BLOOD JUNKIE Reviewed by Norville Rogers, Esq. for SpookSpookShowEntertainment.com
Blood Junkie starts off with a bum seeking refuge in an abandoned chemical factory where he is quickly dispatched by our My Bloody Valentine-esque gas-masked killer. The movie continues with a group of teenagers who decide to go camping for the weekend in the woods where the same chemical factory is rotting away. Sound like your typical slasher storyline? Perhaps. And the intro production logo from Troma touts a level of impending disappointment (at least from this horror fan), but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of enjoyment I received from Blood Junkie.
Quite frankly (I don’t like to bullshit when it comes to indie horror), the movie is typical in most any way a low budget horror film is; sub par acting, crappy FX, lack of production design, etc. But the filmmakers decided to put a twist on the story by having it take place in the early 1980’s, which is what initially drew my attention. Visually, the movie is shot to look like an 80’s film (and was most likely shot on old school video) and the costuming and props were spot on. These people reminded me of the dorks and dweebs (yeah, I pulled those terms out of the history books) that used to babysit me in the early 80’s and the kid in the flick wore the same pair of glasses I had as a child. The movie was very successful at pulling off the vibe of actually being a movie made in the 80’s – similarly to Ti West’s House of the Devil, but in a more “direct to video cassette” way.
The dialogue was funny at times and the characters were likable despite all being relatively two-dimensional and comical, not dramatic in any sense. The chemical factory was an AWESOME set and the filmmakers did the most with a location that had no obvious source of power. And for a Troma release, it definitely had more positive attributes than a typical movie made/distributed by these schlock-masters.
Ultimately, I do recommend Blood Junkie to any avid horror fan, especially those of you who really enjoy the campy 80’s flicks of yesterday. But remember that this recommendation stems from an understanding that the movie was intentionally meant to be cheesy. If you go into this movie looking for a good time while drinking a few beers, you will not be disappointed. I do want to say however that the only real downside to the movie was the video transfer on theDVD I watched. It may have just been my particular disc, but the video would lag and then go back to normal and then lag again. It got to be pretty annoying and I’d hoped it would get better, but it did not. If the filmmakers did this intentionally – perhaps to make the video look more “aged” – I implore them to go back to the editing station and tweak this, NOW!
5 out of 10 stars
Exposure
