Movies & TV / Reviews
Blood Child Review
Loading...Blood Child Review
Alyx Melone– Ashley
Biden Hall– Bill
Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie– Siti
Charlotte Cattell– Naomi
Lisa Kovack– Renee
Coca Uiga– Anna
Tara Chitaroni– Anna
Directed by Jennifer Phillips
Screenplay by Jennifer Phillips
Distributed by Random Media
Not Rated
Runtime– 93 minutes
https://www.facebook.com/bloodchildmovie/
Blood Child, written and directed by Jennifer Phillips, is one of those low budget ghost horror movies that claims to be “based on a true story,” presumably to offer a sense of “authenticity” to the proceedings and set it apart from all of the low budget ghost horror movies in the marketplace that aren’t “based on a true story.” I don’t believe for one second that Blood Child is based on anything that ever happened to anyone, ever, in the history of the world, so in that sense Blood Child is just another movie that’s completely full of shit. As a straight up horror exercise, though, Blood Child is pretty good. It isn’t anything we all haven’t seen a million times before, but it’s generally well made, quite entertaining and, at times, creepy as hell.
The movie stars Alyx Melone as Ashley, a young woman who desperately wants to be a mother. After experiencing a miscarriage while living with her husband Bill (Biden Hall) in Singapore, Ashley’s maid Siti (Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie) offers to help her become a mother by other than natural means. Using some sort of South East Asian magic or some such, Siti and some guy perform a ritual that allows the spirit of Ashley’s unborn child to manifest itself in the guise of a little girl that only Ashley can actually see (this little girl is known as Anna and is played by Coco Uiga and Tara Chitaroni). This “ghost child” Anna lives with Ashley, Bill, and Siti when they all move back to the United States (Minnesota, to be exact), and it’s all so wonderful, at least for a little bit. When the movie begins we see Ashley playing with Anna out in the yard and, again, it’s all so wonderful. However, as tends to happen in these wholly cinematic instances, bad shit starts to happen and the cute little girl becomes a terrifying demonic presence.
The bad stuff starts to happen, I guess, when Ashley and Bill start to have marital difficulties as a result of the miscarriage. There’s considerable obvious tension between Ashley and Bill, and Bill tends to take out his frustrations on Siti. Ashley’s friend and neighbor Naomi (Charlotte Cattell) doesn’t help things when she openly flirts with Bill and attacks Siti with what can only be described as casual racism. Ashley seems to internalize the tension and not notice all of the nastiness around her. It also seems like she’s trying to just “roll with the punches” and not overreact to things.
Now, the ritual isn’t one of those “one and done” things. The ritual is actually a process that Siti and Ashley have to keep doing over and over again, or at least that’s what seems to be happening. There’s an ugly lawn ornament statue thing that plays a part in the ritual, along with a jar full of fetus liquid. No one outside of Ashley and Siti know about this ritual or what the hell the ornament thing is. In fact, the ornament shows up in the house every so often, a situation that sets off Bill, Naomi, and later on Ashley’s mother Renee (Lisa Kovack). And it’s this tension, alongside everything else, that turns Anna into a demonic monster.
Oh, and Ashley and Siti also have to provide raw meat and candy to the ghost child. I have no idea why they have to do that, but, as the tension grows, the raw meat and the sweets become important signs of Anna’s growing distress and evilness. There’s that and the smell of rotting flesh that everyone starts to notice when they walk into Ashley and Bill’s house. That’s gotta be awful, right?
Director Phillips creates an oppressive atmosphere from the get go that only grows more oppressive as the movie progresses. There are no real moments of happiness or joy in the movie, even at the very beginning when Ashley and Anna are playing in the yard. Mother and daughter may be smiling and laughing and whatnot, but there’s something seriously off about what’s happening, we just don’t know what. When we do find out what’s going on and Anna starts appearing as an evil presence with some of the scariest looking make-up ever put on a child actor, the movie becomes seriously intense. There are jump scares in this movie that will make you actually jump out of your seat. I’m not bullshitting you on that. It happened to me and I saw the damn jump scares coming. How often does that kind of thing happen?
The performances are generally good if a little stiff at times. Alyx Melone does a good job as Ashley. She’s damaged and struggling and trying to put on a brave face, which makes you sympathetic to her, but she also seems clueless about what’s going on, which is annoying. Why the hell can’t she see that something bad is happening?
Biden Hall is a total douchebag as Bill. He’s upset and struggling, too, but instead of trying to work together with Ashley to “figure it out” he’s just a jerk, hanging out with his douchebag friends and coming this close to cheating on her. He knows something not quite right is happening in his house, he sometimes sees Anna, but he has no idea what he’s looking at and he just assumes it’s his imagination. You never really like him, at least I didn’t.
