I watched Blood Barn the day after I took a strong sleeping pill, due to a period of terrible sleep. It worked in finally giving me a great night's sleep, but it also meant I was in a bit of a groggy stupor the next day. In the case of this movie it added to the trippy vibe. Directed and co-written by Gabriel Bernini (Triple Thriller) in his feature length directorial debut, this out of time horror splatter fest felt like a remake of The Evil Dead, but one built from memory, and while under the effect of a healthy dose of LSD. This makes it something that feels a little familiar, but also stands out on its own.
A group of camp counsellors decide to celebrate their last summer together before they part ways for college, by having a weekend break at a secluded barn that Josie's (Lena Redford - And Back Again) family owns. Not really a part of the core group, she secretly hopes this idea of hers will bring her closer to the rest of the tight knit teens. The group include Josie herself, alongside best friends; Amanda (Andrea Bambina) and Rachel (Chloe Cherry), and four others. The partying soon begins in earnest, with the group wild and disrespectful of the converted barn and its belongings. Unknown to all, there is a supernatural presence in the barn that is not happy at having its peace shattered, and seeks a way to punish those who have invaded its domain.
I really should have made a note of characters names as I was watching this, as it turns out I can't identify who a lot of the male actor's characters were. The cast of seven are introduced by a lovely montage/credit sequence of the characters dancing and goofing around in a car prior to arriving at the barn. This was the first of several montage sequences, others including one set at a small lake, and a later one showing a volleyball competition between the friends. These, coupled with later ones, often had an intimate close-up feel, with the hand operated camera swinging around in-between the characters, adding to the retro look and feel of the picture. With the saturated look and sublime upbeat retro musical score, and made for VHS feel, this seemed like a film lost out of time. A retro throwback to practical effects heavy horrors of the 1980s and before. Most notably, as mentioned in my prologue, this reminded me of The Evil Dead. The film features many moments where the unseen horror is shown in first person perspective rushing around the barn and the surrounding area. Completely its own thing, this nonetheless shares similarities, such as individual members of the group getting possessed by the evil and coming back as out of control psychotic zombie type creatures. There isn't much effort put into fleshing out the characters, they seem as wafer thin as their personalities suggest, the boys mostly over the top goofy and playful, the girls not much better. Their dynamic worked well, making the scenes of them partying work well, while making it clear that Josie, and the more introverted Simon (Simon Paris) are the only real rational ones. Of course, none of the cast actually look like they are in their teenage years, but this fits the style of this type of retro film, where cast members often looked far older than they were supposed to be.
There is backstory vaguely suggested for why the barn is haunted, but this is never explained in detail, with the briefest allusions from Josie that every family has their secrets, and that hers had more than most.
The horror flows thick and fast, and there is plenty of blood throughout, and fun practical effects. The evil mostly manifests by endless coils of possessed rope, which again, reminded me of the twisting vines from The Evil Dead (a character even meets their end in a gender swapped recreation of the infamous 'tree rape' scene from that other classic!). This is all shown by great practical effects, which always looked fantastic. From early scenes of character's clothes being sucked into the ground, to twisting ropes and ghostly bloody figures, this never skimped on the craziness. There are a lot of fun ideas here, and my only real complaint would be that the third act becomes a bit abstract and hard to follow due to the sheer insanity of the unfolding chaos. Scenes become bathed in thick red light, and locations become fluid and surreal, such as when a character gets pulled into a chest and emerges into a small red room where he is attacked by an assailant wearing farmer's clothes. When characters become possessed, they have the same white/grey waxy look from Evil Dead, and act in a similar murderous manner. The biggest difference being how weak the possessed become, taking lethal injuries that wouldn't have done much harm to a normal person. There are decapitations, partial decapitations, people dancing on ceilings, and leaping out of windows. It all looks absolutely manic and animated, and fits the hallucinogenic vibe of the film very well.
By recreating the feel of an eighties classic, Blood Barn succeeds with its wild story and practical effects, but also felt a little style over substance. Don't come here expecting well developed characters and a satisfying plot, but do come for some wonderful looking and absolutely chaotic scenes of comedically dark horror, with a healthy dose of blood thrown in. This all combines to make a wonderfully manic horror that doesn't waste a moment of its lean 76 minute runtime. Blood Barn had its L.A premiere on Friday 13th, and streams exclusively on SCREAMBOX, starting 17th February.
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