The dialogue is clunky and the story just doesn't make sense. The characters' motivations are all over the place and sometimes nonsensical. I feel like there could have been a decent story here but the script would have to be almost completely rewritten. I agree with other reviewers that the acting and special effects aren't great but it's nothing compared to how bad the writing is.
11 Reviews
Low budget level acting, lazy script, bad FX.
Jester22212 April 2019
Seen a couple of the directors films, great efforts for an amateur filmmaker, usually using controversial subject matter to help sell the film. This is a cliche ridden film that really isn't worth the time. You really find yourself not feeling any sympathy for the sisters at all.
Some bad props.......the magic book looks like drawn by a three year old!? One Sister in the many (confusing) flashbacks seems to age quicker than the other by a few years, for some reason a nasty priest has married a witch?, The older sister....who also helped write the screenplay has far too much obvious plastic surgery and just looks freakish with huge cheeks and lips ......she is supposed to be a sexy dancer!? But she looks too old to be in this role (Whitney dressed as Britney) body is nice but what has she done to her face!? Acting is wooden although the vicar really gets into his role as a sadist, and the county clerk's Sheriff father is a great actor, not used enough, the story non sensical and you will find yourself talking at the screen saying wtf!? When they do stupid things........why hold a severed ear to own ear when supposed to be talking to it?? Add to that pointless incest lesbian kiss scene which added nothing to the lazy story. Let's not even mention the supposed SFX 😁 if it was gorier it would have added a star but they are dime store level after FX . ..... The coat hanger scene had promise but became unintentionally amusing.
Some of the camera work is great, and the director definitely has talent, this just seems like was a case of wrong cast and weak script with a cliche story. Given the right story and better cast he may be one director to watch.
Oh and to the other reviewer ...it's spelt "soul" 😁
Some bad props.......the magic book looks like drawn by a three year old!? One Sister in the many (confusing) flashbacks seems to age quicker than the other by a few years, for some reason a nasty priest has married a witch?, The older sister....who also helped write the screenplay has far too much obvious plastic surgery and just looks freakish with huge cheeks and lips ......she is supposed to be a sexy dancer!? But she looks too old to be in this role (Whitney dressed as Britney) body is nice but what has she done to her face!? Acting is wooden although the vicar really gets into his role as a sadist, and the county clerk's Sheriff father is a great actor, not used enough, the story non sensical and you will find yourself talking at the screen saying wtf!? When they do stupid things........why hold a severed ear to own ear when supposed to be talking to it?? Add to that pointless incest lesbian kiss scene which added nothing to the lazy story. Let's not even mention the supposed SFX 😁 if it was gorier it would have added a star but they are dime store level after FX . ..... The coat hanger scene had promise but became unintentionally amusing.
Some of the camera work is great, and the director definitely has talent, this just seems like was a case of wrong cast and weak script with a cliche story. Given the right story and better cast he may be one director to watch.
Oh and to the other reviewer ...it's spelt "soul" 😁
weird and nonsense-like
ops-525359 April 2019
One shall be very careful giving a film 1 star worthyness, but the confusing plot and story makes me intimidated to do so, but i give 2 for the try. its a kind of horror movie that relapses, and showing the 2 mains life in retrospect, to tell why they have become such brittle soles. its a crooked pastor, and his supernatural powered wife, and their 2 daughters , in life and death, tears and smiles, angst and emotions, and fear and panic.
for short you can tell that their soles are damaged by abuse and religous fear, and the nightmare seems to never end. the acting are at times passable, but some of the cast seems very odd and uncomfortable in front of the camera, and therefore very stiff dialouges and unconvincing acting, makes you more occupied by the goofy acting than the story they are trying to tell.
the production have some nice props and settings,, and some of the sections were the past is told, but the fast and numerous and frequent shifts between past and present interupts the float of the plot.i did never connect with the sole of the story and therefore , as the grumpy old man i am,will not recommend this flick, unless you have the ability to interpret and analyse the disorders of psyciatrics, that turmoils the mains. its a try, but i wont rewatch this unless i get a good interpretation to the story that may put the spotlight in another angle.