Charlotte Cattell does an interesting job as Naomi the flirty neighbor. She tries to be Ashley’s best friend and help her through her issues, which is commendable, but at the same time she flirts with Bill, which is not cool. And what the hell is with her casual racism towards Siti? It’s insane. What happens to her is pretty disturbing.
Lisa Kovack’s performance as Renee, Ashley’s mother, is confusing. She seems to know all about the magic Siti uses and what’s going on with the ghost child in Ashley’s house, but how does she know about it? Is she a psychic? A paranormal investigator? Is the supernatural a hobby of hers? The movie doesn’t say. Renee is also shockingly racist towards Siti. What the hell, man? What do all of these people from Minnesota have against people from Singapore?
And then there’s Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie as Siti. She gives a terrific performance as a woman who can do nothing right although she’s doing everything. She’s cooking their food, cleaning their house, she’s offering emotional support to Ashley, and she’s working hard to make sure the ghost child doesn’t go full on demon. She fails at that, sure, but then she has a lot on her plate. Mistakes happen. Maybe if she wasn’t preoccupied with sweeping the fucking floor and washing the shit stains out of Bill’s underwear she could be on top of the ghost child situation. I blame Ashley for this, too, since she didn’t tell anyone about what she was doing. It’s not Siti’s responsibility to do everything.
And then there’s Coco Uiga and Tara Chitaroni as Anna the ghost child. My God these kids are creepy as hell, and that’s before Anna goes full on demon. When Anna does go full on demon, watch the fuck out. I think we may have a new, modern low budget ghost horror movie icon in Anna. She is scary enough to be one.
The movie’s ending is a bit of a letdown, although the final scene will give you goosebumps. The ending is a little too “urban legend” for my tastes. I would also like to know what the hell is going on with all of the bare feet in this movie. Is it just a stylistic thing? Is it an homage to Quentin Tarantino? Is there something else going on that I just don’t get?
Blood Child is a fairly well made, entertaining, somewhat scary low budget ghost horror movie. It has a great monster that deserves to be a new modern horror icon. The “based on a true story” aspect of the movie sounds like bullshit, but Blood Child is still worth checking out. I liked it.
See Blood Child. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: Maybe 3.
Explosions: None.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A woman chasing a kid around a yard, feet washing, a bloody miscarriage, crying, glass breaking, attempted toast, tie manipulation, some pretty blatant racism, a weird whisper, coffee place hooey, douchebag friends, a flashback, even more blatant racism, a weird looking statue, candy wrappers, a face under the couch, attempted fellatio, motion detector hooey, a door opens all by itself, a plate that moves all by itself, bloody meat, an impromptu noise investigation, a bloody foot, two scary people across the street, a rotting flesh stench that people keep talking about, a dinner party, a bathroom situation, footprints on the floor, a bath, attempted drowning, ghost hands, a toe eating ghost child nightmare, an attack on Singapore, more candy wrappers, another flashback, bloody meat eating, a statue attack, another miscarriage, TV news hooey, attempted ceremony, face slashing, digging, and an ending that suggests something outrageous.
Kim Richards?: None, although you could say that what happens in the movie is reverse Kim Richards.
Gratuitous: Bare feet, a bullshit claim that the movie is based on a “true story,” Minnesota, racism, a maid from Singapore, a scary as hell ghost demon child, candy wrappers on the floor, a big secret, and an ending that suggests something outrageous.
Best lines: “I’ll always play with you,” “Will she ever be able to conceive again?,” “Jesus! You scared the crap out of me!,” “God, Siti, you’re going to give me a heart attack,” “We’re so done with this conversation,” “I think someone needs to get laid,” “And make sure there’s no more dirt in the house!,” “I don’t want to be okay. I just want her back,” “You should get to bed. It’s really late,” “Good morning, handsome,” “Trust me, there’s a smell,” “Are you spying on me?,” “I like surprises,” “Bottoms up! Pants down!,” “I don’t understand why she would just leave it there,” “I love you, too,” “You still haven’t gotten rid of that God awful thing?,” “What is that smell? It’s an old house smell,” “Has anyone seen Naomi,” “You’re going to have to do something about that smell in the den,” “So, how does it feel to be pregnant?,” “Dinner is ready,” “I think it’s time to pack it in,” “Is everything okay in here?,” “What the hell are you talking about?,” “This can’t be happening!,” “Contract broken. What are you talking about? What contract?,” “Bill, we need to get out of here!,” “Ashley has been raising a ghost child,” and “Mommy, don’t leave me.”
