Criminal Minds (TV Series) Blood Hungry (2005) User Reviews

What an eye-sore

[aegiswiz-accede · 6/10 · 31 March 2019]

Last few weeks I'm been on something of a Criminal Minds "re-run" watching binge. I imagine about every episode gives me the creeps in an entertaining kind of way. I've probably watched several seasons in the last few weeks, likely seen dozens of the same episode in the process. Criminal Minds is just an addictive kind of show and I think that says something about the writers and actors.

In the years and years I've been on IMDB I've only been compelled to write a review a hand full of times. What compelled me to search out the review link today was Charles Haid. The director.

I was actually angry at the filming of this episode. Watching it and the blur outs and jerking around was like listening to fingernails on a chalk board. This method of filming is criminal. Can't tell you what it is called or even describe it appropriately, but the filming, flashing, jerking, snap to close up, snap back out, ad nausea had me cross eyed and stiff necked within 20 minutes, so I just want give Charles Haid the "You're number one" middle finger salute.

Nothing really bad about the episode, the writers, actors, or producers but this was one ugly show that was painful to watch. I blame Charles Haid. Sorry Charlie.

Where do I start?

[lottiemarshalllm · 4/10 · 29 July 2020]

Disclaimer:I am no expert reviewer, I just need a show to binge watch and I'm going to Write a review for every episode I watch.

As I've only watched up to this episode in the series I have to say that this is a very odd episode as it is just really bad and poorly thought through.

I could talk about all of the random suspects they have that go nowhere I much rather talk about the filming. I know other views have mentioned this but the filming in this episode is awful and made me cringe. I have not noticed this filming technique in any other episode I know there has been some cheesier edits in the last few episodes but this one was just awful and almost disrespectful like to the victims (I am very aware that they are not actually victims but in the context of the show). When example of this is the death of the Music teacher. I don't know how to describe it but when I saw her head hit the keys and make that cartoonish sound I wanted to stop watching the episode. And playing the Little kid singing over all of the sad moments of the episode was honestly distracting and annoying as I thought the kid was not a bad singer but by no means a child prodigy. There is other cases of it but I'm not gonna rewatch it to point them all out. Like I said in my little disclaimer at the beginning I'm not a film expert by any means which just goes to show how horrible of a job you have to do with cinematography for me to notice and care.

Also I was kind of confused by the plot for most of the episode I just kind of bounced all over the place in my opinion but that pales in comparison to the camera work.

Weak plot but good character building

[moysant · 4/10 · 9 October 2006]

While five (count 'em!) of the team go off to find one suspected cannibal killer, Gideon is left back at base because he has an ankle injury. The scenes between him and Penelope Garcia, the computer tech support, are funny - he is so focused on the clues that he doesn't notice how his messiness and demands for coffee are driving Garcia nuts. But there are irritating aspects to this episode, particularly the overdone hand-held camera work and numerous weak and illogical scenes (in one the team lists possible young, male drug users in town only for the local cop to say "yeah, that guy, I know him, he lives near both victims". What cop wouldn't have thought to question a known criminal drug user after two local brutal murders, especially after the FBI tells him the murderer is probably a meth user?) As usual, the team does very little actual figuring out the clues and just ends up arresting suspect after suspect (three in this case) before getting the right one (who basically confesses).

However, the character interactions of the regulars is the best thing about this show, and it is really nice to see more revelations about Gideon's personal life. Now if they could only get some decent plot lines.

Average episode with some great elements

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 17 September 2016]

Season 1 of 'Criminal Minds' started off so well, and its best episodes are some of my favourites of the whole show, but the episodes between "The Fox" and "Riding the Lightning" became hit and miss ("What Fresh Hell", which is very good, being the best from that period) with a few slow and less than inspired stories.

Like what was said when reviewing "The Popular Kids", while a lesser episode "Blood Hungry" is not the worst from the first season. That dishonour still belongs to "Machismo", one of the show's overall weakest, and while some of the season needs to be re-watched an episode would have to be really bad or even more mediocre to be worse. There are some great elements in "Blood Hungry", but it could have been so much better.

"Blood Hungry" does start off very well, being emotionally disturbing and affecting. The song the boy sings is truly beautiful and one of the show's best and best-utilised songs. Most of the production values are stylish and atmospheric, and the music gives a haunting and melancholic vibe. Love the interaction between Gideon and Garcia, which had some very funny moments (some of the funniest of the first season) and do not feel at all out of place especially considering how dark some of the story is.

