Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Bloodhound Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 7, 2021

House of Usher began Roger Corman’s long history of adapting various works of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as offering stars like Vincent Price a regular paycheck, and it continues to be one of the best remembered versions of what is really almost a short story sketch rather than a fully formed “tale of the grotesque” (to purloin part of a title of a Poe collection published in his lifetime). That said, there have actually been several adaptations of the saga of the Ushers done for both the large and small screens, ranging back to the silent era and a 1928 French effort co-written by Luis Buñuel, La chute de la maison Usher (evidently one of two silent versions released that year), to a 1979 made for television version starring Martin Landau, to 1989’s The House of Usher starring Oliver Reed, to a gay themed House of Usher that came out in 2008. Even the notorious Jess Franco also took a stab at this Poe evergreen, with Franco’s 1982 outing Neurosis , though for purposes of comparison to The Bloodhound, a 2006 entry once again called The House of Usher may be the closest in that it restages Poe’s venerable story in the present day.

As several talking heads get into in the rather in depth making of featurette included on this Blu-ray disc as a supplemental feature, writer and director Patrick Picard and his team sought to "elevate" the source material, hinting at rather than overtly displaying any graphic or even gothic touches. The result is undeniably "intellectual", but as to how scary anything is may be up for debate. That said, there is definitely a "creepy factor" running through this version from virtually the get go, in a totally gonzo opening scene that seems to show what is meant to be the film's title "creature", taking a swim while completely clothed in a stream, and then dragging himself through the labyrinthine hallways of a midcentury modern mansion before evidently disappearing into a secret lair inside a closet. It's an off the wall (or maybe behind the wall) opening, to be sure, and it sets things off on an appropriately askew feeling footing.

Lovers of the original Poe version will of course know that Poe's short story features an unnamed narrator who arrives at the Usher house after having received an invitation from an apparently ailing Roderick. The narrator aspect has led to various strategies being employed by the many screenwriters who have sought to adapt Poe's piece, typically by offering a named character who arrives and serves as the audience's surrogate in discovering the weirdness at play in the Usher mansion. This film features a brief text interlude documenting a note one Jean Paul Leuret (Joe Adler) has sent to a friend named Francis (Liam Aiken), asking for help, and after the bizarre opening "bathing" scene, the film moves on to Francis arriving at what seems to be the abandoned Leuret home. Soon enough, though, J.P. (as he's nicknamed) simply appears in a kind of living room or parlor, and almost immediately there seems to be a patently odd relationship being reestablished between the two friends, as evidenced by the fact J.P. jokes (?) that he's going to kill Francis for taking a picture of a family photograph, and the follow up moment which sees the two simply repeating each other's names ad infinitum.

Interestingly, this adaptation doesn't really make the "twin" aspect between J.P. and his sister, named Vivian (Annalise Basso) in this version, a secret, and it's mentioned almost as a throwaway line relatively early in the film. Vivian is a largely unseen presence for quite a while, evidently suffering from the "melancholia" the Leurets have endured for generations, and secluded in her bedroom where she prefers not be bothered. Much of the film therefore plays out as a so-called "two hander" between J.P. and Francis, as Francis attempts to understand what exactly is afflicting both J.P. and Vivian, while also coming to terms with some of his own "issues".

There is subtext galore here, but I'm not sure it's ever really developed enough to make total sense. In this regard, the whole "bloodhound" element simply never fully registered for me, and in fact I mistakenly originally thought the character seen in the opening river bath sequence was JP, since his face is never overtly shown and it looked like he had blonde hair. There's an undeniable homoerotic angle that actually makes this a sibling of sorts to the David DeCoteau effort from 2008 linked to above, and there are some fleeting references to the "entombment" element that was part and parcel of Poe's original, but The Bloodhound may succeed more on stylistic terms than in any presentation of its sometimes muddled narrative. Picard has an almost Kubrickian sense of stasis and symmetry, and long, lingering shots of various nooks and crannies of the Leuret mansion seem lifted from discarded sequences from the climax of 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Dave found himself in another kind of gothic mansion dream (and/or nightmare).

The Bloodhound Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bloodhound is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.65:1. This is another film of recent vintage where I haven't been able to dredge up a lot of authoritative technical information on the shoot, though the closing credits state "Shot with Panavision Cameras & Lenses". I haven't found anything definitive with regard to the resolution of the DI, but this is one way or the other a rather striking presentation quite a bit of the time, though it's often intentionally kind of flat looking. Odd grading choices are often utilized, like the slightly blue-green cast to the opening scene of the mountain river, to later cool blues or warmer ambers and almost crimson purples in the interior of the Leuret home, but the film's palette is very nicely rendered in this transfer. Quite a bit of the interior footage is seemingly purposefully dimly lit, and in some midrange shots fine detail levels may falter slightly, but on the whole, there are commendably precise accounts of some of the detailed patterns in things like drapery fabrics or even paneling. A couple of nighttime moments are understandably less revealing in terms of overall detail levels.

The Bloodhound Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Bloodhound features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that is, like the film itself, evocative without being overtly flashy. From the opening moments, which mix the gurgling sounds of a stream with what sounds like tapping on some object, the sound design is kind of subliminally unsettling, an aspect that is probably best exemplified by the sometimes astringent chamber score. The film has long stretches without a ton happening on the soundtrack, but then there can be bursts of florid activity as in a concert of some Mozart music, and dynamic range is therefore quite wide. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Bloodhound Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with director Patrick Picard and editor David Scorca


• On the Trail of The Bloodhound: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Chiller (HD; 45:21) offers some good interviews and background on the project. It's kind of funny to hear Picard state that he's not really that much of a fan of Poe.


• Patrick Picard Short Films

  Bad Dream (HD; 1:06) offers shadowy hands and a women's chorus singing.

  
  

  The Muffled Hammerfall in Action (HD; 00:51) is, kind of ironically given my comments about a certain Kubrick sci-fi classic above, a bit of a light show.

  
  

  The Mosaic Code (HD; 00:32) is a fun abstract piece with pixellated multi-colored squares.

  
  

  Wiggleworm (HD; 00:48) is largely in black and white and is frankly more nightmareish, with superimposed body parts, among other images.

Additionally, Arrow provides its typically nicely appointed insert booklet. There is an essay by Anton Bitel, and a Director's Statement from Picard that actually arguably goes further toward explicating certain outré elements, like the bloodhound character, than the film itself does. Picard also offers some brief comments on the shorts included on the disc.

The Bloodhound Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Bloodhound has the kind of cool, detached and emotionless quality that some tend to associate with at least a few notable films by Kubrick, but that aspect may not in fact help develop any real tether to either Francis or JP. Still, The Bloodhound is a fascinating exercise in style, and the really appealingly out there shorts by Picard also included on this disc as supplements prove he's a considerable talent. Technical merits are solid for those who are considering a purchase.