Bloodletting: Vampire Scrolls DVD: Review By Dodd

After watching The Bloodletting: Vampire Scrolls, I came to realize something; virtually anyone can be a filmmaker today. With the improvement and affordability of video equipment, the only people who can make films are not just big shot directors on a studio budget. Sometimes this is a wonderful thing that allows gifted filmmakers to bring forth their ideas. Other times this means that the amount of poor quality films increase. Sadly tonight was a night when I had to sit through 86 unbearable minutes of contrived slop. While shoestring gambles such as The Blair Witch Project manage to impress, The Bloodletting is a certain disaster.

The premise of this film requires very little explanation. However, I will try my hardest to give a detailed synopsis on par with my other critiques. A group of young friends go out for a night of drinking and socializing. Amanda (Molly Fix) brings her new boyfriend (Jeremy Dunn) in tow to meet the gang. However, members of the group begin turning up missing, and a neighborhood homeless man turns up dead. Yes, a vampire is on the prowl. It is now up to Amanda to appoint herself to "Final Girl" status, and survive the bloodsucking killer(s).

The Bloodletting is an extremely low budget film shot on poor-quality digital video. While some may this distracting, I do not have a problem with this aspect of the film. With the digital revolution taking over, lower budget films are common. My beef with this horror flick is that is manages to fail at everything. While the cheap production quality does not sink the picture, it is not difficult not to group it with every other flaw.

The Bloodletting is simply a joke, and I do not understand how it even received DVD distribution through Anchor Bay. After seeing the work of struggling filmmakers with quality films that do not make it, how is it that Bloodletting sees the light of day? First off, the actors are painstakingly awful. When Steven Soderbergh made the film Bubble, he gave non-actors superb leadership. However, these amateurs could easily be outdone by viral video thespians from You Tube.

What really does not work is the script. A group of hormone-charged young people are picked off one-by-one by a vampire that leaves behind sticky puddles of fake blood. If the film were a sharply-written dark comedy, a simple premise such as this would work. The Bloodletting does not attempt anything remotely creative. Even being exaggeratingly awful would have made this film better. Perhaps this film is a personal project that the filmmakers cherish, but why must unsuspecting DVD dwellers experience the pain of viewing this movie?

Phew! There is absolutely nothing to see here. This means there is no making-of featurette, nor a smug commentary track. This proves that there is a god.

Full Screen. The picture quality is clearly digital video. This looks as if a teenager went outside and shot a movie on his camcorder. Instead of using low-budget to a smart advantage, horrible visual and gory effects are attempted. The result is ugly.

Dolby Digital 2.0. While this does have Dolby sound, it doesn't exactly show. Dialogue that was poorly recorded through a digital camera microphone is not exactly amplifiable bliss.

Standard DVD keep case. Like most horrible films, the DVD cover looks quite nice. A picture of a blood-thirsty vampire is on the cover. There was more time and detail put into this image than into the film itself.

The Bloodletting is an ultra-low budget horror mess that is not even remotely creative, terrifying, or campy. With a lack of special features, this DVD is really nothing to scream about. Please so yourself a favor and pass this one up.

Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com

Update: After writing this review, I received an e-mail from writer/director Shaun Piccinino responding to its negativity. Since I am 100% behind taking into account what filmmakers have to say, I wish to quote him.

He wrote in his e-mail, "No we don't thinks this is a tremendous masterpiece of a film, but what should be noted and seems to be left out is that this film was made for absolutely nothing, just people pitching in a few hours here and there when they could. Also there was never any intention of getting distribution. Just a bunch of kids having fun. The point was to set out and create something. Start and finish, which is a lot more than most aspiring film makers do.

"Also we did give tons of extra features, including commentary, a widescreen version, behind the scenes, etc which for some reason they did not include."

When it comes to being a critic, it is my job to gauge if the filmmakers are successful at what they wish to accomplish. Therefore, there is nothing more rewarding that hearing from the filmmakers themselves. I thank Shaun Piccinino for throwing in his two cents and shedding some light on this project.