BLOOD CREEK DVD review

A horror film starring Superman and Magneto from the director of Batman and Robin? How could this possibly fail? Oh...

Presumed dead after a tour of duty in Iraq, Victor (Dominic Purcell) arrives back in town with a mission; to attack the remote farmhouse where he's been held captive for the last two years. With the help of his brother Evan (Henry Cavill), they head to the farmhouse looking for revenge, but inadvertently release the evil Nazi officer Wirth (Michael Fassbender), who's been residing in the basement and living off human flesh.

Directed by Batman and Robin's Joel Schumacher and starring Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender and Dominic Purcell, Blood Creek was filmed in 2009 but has been sat on a shelf for 2 years before being dumped straight onto DVD this year. Why such poor treatment for a film with at least two soon to be megastars and a recognisable director? Because it's terrible, simply terrible.

More of a siege drama than a straight forward horror film, Blood Creek suffers from being mediocre at many things; it's not scary, it's not chilling, but most of all, it's not very interesting. Its hokey Nazi occult story has been done before and better (Hellboy and Captain America spring to mind), and the most interesting thing about the film (the appearance of Michael Fassbender), is limited at best. Playing a character of pure evil, at least he looks cool in his long slicker coat.


With about as much charisma as an old brick, Dominic Purcell does not make for a good leading man, his acting limitations painfully obvious when up against Cavill and Fassbender. Its eventual release timed to coincide with Cavill's Immortals and Fassbender's Shame, this features both men before they hit the big time, slumming it in this supernatural chiller that's beneath most of the talent involved.

I know the ladies love a bit of Fassbender, but no-one will find him attractive in his mutilated zombie form. It's a pity that he spends most of his screen time as an unrecognisable bad guy, as his early scene as a self serving SS officer is probably the best part of the film. Bringing to mind that first scene with Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (which also starred Fassbender), it's a shame that the film quickly skips to the present day.


The twist Blood Creek has on your average Rio Bravo/Assault on Precinct 13 plot is that whenever one of his opponents has been felled, Wirth is able to bring them back as one of his reanimated zombie minions. Zombie horses anyone? It's the one bit of invention the film has, but it's only a fleeting plot point anyway. Blood Creek is an annoyingly dark film too, apparently trying to hide some of its flaws with dim lighting.

The kind of film most people would want expunged from their CV, it's clear why it was put on the shelf for so long. Luckily they played some good odds by hiring Cavill and Fassbender, 
Even Schumacher, much maligned for directing the worst Batman film, is better than this. He still directed The Lost Boys, The Client and A Time To Kill, so what ever attracted him to this horrendous script, more in keeping with a film school graduate's debut feature, is beyond me.


Hellraiser meets Hellboy it may be, but that doesn't amount to much in the end. A film that would have already been forgotten if not for the rising stars involved, Blood Creek probably should have stayed on the shelf.


Verdict

Special Features: Trailer