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Fantastic Fest: ‘Bloodthirsty’ Hits All the Right Notes to Effectively Expand on Werewolf Lore

Published

4 years ago

October 2, 2020

Fantastic Fest has been an intense celebration of great film and werewolves this year. Bloodthirsty fits in nicely here. It’s also a great cross-pollination of Joe Dante’s The Howling and John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps and goes long way to elevate both body horror and lycanthrope lore.

Bloodthirsty comes from director Amelia Moses and writers Wendy Hill-Tout and singer-songwriter Lowell. The trio compliment each other nicely throughout the run of the film.

The story revolves around Grey a pop-star in the process of recording her second album after her first well-received entry. The pressure of being under the spotlight combined with her own past has caused her to have intense and often vicious hallucinations. That’s when Grey and her girlfriend Charlie receive an invitation from world renowned producer, Vaughn Daniels. The invitation takes them to a secluded cabin in the middle of the snowy wilderness where Grey begins to record her sophomore album. However, as Grey starts to record her album the hallucinations begin to become more intense and it turns out that their lovely producer Vaughn might have some murderous skeletons in his own closet.

The soundtrack for Bloodthirsty is a hungry and revealing through-line that ultimately separates this film from the pack. Each song, written by Lowell expands Grey and her character just as much as the visual FX do in terms of transformation. Added to that, the songs are just really good. I had to do a quick Google to see if the title track was available for purchase. Creating a great song is one thing, creating a great song that expands on an entire film arc is something else and boy is that done well here.

Bloodthirsty

Lead actress Lauren Beatty is absorbing and manages to create an onscreen transformation that feels entirely organic. Her ability to flawlessly and simultaneously be vulnerable, elegant and menacing all at the same time is the central piece of the film working as a whole. Beatty disappears into this role and emanates a deeply personal connection to Grey.

The isolation of the film works well as the backdrop for Grey’s psyche. Moses creates a constricting world that puts you and its main character in the same tight confines, and makes you just as desperate as her to escape.

“It’s hypnotic approach like rows of teeth

tightening around around your neck.”

Vaughn played by Greg Bryk brings an approach built out of a pure quite menace. The entire approach rests on charm. It ultimately makes the character of Vaughn someone that you would definitely want to keep your eye on but also has enough charm that you believe trusting him and following him down a possibly not so brightly lit path.

When it comes to werewolf films, its important to get down to brass tacks in the VFX. Ever since An American Werewolf in London and The Howling set the bar for on-screen transformations, it has become something that lycan films reach for. So, it’s great to see what Bloodthirsty does with its own transformation. We get the full on wolf out in a really well-done metamorphosis that uses pain as a backboard for stretching fingers and cracking maws and the reveal of an awesome monster.

I love films about writers block and the process of creating. Bloodthirsty almost frustratingly expresses the intricacies of that block and that fear of not knowing if your work will even be accepted once it does come out. The isolation, the transformation and constant self-discoveries are shown to great effect throughout. Best of all, all this could have been its very own drama picture without the horror elements and totally worked. But, the rage that an onscreen werewolf illustrates is at the core of many a writer block session.

Bloodthirsty hits all the right notes in furthering werewolf lore. It’s hypnotic approach like rows of teeth tightening around around your neck. A careful and plotted approach to the development of its characters carries nicely through a film that very much could have just been a drama and still worked. In fact, that’s what makes Bloodthirsty work as well as it does, it isn’t wearing its werewolf fangs on its sleeve. Instead the slow burn approach works here two-fold and makes the blood, gore and teeth pieces fly late in the film. Bloodthirsty is heatbreaking, transformative and gory, and takes you in places that few lycan films have gone before.

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Related Topics:Bloodthirsty Lowell Lycan Songwriter werewolf

Movies

Mike Flanagan Comes Aboard To Assist in Completion of ‘Shelby Oaks’

Published

2 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Timothy Rawles

If you have been following Chris Stuckmann on YouTube you are aware of the struggles he has had getting his horror movie Shelby Oaks finished. But there’s good news about the project today. Director Mike Flanagan (Ouija: Origin Of Evil, Doctor Sleep and The Haunting) is backing the film as a co-executive producer which might bring it much closer to being released. Flanagan is a part of the collective Intrepid Pictures which also includes Trevor Macy and Melinda Nishioka.

Stuckmann is a YouTube movie critic who’s been on the platform for over a decade. He came under some scrutiny for announcing on his channel two years ago that he would no longer be reviewing films negatively. However contrary to that statement, he did a non-review essay of the panned Madame Web recently saying, that studios strong-arm directors to make films just for the sake of keeping failing franchises alive. It seemed like a critique disguised as a discussion video.

But Stuckmann has his own movie to worry about. In one of Kickstarter’s most successful campaigns, he managed to raise over $1 million for his debut feature film Shelby Oaks which now sits in post-production.

Hopefully, with Flanagan and Intrepid’s help, the road to Shelby Oak’s completion is reaching its end.

“It’s been inspiring to watch Chris working toward his dreams over the past few years, and the tenacity and DIY spirit he displayed while bringing Shelby Oaks to life reminded me so much of my own journey over a decade ago,” Flanagan told Deadline. “It’s been an honor to walk a few steps with him on his path, and to offer support for Chris’ vision for his ambitious, unique movie. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.”

Stuckmann says Intrepid Pictures has inspired him for years and, “it’s a dream come true to work with Mike and Trevor on my first feature.”

Producer Aaron B. Koontz of Paper Street Pictures has been working with Stuckmann since the beginning is also excited about the collaboration.

“For a film that had such a hard time getting going, it’s remarkable the doors that then opened to us,” said Koontz. “The success of our Kickstarter followed by the on-going leadership and guidance from Mike, Trevor, and Melinda is beyond anything I could have hoped for.”

Deadline describes the plot of Shelby Oaks as follows:

“A combination of documentary, found footage, and traditional film footage styles, Shelby Oaks centers on Mia’s (Camille Sullivan) frantic search for her sister, Riley, (Sarah Durn) who ominously disappeared in the last tape of her “Paranormal Paranoids” investigative series. As Mia’s obsession grows, she begins to suspect that the imaginary demon from Riley’s childhood may have been real.”

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Movies

New ‘MaXXXine’ Image is Pure 80s Costume Core

Published

6 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Timothy Rawles

A24 has unveiled a captivating new image of Mia Goth in her role as the titular character in “MaXXXine”. This release comes approximately a year and a half after the previous installment in Ti West’s expansive horror saga, which covers more than seven decades.

MaXXXine Official Trailer

His latest continues the story arc of freckle-faced aspiring starlet Maxine Minx from the first film X which took place in Texas in 1979. With stars in her eyes and blood on her hands, Maxine moves into a new decade and a new city, Hollywood, in pursuit of an acting career, “But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.”

The photo below is the latest snapshot released from the film and shows Maxine in full Thunderdome drag amid a crowd of teased hair and rebellious 80s fashion.

MaXXXine is set to open in theaters on July 5.

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News

Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN IS NOW IN PRODUCTION 🩸 Welcome to Shadyside High. We're gonna have a killer time. pic.twitter.com/jDl0zRa2CH
— Netflix (@netflix) April 30, 2024

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).