for short you can tell that their soles are damaged by abuse and religous fear, and the nightmare seems to never end. the acting are at times passable, but some of the cast seems very odd and uncomfortable in front of the camera, and therefore very stiff dialouges and unconvincing acting, makes you more occupied by the goofy acting than the story they are trying to tell.
the production have some nice props and settings,, and some of the sections were the past is told, but the fast and numerous and frequent shifts between past and present interupts the float of the plot.i did never connect with the sole of the story and therefore , as the grumpy old man i am,will not recommend this flick, unless you have the ability to interpret and analyse the disorders of psyciatrics, that turmoils the mains. its a try, but i wont rewatch this unless i get a good interpretation to the story that may put the spotlight in another angle.
Better than it is rated
deadgirlrising12 April 2019
When I got the movie and looked it up on IMDb I swear I saw the rating at 2.1. I took a chance, anyway, I've found movies that are little gems in the very low ratings bin. Even so, it is not often I find one of these gems, but definitely found one now.
The production values were quite good for a movie rated 2.1 or 3.7. The acting was reasonably good, surprising, considering the rating.
All in all quite a good movie for its rating, give it a try.
The production values were quite good for a movie rated 2.1 or 3.7. The acting was reasonably good, surprising, considering the rating.
All in all quite a good movie for its rating, give it a try.
That's a nope from me
kb-6255120 February 2020
I was with it up until the sister incest thing. Started out as a way-low budget supernatural dark comedy - eh, that may have been unintentional. "Keep 'em guessing," as the director of this flick was saying. Two orphaned sisters raised by a nonce perv pastor father are reunited by his death. They both have this peeve about having been made their father's sex slaves and decide to re-animate his body with their mother's goofy magic rituals. Then they can get a fair bit of torturing on the scoreboards, too. Okay, I'm down with all that, seems fair. Then they forget what they were doing and bone each other in their childhood bedroom. DONE!
Bland craft
TheLittleSongbird19 November 2019
Part of me was interested in 'Blood Craft's' concept, which actually turned out to be the main reason for watching it in the first place. The concept may not have been an original one but with the right execution it did have the potential to be quite creepy, and the film did have potential to be at least a guilty pleasure. Liked how 'Blood Craft' was advertised in the poster/cover too, which looked very cool and there was something unsettling about it too.
Will say right now that there are far worse films out there than 'Blood Craft', or so in my view. There are also films that waste any promise they have to a significantly worse degree, at least 'Blood Craft' didn't exactly promise a massive amount. One does know what to expect watching, exactly so, and there was a genuine honest attempt to not take it too seriously as it wasn't that kind of film. The cheapness, excessive nonsense and lack of any real atmosphere or anything to get behind just ruined it for me, and with those distracting me it was very difficult to take it for what it was.
The best thing, or should that be least bad (take your pick), about 'Blood Craft' is Michael Welch, who actually tries and makes the most of one of the film's least badly written, but with nowhere near enough screen time to properly save things, characters.
Some of the photography is not too bad, at least having some eerie atmosphere.
Unfortunately the low budget for 'Blood Craft' really does show, as most of the film looks cheap. Especially those amateurish props. The audio is so monotonous, never fitting with what is going on, really could have done with being reigned in more, has no atmosphere and the placement and build ups are just so obvious. Poorly balanced too with the very clunky and cheese-ridden dialogue. The story is completely lacking in any kind of thrills, tension, scary horror and suspense, replaced instead by gratuitous shock value, non-stop intelligence insulting nonsense, dull pacing (apparent very early on with far too much unnecessary padding) and excessive predictability. The backing and forthing structure sounded really interesting but was executed in a haphazard fashion which really muddled the story.
Found myself not endearing to or being compelled by any of the characters. There is no real character development beyond the set-up, making them merely just there ciphers, and their ridiculous and near-incoherent behaviour and decision made them very irritating. The direction is bland and workmanlike at that, have seen far more incompetent directing but this was not particularly assured stuff here. Welch aside, the acting is poor. Madeleine Wade and Augie Duke don't look comfortable and lack personality in my view, and it is sad to see Dominique Swain (who made such a promising impression in 'Lolita') reduced to projects like this.
