Bleeders

1997 "It's in the blood"
4.2| 1h29m| en| More Info
Released: 13 October 1998 Released
Producted By: Fries/Schultz Film Group
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A man with an unknown disease travels to an island with his girlfriend where his relatives once lived, hoping to find a cure to his illness. Although his relatives were all thought to be dead, he finds them living underground.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Fries/Schultz Film Group

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Micitype Pretty Good
Listonixio Fresh and Exciting
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
naglma Now, it isn't for everybody mind you, not even every die hard horror fans; but if you like freaky monsters under the ground from origins to awful to speak aloud, then not only are you a Lovecraft fan (see Shadow Over Innsmouth), but you'll probably enjoy this movie. Not fully incorporating the Cthulhu Mythos, huge parallels are seen in the backwoods MA people, the fish like monsters and something that came from a long time ago. Surprisingly, unlike the vicious scheiBfare Lovecraft renditions that came out of the eighties, this is surprisingly well done. It has actors and actresses that don't foul up the Lovecraftian nightmare that the director has in store for the audience, and a good plot. My only question was, so what happens next.
capkronos Don't know if anyone remembers the box for this or not, but it had a packet of fake blood taped to the front and you could squish it with your fingers. You gotta miss that kind of showmanship now that VHS has become obsolete! Well anyway, back to the film...A pale, terminally sick man (Roy Dupuis) arrives on a secluded Canadian island with his blonde nurse wife (Kristin Lehman) to trace his family lineage in hopes of finding a cure for his "degenerative congenital blood disease." Turns out he's actually a descendant of the incestuous Van Daam clan, whose keeping-it-in-the-family lifestyle has resulted in little, legless, rubbery, bright-light-hating monsters who lurk beneath dark catacombs and emerge with claw hammers to nosh the blood of townspeople. First off, you might expect better coming a from a film scripted by Dan O'Bannon (ALIEN) and Ronald Shusett (FREEJACK), but there are several glaring plot holes and the premise, despite perverse sexual elements, is overly familiar. Rutger Hauer is also wasted yet again as a boozy doctor. However, it's not a complete washout and that's largely due to very good performances from Dupuis and Lehman, who make you believe in their characters and their plight, even though this thing is downright stupid much of the time. Watch for them in other things, but this horror exploiter will be best remembered by me for that nifty box.
mistkay11 Awesome! duh. top 1. well i think this movie is really awesome for starters the quote at the end of the movie makes the movie. well yes if you are a hardcore movie buff you'll love this movie because you'll be able to appreciate it for what its worh...but if you just someone who watches movies for their realisticness then prolly not the right movie for you. It has pretty low rate effects and its got some lame parts but entirely the movie is sweet and should be viewed by anyone who really loves horror movies. and anyone who hasn't seen this movie should go buy it.... no don't rent it.... buy it because that how sweet it is.... yea thats my opinion. so take it to heart. and the bank.
Paul Andrews Bleeders is set on a small isolated island called Van Daam's Landing where the parent-less John Strauss (Roy Dupuis) & his wife Kathleen (Kristin Lehman) have travelled to in a desperate search for answers to John's hereditary blood condition after discovering that he was born on the island. They ask the islanders whether a 'Strauss' family ever lived there but they claim no one by that name ever has. Meanwhile the island is in a bit of a crisis as all the dead need to be dug up in the local cemetery as the wood used in the coffins is substandard, it is discovered that some of the bodies have disappeared. Around the same time there is a sighting of a deformed creature which ends up dead that the local doctor Marlowe (Rutger Hauer) examines & finds out that it's blood has the same genetic flaws seen in John's. Are they connected? What are these creatures, what do they want with dead bodies & what will happen now all the bodies have been dug up...Also known as Hemoglobin here in the UK which means I saw the uncut version this Canadian American co-production was directed by Peter Svatek & is average at best. The script by Charles Adair, Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon was apparently based on the short story The Lurking Fear by H.P. Lovecraft & has glimpses of creativity, excitement & a pretty good story but the finished result is really dull to watch, it takes itself far too seriously & is just far to slow to maintain one's attention for over 90 minutes, the film doesn't get going until the last 10 or so minutes by which time, if your still awake, is far too late. We learn during Bleeders that these creatures have been on the island for literally generations yet no one has ever seen them because they feast on dead bodies stuffed embalming fluid, OK that's fine if it was a large city but this is a very small community. I mean how many people died there a week, it must have been quite a few to sustain a load of creatures. Even if only one person a week died & that was enough to feed all those creatures that's still a pretty high death rate in a community that probably numbers no more than a few hundred, right? The narrative is very loose, nothing is tied together that well & the explanation why these creature exist in the first place is flimsy to say the least & I wasn't keen on the open twist ending either. Having said that it's watchable & there are a few decent sequences in there.Director Svatek must take the blame for taking a potentially great premise, some terrific special make-up creature effects & turning in such a drab & lethargic film. Bleeders is well made but it has no real energy to it, the horror scenes have little tension & no scares until the end when everyone has to barricade themselves in a lighthouse as the creatures try to get them as a thunderstorm rages outside. There isn't much gore, there's a mangled creature, a few dead bodies, some brief stabbings & the films gore highlight is a cool slit throat that gushes blood.Techncially Bleeders is good, it's well made & competent throughout but I'd have liked a bit more visual style. The special make-up creature effects are excellent it's just a shame that they get all of five minutes worth of screen time, a real shame because they look really impressive. The acting was OK but nothing special & is it just me or does Dupuis look like a female Bruce Campbell?! Hauer probably needed rent money & doesn't put much effort into his role.Bleeders had the potential to be a great film with some cool creatures but in the hands of this set of filmmakers what we ended up with was a slow, dull & disappointing exercise in patience, maybe I'm being too harsh here as it's not without it's merits but there are so many much better horror films out there that I simply cannot recommend Bleeders at all.