31 Days of Horror: ‘Blood Car’ Review

Stars: Mike Brune, Katie Rowlett, Anna Chlumsky, Marla Malcom | Written and Directed by Alex Orr

Set in the very near future where fuel prices are at an astronomical high and no-one can afford to drive any more, vegan schoolteacher Archie (Brune) is trying to invent an alternative engine that runs on wheatgrass, but when he accidentally cut himself he discovers that all his engine needs to work is blood… human blood. Resorting to ever more shocking and extreme behaviour to keep his blood car on the road, Archie draws the attention of the government and sex-crazed meat vendor Denise (Rowlett), much to the disgust of lovesick Lorraine (Chlumsky) who, until now, has been supplying him with the much-needed wheatgrass.

Another indie production, Blood Car was originally filmed in 2007 and only made it to UK shores some 5 years later – which typically is a bad sign when it comes to horror movies (especially those of the indie variety), but that is definitely not the case here.

A genre-bending mix of bawdy sex comedy, gore-filled horror and social commentary about the rising prices of fuel and our ever-reliance on cars, Blood Car is much like the classic Roger Corman flicks Little Shop of Horrors and Bucket of Blood, only with copious amounts of T&A and mucho buckets of (non-CGI) blood… In short its fantastic!

Much like Corman’s work, Blood Car is not all about the blood and gore – although it has both is copious amounts – it also uses the tropes of the splatter movie to comment on the impact of cars on man and the planet, be it economical or environmental. There’s also plenty of subtexts running through the film: from weird sexual subtext – the strange sexual practices of Rowlett’s Denise to the pent up sexual frustration of Anna Chlumsky’s wheatgrass-selling Lorraine. Frustrations that, given the amount of T&A on display from the films cast of extras, will also frustrate the audience – I’m sad to report there’s no Chlumsky flesh on display here folks. Frustration is yet another subtext: Lorraine is frustrated that Archie prefers Denise, Archie is frustrated that he’s a vegan and the government agents tracking Archie are frustrated that he keeps getting away!

Seemingly influenced by the works of Roger Corman, John Waters and Troma, Blood Car is surreal, stupid and stunning in equal measure. It’s just a shame that the film took so long to reach these shores and that Alex Orr hasn’t directed another movie since…