late, especially on the big screen, and (b) Styles and Llewellyn will collaborate again, as they have shown that they work well together to produce a top-notice release. They certainly left the story in a way that it can continue, which leaves me encouraged.

 

Trailer is HERE