‘Blood Widow’ DVD Review

Stars: Danielle Lilley, Brandon Kyle Peters, Christopher de Padua, Jose Miguel Vasquez, Kelly Kilgore, Emily Cutting, Phillip Marunowski, Gabrielle Henry | Written by Chad Coup, Ian H. Davis | Directed by Jeremiah Buckhalt

It’s safe to say I’ve been on a roll recently when it comes to direct to DVD horror titles. Some really great films are hitting disc and digital formats that really deserve to be seen above a lot of the so-called horror dross that clogs up multiplexes everywhere. This time round I’m checking out another slasher movie from Midnight Releasing, who recent put out another 80s-flavoured slasher, Axeman.

After buying a nice house in the country, Laurie and Hugh, a successful young couple, throw a party for their friends. During the wild night a few friends decide to explore the abandoned and decaying boarding school next door, only to wake an emotionally broken killer, the titular Blood Widow…

Much like slasher movies that have come before it, the audience has to put up with a ton of obnoxious characters taking up the majority of this films early running time. Which in the case of Blood Widow pays off when the killer starts offing each and every one of the stupid, moronic “teens” that in habit this film. Like days of old when you used to cheer on the killer and not the victims, I guarantee you’ll be cheering on the Blood Widow in this flick! If only to put you out of the misery of suffering through yet more two-dimensional performances from actors who have seemingly been scraped from the bottom of the proverbial acting barrel. But hey that applies to most slasher movies, old or new, right?

Thankfully Blood Widow also follows the tradition of having a truly interesting killer. Garbed in a tight black costume with a white porcelain doll face mask the Blood Widow casts a very striking appearance, without ever saying a word. And she’s incredibly handy with a knife, axe, scythe (you name it) too! Of course the idea of a mute, iconically-dressed killer is nothing new but when it’s done this well, and is this striking, you cannot help but appreciate the effort.

Oh, and did I mention the gore? It’s like the 80s slasher flick never went away!

Like its 80s brethren, Blood Widow is packed with gore-a-plenty: disembowelment, head crushing, decapitations, dismemberments and a leg-breaking scene that actually had me wincing (after breaking my knee joint and nearly losing the lower half of my leg, it’s the one thing in movies/TV that gets me to this day). It’s also refreshing to note that the majority, if not all, of the gory special effects are rendered in glorious practical effect work – with the odd bit of CGI enhancement here and there which for once actually works WITH the practical effects and not against them.

And whilst the film, for the most part, follows the aforementioned slasher movie conventions, there is a beautifully violent ending that reminded me a lot of the over-the-top orchestral-like violence of Dario Argento. It’s also an ending that goes against slasher movie tropes… I shall say no more for fear of spoilers.

Another fantastic entry into the slasher sub-genre, Blood Widow is available on DVD across the US from today, courtesy of Midnight Releasing.