I love reviewing films that I would most likely have missed if not writing for Biff Bam Pop. What do you get when you mix the 80’s setting with a comic book hero, middle child angst, and a nasty boogeyman? You get a well written film called The Bloody Man.
Plot
The Bloody Man was written by Daniel and Casi Benedict, directed by Daniel Benedict, and stars two actresses from Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Tuesday Knight and Lisa Wilcox, along with actors Sam Hadden, Olivia Sanders, Jeremy Carr, Nicholas Redd, Dan Eardley, and David Daniel as Sam.
The story revolves around an eleven-year-old boy, Sam (David Daniel) who is dealing with the tragic loss of his mom (Lisa Wilcox). Sam is your typical middle child with an older brother, Michael (Sam Hadden) who makes it his life’s mission to piss off his younger siblings. There is also the younger sister, Amy (Olivia Sanders) who loves to take Sam’s action figures and mix them up with her Barbie dolls.
The children’s father (Jeremy Carr) has remarried, but Sam won’t accept his stepmother, Kim (Tuesday Knight). Life is not working out for poor Sam, who is not only bullied in school but is also made fun of after presenting his class project on a comic book given to Sam by his mother on the day she died. The comic book is about The Bloody Man/Devil who terrorizes a town. There are enough flashbacks to the comic book to set up the terror that soon invades Sam’s life.
Things start to get very scary after the Bloody Man begins to terrorize Sam and his siblings. With dad away on a business trip, it is left to Sam to save his family.
Conclusion
I was not expecting to enjoy the film as much as I did. I am not a big fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise…not because of the films…they were classic horror, but because I see enough horror in my own dreams. I am a psychic/medium, and the dead love showing up at 3 am in the morning to show me how they died….so I hope you understand my hesitancy to watch The Bloody Man.
Co-writer/director Daniel Benedict was able to bring together a real horror story with heart. David Daniel was amazing as the young boy who is out of step with the world due to circumstances out of his control. Tuesday Knight, as the stepmother has us on edge to the very end. Lisa Wilcox plays your perfect ’80’s mother, via flashbacks…Sam’s siblings are authentic as the obnoxious older brother and the darling but pesky little sister.
The whole film was fun to watch with its Stranger Things/ Freddy Krueger vibe. Nicholas Redd did a good job of scaring the bejesus out of me. Do yourself a favour and watch The Bloody Man. You won’t be sorry.
