The Movie: Bloodthirsty
The Director: Amelia Moses
The Cast: Lauren Beatty, Greg Bryk, Katharine King So, Judith Buchan, Michael Ironside
The Story: Grey is an indie singer who is having visions that she is a wolf. When she gets an invitation to work with notorious music producer Vaughn Daniels at his remote studio in the woods she begins to find out who she really is.
The Review:
Yes, this is a werewolf movie and it's hard to explain any of that without giving away major plot points so I'll just leave it at that. The story was co-written by mother daughter duo Wendy Hill-Tout and Lowell who also created original music for the film with Amelia Moses in the director's chair. Moses is coming off of her debut horror feature called Bleed With Me that, from what I understand, is another solid female focused horror film. It's nice to see new and unique takes on classic horror topics from up and coming filmmakers and Moses seems to be someone who will be making waves for quite a while.
Most of the movie is set within the mansion of the eccentric music producer played by Greg Bryk and it's very apparent right from the start that he has a few secrets and maybe some shady business going on. Bryk and lead actress Lauren Beatty work really well together especially as their relationship grows and becomes more more intense. Overall Beatty is pretty great working with a character that has some major issues and evolves in multiple ways over the course of the movie. I think without her performance, the movie doesn't work as well as it does.
This being a werewolf movie, we eventually get the big transformation from human to werewolf and, while we've seen this moment play out in so many different ways in so many different movies, I feel like Moses and her special effects team still managed to come up with a unique take on the pivotal moment. Without a strong transformation payoff any werewolf movie is going to suffer and I would say it is actually a strength for this movie.
When a movie is called Bloodthirsty, you might expect there to be a lot of blood splashed all over the screen although in this case it's kept to a minimum as the focus is more on the psychological aspects of the story. The werewolvey action we do get is pretty solid although I think overall the film suffers a bit by focusing on the drama and mind games a bit too much. That being said, it's still a solid effort and an enjoyable experience especially as it gives a fresh new look at the subject matter.
The Verdict:
Bloodthirsty is a twisted, musical take on the werewolf story and, while it wasn't the bloody mess I was hoping for, I still found it worth watching. Director Amelia Moses has definitely placed herself on the horror map with two genre efforts that make me think she is just getting started.
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