Blood Barn review
A throwback movie that gets pretty far on vibes.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Blood Barn
Directed by Gabriel Bernini
Written by Gabriel Benini and Alexandra Jade
Starring Chloe Cherry, Lena Redford, Andrea Bambina, Simon Paris, Samuel Lanier, Felipe Di Poi Tamargo and Pierce Campion
Blood Barn Review
We’ve seen plenty of movies that try to recreate the look and feel of 70s and 80s horror films. I can’t name any off the top of my head because they’re almost always forgettable. Okay, that’s not true…I can name a dozen off the top of my head because most of my brain is full of useless information like that…but it sounds better the other way. Blood Barn is unapologetically going for some of what Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell conjured up in The Evil Dead. While it never had a chance to reach those heights…there is something about the vibes in this movie that works better than most of those movies I can totally name if I wanted to. For a while, anyway.
A group of camp counselors head to a remote farmhouse (complete with cursed barn) to party before the end of summer. Supernatural shenanigans ensue.
You get the deal. One thing about throwback stories is that they can’t veer very far from expectations. You’ll be able to pick out the final girl immediately. If you were to pick a second survivor…you’d get that right too. Patterns are important to genre work. When you want to be like the classics…you stick to the classics. Which is funny…because you probably wouldn’t have picked out the survivor of The Evil Dead if you watched it back when it came out. Ash doesn’t stand out in any way. He sits on the couch while his friends are under attack. This isn’t important information for this review of Blood Barn so let’s move along.
Blood Barn throws the grainy filter on itself and is determined to evoke the feelings of an early 80s period piece. Specifically, the aforementioned Raimi classic. The evil here is…less specific. There are hints about family secrets, but they aren’t fleshed out in any way that makes it resonate. Let’s cut right to the chase…Blood Barn is a vibes movie. The first half works surprisingly well based almost solely on those vibes. I can’t definitively say that they’ll work for everyone…but it worked for me. Again, for a while.
The second half of Blood Barn provides the horror beats you’d expect. It boasts some fun ideas and fine practical effects. It’s also where the vibes start to wear off despite throwing a lot of blood against the wall. There is a strange style choice with the lighting when the characters start going through Hell that does more harm than good. At least that was my experience. It’s lit too darkly…and its bathed completely in red. While I appreciate the attempt to find creative ways to change up your presentation…this one didn’t work.
What does work, however, is the first half of Blood Barn. Those vibes are strong. It has a fun tone, and the actors seem to really understand what kind of movie they’re making. While it’s rarely trying to go for laugh out loud comedic moments…it does evoke the ridiculousness of early 80s horror pretty damned well. There are three separate montages of unimportant things. Driving to the location, swimming in the lake and playing volleyball all get the corny 80s montage treatment. And it works. The characters are likable in their quasi-ridiculous ways. We even get the classic “one couple dances in the middle of a party scene while no one else is dancing” cliché. Blood Barn understands the era it wants to resurrect better than most movies that try to.
Those vibes make the first half of Blood Barn a genuine joy to behold. At least it did for me. But I love those bad 80s horror movies more than I do great movies from any era. While it can’t sustain the efforts throughout the entire runtime…I appreciated how long it did work for. The second half is where the kills come in…so it has a strong idea of how to keep things going. Unfortunately, what works on paper doesn’t always work in practice. I will say however…the ending of Blood Barn does get things back on track. We get out of the dark red light and have a fun finish to enjoy. With a fun first half and a good ending…Blood Barn offers enough to warrant a look. Most of those 80s movies had rough patches too, after all. Just not the one it most closely wants to resemble.
Scare Value
Eventually the vibes run out, and Blood Barn starts to limp to its conclusion. It ups the blood factor to try and keep things rolling but some of its style choices start to overwhelm the proceedings. Still, those vibes get it pretty far. It feels fun for long enough to give it a watch. Just be prepared for a drop off that it struggles to pick back up. A solid finish helps it get there.
2.5/5
Blood Barn Link
Streaming on SCREAMBOX
