The story centers around Dax (Robbie Kay), a young man who was traumatized as a child by his mother’s murder, grows up to become an obsessive horror-movie fan. He and his “hot” friend, Sam (Seychelle Gabriel), and his funny friend, Krill (Jacob Batalon), go to a massive horror-movie event, the titular BLOOD FEST, at a remote location. Lo and behold, the movies’ celebrated cinematic nightmares start becoming real; creative dismemberments follow.
The opening of the film was one that really stuck out to me. I found myself a bit surprised by it. But it was really strong way to open the film.
Another strength of the film are the characters. In a film like this, casting is key. It could easily fall into being so over the top that you wish for them to be killed.
Robbie Kay does a great job as Dax. There are a moment, here and there where I wished could have smacked him to tell him to pull it together. But I’d consider that to be a strength because of his character’s arc.
Seychelle Gabriel is fantastic as Sam. She is strong and kicks ass. She certainly is no damsel in distress. Though, there is a point where she may be seen as a bit too headstrong.
A big standout is Jacob Batalon as Krill. (If I could compare Krill to any other horror character, I’d probably say that he’s the Randy of Blood Fest.) He does an incredible job as Krill. He’s funny, has a big heart, and very endearing. He is someone that I would love to have as my best friend. Some of my favorite moments from the film are Krill moments.
Barbara Dunkleman provides a great performance as Ashley. When we are first introduced to Ashley, I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. She was a bit over the top. Felt like a very one note character. But during a moment with Krill, it opened things up as we get to see her character underneath. That is one of my favorite moments in the film is the few moments between those two characters.
Tate Donovan provides a solid performance as Dax’s father Dr. Conway. And Owen Egerton hams it up beautifully as Anthony Walsh. There was a few moments where I found myself missing Anthony Walsh because of how much fun his character is.
The film’s villains are very strong. The film plays with a lot of the different horror tropes. And we are able to see that through the different archetypes provided by the horror villains – Vampires, Zombies, Clowns, and Pig Masks are only a few.
The film moves at a great pace. I never found myself bored. And when the film was over, I was wishing to watch it over again. And yes, it does have replayability. I watched it at least 3 times now. And it’s been a fun ride each time.
The gore. Oh, the sweet sweet gore. When I had first heard of the film, I wasn’t sure what the rating was going to be. Then I had heard it was going to be Rated R. I was like ‘Okay, it’ll be R. But it’ll be like a modern day Rated R. Meaning we won’t see much gore.’. Well, I am happy to say that the film does not disappoint. None of the effects disappointed or took me out of the film. If I hadn’t heard of how small the budget was, I would have guessed it was a fairly larger budget.
This film is fantastic. It is a true love letter to the genre. I cannot say enough how much I love the film. It moves at a solid pace, has heart, and solid characters. Never once did I find myself thinking ‘When is this going to be over?
If you haven’t seen this flick yet, please give it a shot.
Highly Recommended. 5 out of 5.
Check out Blood Fest today on Amazon Prime.
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