BLOOD VESSEL

Directed by: Justin Dix

Starring: Robert Taylor, Alyssa Sutherland, Nathan Phillips |

Somewhere in the North Atlantic, 1945: a lifeboat full of survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship drift aimlessly at sea. Their prayers of rescue are partially answered when a ship crosses the horizon, however it is a German minesweeper. With no other options, the lifeboat crew board the ship, hoping to surprise and overpower the crew. However once on board, they discover the ship is seemingly deserted, save for a young girl…

Blood Vessel is  a film which has great production values, a colourful set of characters, great concept and a plodding script.

It has to be said that this film looks great, from the opening scenes on the lifeboat through to the conclusion. My only  criticism is the cinematography is at times too dark to see what is going on. The concept is wonderful. There have oft been stories told about the SS and it's fascination with all things linked to the occult and supernatural, so this slots into that very nicely. This is exactly the sort of thing you would expect to happen if these monsters were real.

The lifeboat crew are a disparate bunch, from different nationalities - British, American, Australian, Italian and Russian among them. Each deals with the situation in their own way. Some take it in their stride, such as the Russian, Teplov, and the British Nurse, Jane Prescott. Others, such as Faraday, are more likely to try and save their own skin rather than the group.

The film's main issue is that after it's brilliant set-up, it doesn't seem to know what to do next in order to fill out the running time. We are faced with lots of repetitiveness as the group squabble and explore and squabble some more without really furthering the plot at all. It seems to take them an inordinate amount of time too piece together what has happened and how much danger they are really in.

The production values are superb for this film, with a great setting on board a WW2 warship and there are some good gore fx throughout. The cast is excellent, with Alex Cooke in particular making Teplov such a cool and likeable character.

THE VERDICT

Other than a mid-section which really just spins its wheels, Blood Vessel is a well-put to together horror thriller with a great setting and a great concept. This would have scored higher if the script had been tighter around the middle.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)