Don't Believe the Hype

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

BLOODLINE: VENGEANCE FROM BEYOND is a very low budget Italian horror flick that takes inspiration from various styles and genres. It's essentially a torture porn vehicle which features a mad scientist conducting weird experiments that reminded me of ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST a little. There are also zombies and some supernatural bits included. One scene is set at a racy porn shoot. You do get the feeling that the writer was adding in all sorts of stuff in a bid to make something stick, but his efforts aren't really worthwhile.

A vicious madman known as The Surgeon conducts sick experiments deep in the woods. Journalists Sandra (a fine and sympathetic performance by Francesca Faiella) and Marco (solid Marco Benevento) find themselves running afoul of this maniac after they are assigned to document the making of a porno movie being shot in the same area. Director Edo Tagliavini, who also co-wrote the lively and eventful script with Mario Calamita and Taiyo Yamanuchi, relates the enjoyable story at a quick pace, does an able job of crafting a good deal of tension as well as a dark creepy atmosphere, draws the main characters with refreshing depth, delivers a handy helping of nasty gore, and tosses in both a spooky ghost and ferocious zombies for good measure. Moreover, the sound acting by the capable cast keeps the picture humming, with especially sturdy contributions from Virgilio Olivari as charming hunk Tony, Paolo Ricci as austere and demanding director Klaus Kinski, Francesco Malcom as the insecure Riccardo, and Valentina Del Rio as the depraved Samantha. Claudio Simonetti's ominous and energetic score hits the spirited shivery spot. Marina Kissopoulos' crisp widescreen cinematography provides an impressive polished look. Kudo are also in order for Sergio Stivaletti's excellent make-up f/x. Recommended viewing for fans of Italian horror.

Sandra (Francesca Faiella) and Marco (Marco Benevento) are journalists doing a story on drug dealing. When faulty equipment blows their surveillance of a gang of dealers, they are pulled from the story and assigned to cover the production of a pornographic film by a director who's becoming famous for his genre-bending productions that use a combination of amateurs and professional actors. They are by no means excited to cover this story, but they are given little choice.Sandra has particular reasons not to want to cover this film. When she was a young girl, her twin sister Giulia and herself were attacked by the Surgeon, a psychopath who kidnapped people in order to surgically remove their organs. Sandra escaped when she was injured and Giulia acted as a diversion to allow her escape. Giulia was never seen again. The film is being shot in the same location as this attack.On their first evening covering the film, Sandra and Marco hear rumours that the Surgeon has been sighted in the area, many years after his supposed death. It's not long before members of the crew start disappearing and the Surgeon seems to be the culprit. Sandra and Marco stumble upon his hideout … and the film takes a really odd turn."Bloodline" is a modern giallo, and like many modern takes on the genre, it reproduces a lot of the plot elements of the genre without reproducing the style. As such, it's an interesting, but not particularly rewarding film. I was prepared to write it off as a curiosity until a completely unexpected change in genre happened during the last third of the film. Without giving too much away, the last third is an escalating series of bizarre events that takes the film in genuinely unexpected directions. Worth a watch, if only for this last third.

Edo Tagliavini's "Bloodline" tells the story of Sandra who returns to the location of the horrors that befell her family 15 years earlier. Now as a journalist she is forced to relive the nightmares again as the ghost of her dead sister tries to save her. Part giallo and part supernatural horror story "Bloodline" is all Italian genre movie making. The film has the young woman going back to a nightmarish past while on assignment to document the behind the scene affairs of a genre bending porn director's new project. It stars Francesca Faiella, Virgilio Olivari, Marco Benevento, Alessandra Aulicino, Monica Citarda and Valentina Del Rio. Edo Tagliavini is the same director that has most recently been featured in the Foreign horror anthology "P.O.E. Poetry of Eerie" and "P.O.E. Project of Evil".In "Bloodline" Tagliavini brings to life a bizarre horror story that has a heavy giallo atmosphere of somber despair, dark sinister shadows reminiscent of slasher movies and the added horrors of supernatural grandiose. The acting is very well done by Indie standards with a very dark and serious story that flows perfectly with the Italian dark humor that plays on elements of satire. The film is subtitled so if you "don't do subtitles" then your not going to care for the movie. The effects are awesome and gory in true Italian fashion. There is a slow and steady crescendo in to the story with very little intensity through a lot of the film which allows for a more personal connection with the characters before the nightmare is unleashed but it is so worth the patients. "Bloodline" is a wild ride into the pit of hell and excess told in a style only Italian horror can create. I really enjoyed this movie.