In summary, just didn't do it for me. 2/10
Will say right now that there are far worse films out there than 'Blood Craft', or so in my view. There are also films that waste any promise they have to a significantly worse degree, at least 'Blood Craft' didn't exactly promise a massive amount. One does know what to expect watching, exactly so, and there was a genuine honest attempt to not take it too seriously as it wasn't that kind of film. The cheapness, excessive nonsense and lack of any real atmosphere or anything to get behind just ruined it for me, and with those distracting me it was very difficult to take it for what it was.
The best thing, or should that be least bad (take your pick), about 'Blood Craft' is Michael Welch, who actually tries and makes the most of one of the film's least badly written, but with nowhere near enough screen time to properly save things, characters.
Some of the photography is not too bad, at least having some eerie atmosphere.
Unfortunately the low budget for 'Blood Craft' really does show, as most of the film looks cheap. Especially those amateurish props. The audio is so monotonous, never fitting with what is going on, really could have done with being reigned in more, has no atmosphere and the placement and build ups are just so obvious. Poorly balanced too with the very clunky and cheese-ridden dialogue. The story is completely lacking in any kind of thrills, tension, scary horror and suspense, replaced instead by gratuitous shock value, non-stop intelligence insulting nonsense, dull pacing (apparent very early on with far too much unnecessary padding) and excessive predictability. The backing and forthing structure sounded really interesting but was executed in a haphazard fashion which really muddled the story.
Found myself not endearing to or being compelled by any of the characters. There is no real character development beyond the set-up, making them merely just there ciphers, and their ridiculous and near-incoherent behaviour and decision made them very irritating. The direction is bland and workmanlike at that, have seen far more incompetent directing but this was not particularly assured stuff here. Welch aside, the acting is poor. Madeleine Wade and Augie Duke don't look comfortable and lack personality in my view, and it is sad to see Dominique Swain (who made such a promising impression in 'Lolita') reduced to projects like this.
In summary, just didn't do it for me. 2/10
Ugh! Fail
lilyloo-7980721 May 2021
Just a big fat no! I was so distracted by Madeleine Wade's plastic, over filled Botox face that I couldn't concentrate on the rest. If the rest had been good enough my obsession with her face would have only been fleeting. The above should be enough to show how rubbish this movie is!
Format witchcraft movie with emoting
wpetkanas19 March 2023
This is a regular, standard brand horror movie: traumatized sisters want revenge on their dead father. OK. The surprizing flaw here is the really amaturish acting. I just can't get over it. These people are not new to the work, Augie Duke has been in like 30 movies! Is it the Director? Certainly, some of the choices are pretty bad. Who walks into a bathroom and sits in the bathtub to have a conversation? Anyway, this is a script-o-matic, format film that could have been a nice, entertaining 90 or so minutes but instead I was interrupted by noticing the acting or strange stilted behavior which ruined the suspension of disbelief.
My Review Of "Blood Craft"
ASouthernHorrorFan5 May 2019
"Blood Craft" mixes elements of the occult with deeper aspects of human tragedy, and reconciliation. The story plays with this in a chilling character study of scar tissue and a desire for closure. It starts with a dark, gritty, fetish kick and impulsively you are forced to really face the protagonist in a very"unpolished" state. The intention of both the director and the story becomes clearer later in the film. "Where you are in life is relative to your past".
"Blood Craft" is far from the typical witchcraft movie. There are these familiar tropes of some really bad guys, black magic, and revenge, Bressack's story goes deeper. There is human suffering, victimization, and pain as a catalyst. And in classic fashion and true to his nature, James Cullen Bressack explores those elements in harsh flourescent light, as blunt and uncomfortable as the truth.
The acting is palatable for the most part, the lead seems to draw emotion from a sort of 'shell-shocked' pool of survivor's guilt and doesn't really change gears, but the second lead is a disturbing, uneasy mix of "victim / devil's advocate, very convincing. A plus for "Blood Craft" is the fact that given the weight of the material woven into this supernatural nightmare, all the cast do great at delivering.
