Blood Oath is Shockingly Well-Shot
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Blood Oath is a standard ‘killer-in-the-woods slasher’, made a bit unique by surprisingly adept camera moves and good gore.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
July 12, 2011
Movie Trailer
Image Gallery
Release: May 10, 2011 (US DVD Release)
Written and Directed by: David Buchert
Starring:
Roger Horn as Charlie
Natalie Hart as Lisa
Patrick Holt as Krupp
Tina Krause as Jennifer
Tiffany Shepis as Janet
Let’s go through the “killer in the woods” slasher checklist, shall we? After an initial excellent intro kill in which a more famous face is in peril (Tiffany Shepis… *check*), we cut to a group of four college-ish age kids getting away from it all at a cabin in the woods (Roger Horn, Natalie Hart, Katie Vaughan, and Jamie Reynolds… *check*). Around the campfire, they begin trading ghost stories, and one tells the tale of Krupp (Patrick Holt), a story of a broken promise to a gypsy woman regarding the fate of a set of twins granted to a barren couple by the titular magic blood oath *check check check check*. The group decides to head out through the woods to Krupp’s supposed abandoned cabin to see if the legend is real *checkity check*. Unfortunately, a hulking monstrosity in tattered clothing carrying a massive blade on a long, two-handed handle might have other ideas *and that clears the list*.
To be fair, there’s more to Blood Oath than that, but
it’s mostly pretty by-the-book. The most unique thing about it, though,
is the film features surprisingly complex camera work. These include
pulling back
from a close-in shot through a hole in the
wall, framing
the principle cast so that all of them at once are visible in a small
mirror, a well-handled and dream-like flashback, and others. While
there is some unfortunate use of “day-for-night” filming en route to
the cabin, it doesn’t degrade too much from the overall quality. No
matter how the final film Blood Oath turned out, one thing is
for sure: David Buchert can film amazingly well and should absolutely
keep trying his hand at indie-filmmaking.
The film’s gore and climax are also well-handled. In terms of gore, Krupp is pretty brutal. The killer slices people in half, punches them in the face and then twists the hand inside the cavity, and, of course, just plain and simple slices and dices victims with the long blade. All of these, particularly the face punch, work far better than the constraints of the budget would seem to allow.
The final quarter of Blood Oath is also exceedingly well-done. As Krupp hunts down prey and the group searches the cabin for clues about the behemoth’s backstory, it’s very easy to feel the tension and fear the characters do. This includes a well-handled and acted final sequence/sequel hook that was surprisingly effective.
Surprisingly,
unfortunately, because the rest of the film is pretty
dire. While the final fourth is quite creepy, the majority of the film
before that is just our heroes wandering through the wilderness talking
with each other. Other than the initial battle with Shepis, there are
two other early slasher sequences with Krupp but neither one has any
real influence on our main characters. In fact, one even involves
another semi-famous face who is promptly introduced and axed just as
quickly (Tina Krause). The short screentime of those characters isn’t a
problem. It’s almost expected as a tried-and-tested technique of indie
film marketing. However, it also can’t help but feel a bit unnecessary
since they all feel disconnected from the main plot.
This is also a problem because our leads are generally not the best actors. Natalie Hart’s performance near the end of the film is the only bright spot in this department, but up until then, it’s all just apathy and so much woodenness. The biggest offender has to be the sort-of main male lead Charlie, played by Roger Horn. It would be tough to find a single line reading of his in the film that was appropriate. While the other actors don’t do much better, his slightly higher amount of screen time only serves to heighten his failings.
Finally, it must be said: there are
stupid slasher characters… and
then there’s this foursome. A friend calls and suddenly sounds like
she’s being strangled and killed. You then never hear from her again.
SOMETHING MIGHT’VE HAPPENED. A campfire story is told about a mystic
cabin. A) Why on Earth would you go find it; and B) if and when you do,
WHY WOULD YOU GO INSIDE? Finally, and most damning, now that you’re in
the cabin and hunting through the darkened rooms for clues, what could
possibly possess you to hide in a closet to jump out and scare your
friends after you’ve found odd stuff yourself???
Overall, Blood Oath comes across as disappointing. For Troma fans like myself, it ends up a flawed and slow-moving, though decently gory, slasher movie that shows glimmers of filmmaking talent from its director. Maybe with some different actors and a better script, Buchert can come up with something truly special.
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