Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 28, 2024

Wait... did I just enjoy Here for Blood? Yep, sure did. What began as a cheap knock-off of Evil Dead meets The Strangers (with a little Scream thrown in for good measure) slowly morphed into a fairly entertaining low-budget horror romp with some slasher and supernatural mash-ups. The wrestling influence is everywhere, which you'll either love or hate, but one glimpse at the cover art shouldn't leave you expecting much more. It's the blood, gore, screaming and otherworldly beasties that elevate this one, not to mention a clear series of homages to legendary horror icon Sam Raimi's work. Here for Blood may not have a lot of original material going for it, but it does what it does really well, particularly seeing as it's coming from entertainers not primed to deliver the goods via a movie rather than the ring.

Struggling to make ends meet, a rowdy pro wrestler named Tom O'Bannon agrees to babysit Grace, a precocious 10-year-old girl. What starts off as a laid-back night of junk food and video games quickly spirals into bloody chaos as the secluded home is invaded by a cult of mask-wearing, demon-powered maniacs. Directed by Daniel Turres (Terry's Car Gets Stolen) and penned by first-time screenwriter James Roberts, the little horror flick that could stars Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil franchise), Maya Misaljevic (The Boys), Joelle Farrow, Tara Spencer-Nairn (Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled), Michael Therriault (Chucky), and Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider as the voice to a decapitated skull.

Let the bodies hit the floor, and the blood, and the guts... all the reds really. Here for Blood isn't kidding around with its title, with some great homebrewed makeup and prosthetic fx that send sprays and spurts of the red sticky stuff everywhere. (Try to ignore the fact that O'Bannon's undersized bro-shirt is constantly speckled in blood while a pair of miraculous jeans manage to avoid the spatter.) But that isn't what makes Here for Blood work. It's the thicker-than-water variety; found family, and the connection between O'Bannon and Grace that keeps the movie clippin' along. Turres is a solid actor who boasts strong chemistry with his young co-star. The two form a bond, seemingly off screen as well as on, that pays off in dividends galore. It makes the more campy elements of the home invasion plot and the leering, sneering masked baddies more fun as they can do the comedy lifting while Turres and young Misaljevic shoulder the emotionality required to make us care about who the monsters want to murder. And thank god for screaming skulls. Snider is a blast and a half, even if the skull's inclusion makes little to no sense.

Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Here for Blood boasts a strong, smartly contrasted 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that does well by the film's crisp digital cinematography. Detail is excellent from start to finish, barring a few pesky CG shots that don't look all that great. Edges are razor sharp and free of halos, fine textures are revealing, and delineation allows the eye to comb the depths of the shadows. Colors are natural on the whole, with lifelike skin tones, vibrant primaries (blood reds and wrestler-shirt blues especially) and black levels are satisfying, though not entirely inky at all times. Likewise, I didn't catch sight of any irritating blocking, banding or other digital or encoding anomalies, nor is there a pixel out of place in the presentation. The video transfer is easily the highlight of the disc.

Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Here for Blood also features a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that fares pretty well for a mix tied to a low-budget horror flick. Dialogue is intelligible and clear at all times, with terrific prioritization that keeps the right elements in the right places. LFE output adds some nice thunk to stabs and dismemberments, while the rear speakers fill the soundscape with eerie, creepy ambience eager to erupt in chaos when killers leap into view. Dynamics are excellent too, without anything that amounts to a disappointment.

Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Writer James Roberts and members of the Butcher Shop FX Studio

• Behind the Scenes - A brief featurette.

• Extended Gore - Uncut footage of FX blood-letting.

• The Butcher Shop FX Studio Video Diary - Go behind the scenes of the film's fx studio.

Here for Blood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Here for Blood wears its heart and its camp on its sleeve, offering a good time and a surprisingly sweet connection between its characters (at least the ones who survive). Its blend of horror, comedy, cheese, gore, blood and other nasties proves to be a lot of fun, even if there isn't a lot of originality to the proceedings. The Blu-ray is even better, with a terrific video presentation, strong audio offering, and decent assortment of extras.