The special effects mix both practical and CGI. And to its detriment, works nicely, minus a couple of moments. The horror aspects are visceral and full of delicious occult affectations that offer enough eye candy for the fan of witchy horror. The film is low budget in both style and implementation. The cinematography is great and the music score fits perfectly with the heavy nature and dark overture of the picture. Now it works on a low budget scale so don't go in expecting an updated retelling of "The Craft". Overall I say check it out, it's classic Bressack filmmaking.
"Blood Craft" is far from the typical witchcraft movie. There are these familiar tropes of some really bad guys, black magic, and revenge, Bressack's story goes deeper. There is human suffering, victimization, and pain as a catalyst. And in classic fashion and true to his nature, James Cullen Bressack explores those elements in harsh flourescent light, as blunt and uncomfortable as the truth.
The acting is palatable for the most part, the lead seems to draw emotion from a sort of 'shell-shocked' pool of survivor's guilt and doesn't really change gears, but the second lead is a disturbing, uneasy mix of "victim / devil's advocate, very convincing. A plus for "Blood Craft" is the fact that given the weight of the material woven into this supernatural nightmare, all the cast do great at delivering.
The special effects mix both practical and CGI. And to its detriment, works nicely, minus a couple of moments. The horror aspects are visceral and full of delicious occult affectations that offer enough eye candy for the fan of witchy horror. The film is low budget in both style and implementation. The cinematography is great and the music score fits perfectly with the heavy nature and dark overture of the picture. Now it works on a low budget scale so don't go in expecting an updated retelling of "The Craft". Overall I say check it out, it's classic Bressack filmmaking.
Blood thicker Than Water
cbak22324 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Witchcraft has been a great mystery throughout time, practiced in the old age in a dark forest or the new age within the attic or basement of a suburban home. Conjuring a spell with a book or object of desire to what we believe and have been shown in film is always for personal gain with undesired consequences. Famous stories of true origin and fabled tales of witchcraft have been spun about, we are all aware of the Salem Witch trials, being burned at the stake for even being accused of practicing witchcraft, always been a mystery to most. Thus comes the story from the mind of James Cullen Bressack, with an ever growing indie horror indie resume' with over 34 directed titles such as To Jennifer, 13/13/13, and Bethany just to name a few, a prolific writer, director, and producer he is certainly making a name for himself quickly. Blood Craft takes us through the lives of two sisters and their up bringing in a rural town with their pastor father Minister Hall ( Dave Sheridan) and mother Hilde ( Dominique Swain). Grace ( Madeline Wade ) returns home after she hears of the passing of her father and is greeted at their old childhood home by her sister Serena ( Augie Duke) and soon begins to relive the tragedy that made her leave the home in the first place. After the death of their mother they had suffered emotional and physical abuse by their father, an alcoholic and abuser holding it in secret from the church goers he sermon over. Madeline and Augie were great on screen with decent chemistry, you soon begin to see that there are other things at play with an old friend set out to find money that the sisters don't even know about. This is where the witchcraft begins because the sisters are hell-bent on getting revenge to their father for what he did, they use the witchcraft the we taught from their mother at a young age. Tyler Waters ( Michael Welch) comes to pay his respects to Grace and its soon discovered that he is the one that is after the money. Serena's secret is that their father is buried right in their backyard and this is where they begin to cast a spell to get their revenge and Tyler is juts the body they need to complete the task. The film does take a few unnecessary turns with Graces character having sex with Tyler on the floor for almost a drug induced like seen that was unimportant to the story. The camera work and sound were great and especially when you consider this film from the indie film point of view its a job well done, decent camera work, good sound. And to add that the FX used during witchcraft seen it was surprisingly good. Overall this film will suffice a true horror fan especially if witchcraft is your thing, so its definitely worth the watch for indie horror fans abound.
Enjoyable enough if still somewhat flawed effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder15 November 2019
After her father passes away, a woman returns to her childhood home and reconnects with her estranged sister which eventually causes them to use their techniques to raise his spirit and seek retribution by placing it into a body and torturing it, only to question their purpose when it goes too far.
