Blood Junkie – DVD Review

The Film:

You should never judge a book by its cover as they say, and if you did, you would confuse Troma’s Blood Junkie as a My Bloody Valentine (1981) rip-off, but it is not. There’s quaint similarities, notably in the killer’s mask, but if anything Blood Junkie‘s director Drew Rosas made a loving homage to George Mihalka’s Canadian slasher. Creepy, funny, very stylish in its mood and setting, the film is a throwback to when slasher were about rural settings and gore-driven stupidity.

Blood Junkie is kind of, sort of, pretty neat. Rosas’ eye works in two key areas, as a director thanks to an amazing setting, which is some abandoned warehouse that is just huge. The setting of this place adds mood and creepiness, something that is vastly missed in today’s slashers. The other key area, is the actual look of the film. Don’t be confused. Troma didn’t find a long lost and unheard of slasher, but that’s how good Rosas made the film look. A seemingly 80′s feeling in every way; mullets, clothes, music, beer cans. It’s super neat in this regard.

Blood Junkie isn’t perfect as say House of the Devil was in its 80′s styled homage, as the pacing is slower earlier on and that we don’t see the killer until 50 minutes in (after a pre-title kill of course). And despite the rookie actors, who are friends of the director, the film wins out, because of its Middle Class characters stuck in some awesome location with a synth score. Works for me. The film has a rather limp ending and some noticeable shortcomings due to money, but Rosas might just be a director in horror to watch, thanks to his creativity on a $7,000 budget, which puts to shame mot modern slashers, in terms of mood, style, and blood-lust.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The picture is quite decent, given the budget and intentions of the director. Colors are murky and earthy, the details are okay at best. No, an HD version wouldn’t improve things, but I dug the quality as like an 80s film on DVD. The audio is barely average at best. Again, possibly due to the budget, the audio is shrill and hollow sounding.

Commentary: Completing interesting, especially for fans or would-be DIY filmmakers, Drew Rosas is a likable guy, always honest, and always earnest in his production stories. For a further discuss on this film, feel free to read our exclusive interview with Rosas here.

Some non-important Deleted Scenes, a ton of Troma Trailers, a Photo Gallery, Rosas’ first short film (which is neat), and the typical Lloyd Kaufman intro.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: