Blooded

Blooded (2011)
Directed by: Edward Boase
Written by: James Walker
Starring: Neil McDermott, Nick Ashdon, Oliver Boot

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv06vDKXHh0[/youtube]

Blooded (2011)

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 80 minutes

Director: Edward Boase

Writer: James Walker

Starring: Nick Ashdon, Neil McDermott, Oliver Boot

Reviewed by: Matt Wavish, official HCF critic

Blooded has been gaining high praise as it builds up to it’s DVD release this week. I went into this film with high hopes, and to start with, they were granted. The film claims to be a true story based on the kidnap of five fox hunting activists lead by Lucas Bell (Ashdone), and the story is told by the survivors in interviews. The subject of fox hunting will forever be a touchy matter to us British, and I found the film gutsy and interesting in tackling this matter. Bell hunts, he is the youngest activist to stand up for fox hunting, and he sadly becomes a target for anti hunting activists who appear much worse than the hunters themselves. The film opens with real footage of the riots that took place when the Government tried to ban the sport, and i like realism in films. The whole idea from this point on is interesting, and you never really know what is gonna happen until it does. The main issue is the budget restraints meant that the actors who play the parts just aren’t convincing enough when it comes down to the crunch.

The characters are well played, but they just needed a little more to make them truly convincing and since the story is supposed the be true, that lack of acting abilities takes a little away from an interesting plot. The five friends end up kidnapped, stripped and sent into the freezing cold country while the anti fox hunting activists play games with them, firing shots just to see ‘how they like it’. It makes a solid point, and anyone who believes this is far fetched for an activist on eitehr side of the fence is sadly ignorant. Activists DO take things this seriously, and if this really IS a true sotry, then I don’t doubt it for a second.

Anyway, things do turn incredibly dark for Lucas comes the end, and the anti fox hunting thugs in balaclavas will do anything to make him renounce fox hunting and say its bad. Lucas is the fox hunting poster boy you see. The film does suggest and incredible stubborneness from both parties in the belieft that they are right, and I liked that about this film, two groups standing for what they belive in. The film has sadly been marketed as a minor horror, but I believe that to  be wrong, it’s more a drama, and quite a powerful one at times. It’s not the greatest of films, but for bravery on subject matter and the guts to touch on a dangerous subject, director Edward Boase should be applauded.

Rating:

[pt-filmtitle]Blooded[/pt-filmtitle]