This here was a decent enough effort. One of the bright spots here is a fine first hour that deals with the sisterly relationship at the forefront. Obviously built around the two of them reconnecting based on the circumstances and getting over the betrayal that kept them apart, the chance to see the two getting reacquainted or the flashbacks to their childhood showing their training in witchcraft while trying to survive their crazed father's religious antics. This is all well-handled and gives a sense of compassion to them as this goes about setting up the later half, fueling their need for witchcraft after getting all these elements covered. Their turn towards witchcraft, however troublesome their rationale might be, the scene offers a lot to like. Taking their hatred to a logical end as they head out to dig up the body and use it for their ritual sparks not only the body being removed and taken to the bedroom where the spell they enact has plenty to like. There's some fun to be had with the objects flying around and supernational action that signals something's going on, and the bright colors of the scene featuring their ritual setup and the spiritual energy flying around all create a strong, chilling presence. The main guise of the film, with the two dealing a series of fine witchcraft-based torture that is brutal, graphic and based nicely on a sympathetic bent for the girls, giving this one some really enjoyable aspects. That said, there are some big flaws within here. One of the main issues here is the sloppy and scattered second half that features several curious plot points. There's no real point here for the home invasion tactic that serves simply to provide a new body to toy with since there's a breal between the ritual and them taking him outas that lull in the action doesn't really do the film any favors as this could've been done in different manners with different beats. As well, there's also the confusion throughout here as to what happened to the spirit they summon who is either possessing the girls or the house the way they act at times, from curious lesbian leanings they never acknowledge to seeing his spirit appearing around the house that may be hallucinations that point to both causes throughout here. All told, this aspect also ties into the films other big issue in its sedate and generally bland pacing. The tempo here feels off with the curious addition of the home invasion after they've raised the spirit, and that's carried over from what happens in the first half where the film struggles to get going. Since the sisters have to reconnect with each other following their time apart, this is wholly reasoinable and expected but the film takes on a slightly too sedate pacing for the type of torture they inflict later which is really jarring coming from that setup. Even the finale comes up somewhat oddly in that the mental torture he inflicts on them stops the enjoyable physical torture. It's not enough to doom the film but is enough to lower it somewhat.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
This here was a decent enough effort. One of the bright spots here is a fine first hour that deals with the sisterly relationship at the forefront. Obviously built around the two of them reconnecting based on the circumstances and getting over the betrayal that kept them apart, the chance to see the two getting reacquainted or the flashbacks to their childhood showing their training in witchcraft while trying to survive their crazed father's religious antics. This is all well-handled and gives a sense of compassion to them as this goes about setting up the later half, fueling their need for witchcraft after getting all these elements covered. Their turn towards witchcraft, however troublesome their rationale might be, the scene offers a lot to like. Taking their hatred to a logical end as they head out to dig up the body and use it for their ritual sparks not only the body being removed and taken to the bedroom where the spell they enact has plenty to like. There's some fun to be had with the objects flying around and supernational action that signals something's going on, and the bright colors of the scene featuring their ritual setup and the spiritual energy flying around all create a strong, chilling presence. The main guise of the film, with the two dealing a series of fine witchcraft-based torture that is brutal, graphic and based nicely on a sympathetic bent for the girls, giving this one some really enjoyable aspects. That said, there are some big flaws within here. One of the main issues here is the sloppy and scattered second half that features several curious plot points. There's no real point here for the home invasion tactic that serves simply to provide a new body to toy with since there's a breal between the ritual and them taking him outas that lull in the action doesn't really do the film any favors as this could've been done in different manners with different beats. As well, there's also the confusion throughout here as to what happened to the spirit they summon who is either possessing the girls or the house the way they act at times, from curious lesbian leanings they never acknowledge to seeing his spirit appearing around the house that may be hallucinations that point to both causes throughout here. All told, this aspect also ties into the films other big issue in its sedate and generally bland pacing. The tempo here feels off with the curious addition of the home invasion after they've raised the spirit, and that's carried over from what happens in the first half where the film struggles to get going. Since the sisters have to reconnect with each other following their time apart, this is wholly reasoinable and expected but the film takes on a slightly too sedate pacing for the type of torture they inflict later which is really jarring coming from that setup. Even the finale comes up somewhat oddly in that the mental torture he inflicts on them stops the enjoyable physical torture. It's not enough to doom the film but is enough to lower it somewhat.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
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