The episode does have some effectively shocking and unpleasant moments, especially the brutal (even by 'Criminal Minds' standards) murders, and the family loyalty angle is well-realised. The performances from the leads are very good, especially Mandy Patinkin and Kirsten Vangsness, whose Garcia is like the brightest ray of sunshine.

However, while there is definitely some atmosphere, the story wasn't anywhere near as interesting as it could have been. Some of it is predictable with some lethargic pacing, and there are parts that are illogical and too padded out complete with a weird plot twist and the unsub's back story could have much more, or at least better, elaborated upon, too underdeveloped and ambiguous.

Also didn't like that the team take so long to figure it all out when it is never really that surprising, that they don't have much to do and that the unsub is caught too easily and conveniently. Also agree that the camera work is distractingly slapdash in places, which it isn't usually on 'Criminal Minds'. The support acting is very much variable with nobody standing out.

On the whole, an average episode to the first season though with some great elements. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Mediocre episode, painfully bad accent.

[lexbarron · 4/10 · 26 November 2023]

Lindsay Crouse is supposed to be doing a rural Tennessee accent, but besides being wildly inconsistent, that accent isn't rural or Tennesseean. She's doing a bad and constantly changing accent that's clearly attempting to do a Charleston/Savannah accent. No one from Tennessee sounds anything like that. If you're going to have a New Yorker play a Tennesseean, just have them do a neutral American accent. That would actually be closer to the accents you'll hear in rural Tennessee and I know she can do a better job of it, although she always sounds a little odd to me. It's bad enough when shows and movies have actors do accents for languages they don't speak, but there are at least 10 million people who could do a better job of a rural TN accent and those same 10+ million people will notice how wrong her accent is when watching this episode.

CM On A Two-Episode Losing Streak

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 11 January 2007]

The BAU, minus its leader Gideon who stayed back with a leg injury, heads to a small town in Tennessee. After no murders in decades, there have been two grisly murders in the past 48 hours.

One is a music teacher and the little boy who was singing with her might have seen the killer outside the window. There is a third killing and the little boy winds up being kidnapped.

The killer is a totally-insane person who has been in a mental hospital recently. The mother has been too embarrassed over a longtime family reputation being ruined to even visit the son, etc.., and, of course, we get the anti-religious agenda so popular on TV these days. Anyone shown to have any faith is a nut-case killer. That's pretty much the credo of modern- day TV writers. You don't see the opposite, especially on crime shows.

After a good run, this is two sub-par episodes in a row.

Was that kid's voice really his?

[boudica-of-inceni · 5/10 · 25 June 2018]

The little boy in the beginning was kind of cute, but I am wondering if that was his real singing voice because it grated on my nerves to the point that I wanted to rip my ear drums out and scratch my eyes around. Nothing sets the mood better than a cute kid singing some religious song in a high and unnatural voice that just grate on my nerves. seriously, if I was not watching it on Netflix, I would have thrown something at my tv set.

I would say that the episode was good for the reason that it shows what happens when you live in a pretentious area and things, serious things, get ignored because of "what the neighbors would say" or "money makes things go away." type of mentality that tends to exist in these types of communities and I know because I've been around these type of communities. The idea of someone with a serious and manageable mental illness being dumped out on the streets and his own mother not taking it seriously is very alarming and so fitting in today's atmosphere. Typical.

The FBI crates a lot of problems and most likely creates more psychopaths than it gets off the streets.

Blood Hungry

[nebohr · 1 December 2021]

There is a 2.2% chance that monkeyface Gideon will show a human emotion this episode.

Oh. The weird camera work to, like, build tension?

Whenever someone is knocked unconscious only some of their muscles relax, right? Like: if a person seated at a piano was knocked out they would just lay their head down onto the keyboard but stay seated with their hands still on the keys, right?

And the sheet music bound in a book would magically become single pages that fall to the floor so that the piano person's blood could drip on it for a dramatic effect!

And the piano person's blood magically appears on their hand which is still on the keyboard!

All this in less than 2 1/2 minutes! Are you intrigued!? Because, quite honestly, I'm bored already.

At 06:47- Hollywood cliche #141: before being questioned by authorities someone must complain: "I/he/she has been through enough".

Wow. This is so old they say "hooded sweatshirt" instead of "hoodie".

And now: the round robin briefing that is so lame it's funny.

We're thinking it's either the LSD/ cheese platter guy or maybe the Ozzie Osbourne want to be that did it.