Bloodrunners
(2017/Speakeasy Pictures Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: B Film: C
Dan
Lantz's Bloodrunners (2017) is an ambitious independent
feature that mixes the Prohibition era with sultry Vampiric action.
While sometimes the script gets ahead of the budgetary restraints,
which shows in some of the lackluster digital effects and obvious
green screen moments, the story is interesting enough and the
performances not bad enough to keep the stamina going.
Featuring
rapper turned actor Ice-T in a lead role, the supporting cast
includes Michael McFadden, Chris James Boylan, Airen DeLaMater,
Petere Patrikios, and Julie Ek to name a few. While the cast is
mostly comprised of unknowns, the character direction stays out
point, save a few corny lines of dialogue that are crafted to
reinforce the time period.
Bloodrunners
centers on a turf war between a crooked cop (who desperately wants to
be a film noir-type character) and a power-hungry vampire with a love
of music (Ice-T) - who butt heads in a small town soaked in a laundry
list of illegal activities during the height of Prohibition. During
this time of corruption, adding Vampires into the mix threatens the
success of both a speakeasy and a whorehouse.
This
set features both Blu-ray and standard definition DVD editions of the
film, with the high definition version obviously the victor.
Presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of
1.85:1 and a lossy (why no lossless sound?) English Dolby Digital 5.1
track, the presentation is clean but nothing too groundbreaking due
to the look and low budget nature of the film. The DVD edition is
presented in standard definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of
1.85:1 as well and a lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix,
which isn't bad, but not as impressive as the more detail 5.1 mix.
Special
Features aren't bad for an indie and include...
Gag
Reel
Deleted
Scenes
Extended
Scenes
Filmmaker
Commentary
Official
Trailer
Colliding
with the home video release of Ben Affleck's Live By Night
(reviewed elsewhere on this site, minus any vampires or anything
supernatural) which is also set in this same time period,
Bloodrunners is a quite different take on the Vampire genre
and while low budget, still manages to pull of the period specific
setting.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
