HERE FOR BLOOD **** Canada 2022 Dir: Daniel Turres. 100 mins
Likeable characters and energetic nods to vintage Sam Raimi / Peter Jackson splatter comedies keep this eager-to-please gore movie consistently engaging. Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) is working three jobs and studying for exams, while her pumped-up, pro wrestler boyfriend Tom (Shawn Roberts) earns just $20 a fight. She convinces him to swap her babysitter duties so she can revise – and his reluctant stand-in efforts happen to coincide with our cutaway glimpses of a barrel-chested, masked, leather-clad maniac.
Pretty soon, not only is Tom looking after young Grace (Maya Misaljevic), but he’s also fending off a series of warped home invaders intent on taking the little girl for their upcoming Satanic ritual. In addition to the inevitable demise of the Pizza Delivery Guy, this means fabulously gruesome mano a mano set pieces of the game Shawn Roberts tussling with creepily attired antagonists in the kitchen, while the most selfish and cowardly character meets a show-stopping end (“We are under attack by a gang of sex perverts!”) and there are at least two tremendously squirty, splashy decapitations.
The lot takes various fun twists and turns, the dialogue seems designed for a slightly inebriated midnight festival audience (“Fuck me, it’s a zombie!”) and Shawn Roberts delivers a series of goofy one liners with aplomb. Dee Snider has a lot fun as Gomez a finger-biting disembodied head demanding “Feed me!” (a la Audrey II), the kid is appealing and the array of practical gore FX are terrific. Great soundtrack including JAC, Takashi and Bob Noxious.
Review by Steven West
HERE FOR BLOOD is available to watch on Screambox and to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the USA