Lifeblood (2006 Video) User Reviews

Vampire adventure attempt

[spinnersend-2 · 4/10 · 15 June 2007]

It is a fine first effort, or a mediocre second effort, or horrific life's work. The plot was a little thin. The action was a little choppy. The effects were not half bad. The video was slightly grainy. Better than a student film. But It was fun. This is not the type of film one finds at Sundance. This is the type of film one finds at a SciFi convention. If you want 90 min. of light hearted distraction, this is it.

If one goes by the writing style, this film is the first in a series.

I look forward to the second film in the series.

Perhaps the lighting and cine will be better polished.

Lifeblood(less)

[milkhole213 · 4/10 · 26 October 2021]

Lifeblood is an intensely mediocre vampire horror from the Tomb of Terrors box set. The plot involves ancient aristocratic vampires in the modern day trying to resurrect their vampire queen. They are the flouncy, well-dressed kind which is much less preferable to the hideous, ghoulish kind. They view humans as cattle only useful for being sacks of delicious blood. The film is slow paced with minimal action until the ending with not nearly enough bloodshed for a bloodsucker flick and no real gore. Nudity and sexuality are pretty much nonexistent. The main character is a balding, pudgy man approaching middle aged and not especially appealing or having much personality. The movie is often too dark and there's a lame nightclub scene with a band called Carfax Abbey (ugh) that makes you long for the days of Godsmack and that nu-metal Vanilla Ice album. Incredibly sub-par by normal horror standards, Lifeblood is actually above average for the Tomb of Terrors.

I can't see if it's a bad movie (Tomb of Terrors box-set movie 2 of 50)

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 5 November 2013]

Most of the film is extremely dimly lit, both in 65% of its actual cinematography and the sheer absurd dialog. Perhaps there may have been an inkling of a competent independent horror film somewhere in the murky depths of this film, I just got too lethargic straining my eyes to see what was actually happening on screen, although granted I got the general gist of it. (Carl played by writer/director Steven Niles is on a crusade of vengeance against the vampire who murdered his wife) The plot, while nothing special, could've still been adequate if it weren't for the highly distracting lighting problems. Hell I'll give it an extra point for simply not being as mind-numbingly awful as the previous TOT film "Disk Jockey"

Worst photography in the history of movies

[edgein15 · 1/10 · 27 November 2006]

I can't even begin to tell you what this movie was about because the photography was so bad. A good 65% of it is so dark that you can't discern anything going on. Watching this crap, many questions spring to mind. Was the DP trying to emulate the work of Nestor Almendros on DAYS OF HEAVEN by shooting only ambient lighting? How could the director, after watching several days of pitch black dailies, not decide that it might be time to invest in one lighting kit? How did the editor so seamless cut scene after scene of pitch black on pitch black so effortlessly? What photography does come through is muddy and ugly as hell. Had the cinematographer ever SEEN a movie before? I doubt it. Otherwise, concepts like "composition" and "backlight" might have played a part in the framing. When you look up cinematic incompetence in the dictionary, you'll find this second only to BACKWOODS. At least in THAT movie you could see what was going on.

Worst movie I've seen in years. And yes, I've seen Turkish STAR WARS.

Lifeblood is an interesting independent film

[jblomgren · 8/10 · 20 December 2006]

Lifeblood is an interesting independent film. The lighting may not always be perfect and it doesn't have the great Hollywood special effects that everyone has grown to love but this movie is able to overcome it's flaws and provide great entertainment. It is impressive that a movie such as this with little to no budget could keep the audience's attention. The reason for it's success is the acting. There are two characters in particular that make this movie worth seeing. There are two young men that play the roles of "the college boys". These two actors show great charisma and stage presence resembling a young Edward Norton and Matt Damon. The only downfall for Lifeblood is the lack of script for the two future stars.

Two and a Half Cheesesteaks for this Little Vamp Indie... ;=8)

[MooCowMo · 6/10 · 11 February 2007]

"Lifeblood".

Awlright, let's begin with the obvious: the lighting in this film is bad. Very bad. Distractingly and damagingly bad. But the MooCow can tell you, from his very brief experience with filming, lighting can be VERY tricky business, especially if you have a tight budget, or are an inexperienced DP. Of all the production elements needed to make a successful film, lighting and sound rank as arguably the moost important (aside from editing).

This ain't a Hollywood film, people. It ain't even close. But the MooCow has to clap his hooves in approval for this valiant effort.

The story (set in Philadelphia!!!) cowcerns a damaged man out to avenge the death of his wife by a cabal of vampires. He doesn't care for their politics, or their preening leader Wraithwood, or even their efforts to resurrect their slain sire: all he wants is to get even with Demetrius. A film about revenge, which just happens to include vampires.

This is a fairly simple story, conventionally told and earnestly acted, hamstrung primarily by lesser production values. But there is moore heart in this perky little indie than in moost of the pap that Hollybore craps out on a regular basis.

There are juicy bits of dialog; there is a pretty rockin' alt-rock score (including MySpace's Torsion from Philly!); and there are charismatic, believable performances from moost of the cast. Pacing is fairly smooth, and the film mooves along at a nice clip without bogging down anywhere in particular. The direction is focused, minimal, and neither shows off nor gets in the way. There are many good things to be said for this effort, clearly the best film on the bundled vampire DVD which the MooCow viewed "Lifeblood".

Some of the fight scenes were not very cowvincing. Nor were some of the FX. And the wigger-guy, MD: pretty lame. And some of the special effects are, well...special. But no matter. This cow was willing to suspend belief and forgive some of these minor flaws to enjoy the overall film, and the MooCow hopes you will too.

Its a new day out there, people. Advances in technology have leveled the playing field for a lot of people out there who would rather make their own films than wait for Hollybore to maybe make something not completely ralfable. Independent film should be encouraged and supported whenever possible. And while this may not be on the level of, say, "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera", or "Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter", nonetheless the MooCow can tell you there are far, far worse vampire vehicles out there, ready to sop up your hard-earned weregeld.

So grab a Philly blunt, a cheese steak (chicken, of course!), a couple of soft pretzels, and enjoy the film! :=8D

great independent vampire movie

[libs13 · 10/10 · 22 January 2007]

if you enjoy the really low-budget stuff out there then you should see Lifeblood. vampires come fang to face with an avenging husband hellbent on their destruction. the movie is set in and around the Philadelphia area. The acting is believable and engrossing. clearly the filmmakers were working with a tight budget so cut them some slack on the technical stuff and just enjoy the movie's effort to entertain you. please don't let those porky, basement dwelling, armchair movie critics on IMDb ruin the fun of watching low-budget movies by buying into their disgruntled filmmaker ranting and dismissive slinging of single stars. they're f**kin' fat asses and should masturbate every once in a while to blow off steam instead of hanging out on IMDb bashing people's work, cheesy or otherwise. also, check out Primeval in theaters now! it's a great horror flick destined to become a classic.