Book of Blood (2008)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

John Harrison

Writers:

Clive Barker (short stories "On Jerusalem Street" and "The Book of Blood")
John Harrison (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 May 2009 (Turkey)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A paranormal expert discovers a house that is at the intersection of so-called "highways" transporting souls in the afterlife. |

Plot Keywords:

Intersection | Paranormal | Occult | Diner | Potassium

Cast

Jonas Armstrong	...	Simon McNeal
Sophie Ward	...	Mary Florescu
Paul Blair	...	Reg Fuller
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Romana Abercromby	...	Janie
Simon Bamford	...	Derek
Doug Bradley	...	Tollington
Gowan Calder	...	Janie's Mother
Graham Colquhoun	...	Simon's Father
James McAnerney	...	Doctor Nigel Blake
Joy McBrinn	...	Waitress
Charlie McFadden	...	Joanne
Marcus McLeod	...	Janie's Father
Jack North	...	Simon (age 11)
Siobhan Reilly	...	Cashier
Clive Russell	...	Wyburd
Andrew Scott-Ramsay	...	Male Student
Isla Stewart	...	Simon's Mother
Greig Taylor	...	Stevie McNeal
James Watson	...	Jimmy

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody violence, sexuality/nudity and language.

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45437)

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Matador Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mary Florescu: The dead have highways, running through the wasteland behind our lives, bearing an endless traffic of departed souls. They can be heard in the broken places of our world, through cracks made out of cruelty, violence, and depravity. They have sign posts, these highways, and crossroads and intersections. And it is at these intersections where the dead mingle, and sometimes spill over into our world.

A consistently mediocre film from start to finish

I went into this film with no expectations whatsoever. I had a very vague idea of what the story was. And while I enjoyed the film, it is plagued by mediocrity at every turn, so much so that by the end, you are almost taken completely out of the film, because you're tired of waiting for it to get good.

The biggest problem lies in the script. The characters are all one-dimensional. At no point do we feel like we know anything about anyone. This is frustrating in a film that wants us to be scared. We can't be scared if we don't identify with our characters. The dialogue is also inane and incredibly bland. There isn't a single flair of writerly wit in the entire script. Every exchange feels as if it was rushed through by the writer, never developing the dialogue beyond the purpose of getting from A to B.

Speaking of bland, the visual style of the film is very bleak and one-note. The film sports a dull gray look, that borders on black and white, throughout the entire film. It gets very boring to look at. All of the lighting schemes were flat and without any kind of flair as well. The shots are just as boring. I don't think there is a single outstanding piece of cinematography in the entire film. Everything is very by the book, and like so much of the film, bland and mediocre.

Before I jump into the performances, I want to say that none of the actors are bad. They did not have first class material to work with, but at the same time, no one seems overly dedicated to their roles. Each person seems to have only a basic understanding of their character. No one does anything special in their performance. Like the dialogue and the visual style, it is all very one-dimensional. This film would have benefited from using well-known actors. Since we don't get to know them in the story, it would have been helpful if thew audience knew them before the film even started. This is a sentiment that is inevitable with known actors.

Oh, I have forgotten to say what the film does well. The special effects are quite good. There is gore that will make you gag and occurrences that will shock you. For such an obviously low-budget film, these are effects that would make Hollywood proud.

Overall, there is nothing bad about this film. It has some great ideas, and it is good at its core, but it does nothing great. It barely does anything good. It is proficient. It is mediocre. It is just another example of the lack of Justice we have come to expect from adaptations of Clive Barker's material.