By Geno McGahee
On July 16th, BLOOD PARADISE will hit DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD, with many special features. It is advertised as a “horror/comedy”, but it is more of a straight horror film with some very unique characters and approach.
Robin Richards (Andrea Richards), a famous writer, is having a hard time dealing with the failure of her last book. Her publisher comes up with an idea to send her to the countryside to clear her head and recapture the style that made her famous. She is picked up by Hans (Christer Cavallius), a strange driver that has an obsession with her. He has all her books and sort of forces her to sign them all while ogling her.
Arriving at the farm, Robin is immediately met by some strange individuals, including a shirtless hillbilly that flips her off. She meets up with the owner of the farm, Rolf (Rolf Brunnstrom). He shows her the room she will be staying at and she learns that Rolf has a sister after she discovers a stroller with a baby in it. This film reminded me of AMERICAN GOTHIC a little. There are definitely some parallels.
(SPOILERS AHEAD: PROCEED WITH CAUTION)
Nervous about his girlfriend, Teddy (Patrick von Barkenberg), heads up to the farm, looking for his girl. He runs into the wrong side of a hammer. When Robin returns from a walk to meet up with Teddy, she is told by Hans that he never arrived. She is now getting overwhelmed with dread and also has to deal with Hans’ wife, who is incredibly jealous of her and her husband’s admiration of her.
Robin decides to leave the farm. She still can’t write well and there are a lot of strange things happening. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it very far, getting knocked out and awakening duct-taped to a chair. That’s when things get really weird. Rolf is a cross-dresser that is dancing around in a wedding gown with a wig, living a double life as both he and his deceased wife. His sister is mentally challenged and has made the corpse of Teddy a doll.
When Rolf the farmer is dealing with Robin, he’s nice and apologizes for his wife, but when he’s the wife, he’s a total bitch. There is no question that Robin is going to be killed, leading to a final fight and escape attempt.
BLOOD PARADISE is a very unique and strange film but it hits most of the marks it’s going for. It has this really good aura of mystery throughout and a good atmosphere, leading to a fun conclusion, although the very end leaves a lot to be desired. I highly recommend this one. It was fun and the mystery keeps you watching as things begin to unravel. The acting is also pretty solid with the exception of the publisher in the beginning. Other than that actress, the acting was very good and Richards did a very good job as the lead.
