Review of Bad Blood

Craig Horrall's screenplay for "Bad Blood" is simply genius. Filled with moments of Grande Guignol, twisted love, pathos, humor, and excitement, it's the Super Combo of horror screenplays. Of course we've seen this one before ("Fatal Attraction", "Misery", "Play Misty for Me", "Hush, Hush...Sweet Charlotte") for this is a tale of love-gone-awry, secret obsessions, and murder. But every film is a hybrid of other films, in the sense that each artist is influenced not only by his or her own personal ideas and impulses, but also by either his contemporaries or the old masters, or both. It depends on HOW the story is told that sets one film apart from the rest of the pack. Such is the case with "Bad Blood". It has a great, nuanced script, shaded and with all-around rough edges. The writing is mostly dead-on and delicious, and it absolutely MAKES "Bad Blood". Wealthy, aging female painter Arlene Bellings(Ruth Raymond) is having a show in the city, and one of her paintings attracts the attention of a man, Ted Barnes (Gregory Patrick) who appears to be the painting's subject. He doesn't know Arlene but she definitely knows him, as she confesses that he is the grown child that she had taken from her in her youth, by her wealthy, domineering father. Ted's wife Evie (Linda Blair) is as perplexed as her husband, until Ted's mother (Carolyn Van Bellinghen, in a brief, Oscar-worthy performance) confirms that Arlene's story is true. But looks are deceiving, and Arlene's secret past lies just below the surface of her warm and friendly demeanor. She soon invites Ted and Evie to her palatial country estate for the weekend, and that's when Arlene sets in motion a plan to have Ted all for herself - in more ways than one. This is the point at which "Bad Blood" breaks away from the competition and sprints ahead. I haven't seen a film since "Last House on the Left" that has had balls as big as this film has. It tackles the subject of maternal incest without batting an eye, and yet even at this point of depravity/hilarity it does not descend, or become any less beguiling. There's a creepy, pulling charm to "Bad Blood", and all of its kinky, Gothic themes. The sets and locations are amazing, and although it's somewhat technically inept it doesn't stop working on you. The editing is rough but absolutely to-die-for; there's a split-screen sequence in there that will entertain even the most jaded and difficult-to-please viewer. Evie's murder scene at the hands of Arlene plays in choppy slow-motion, and is relentlessly violent and shocking and effective. It is an excruciating scene, one which catches your breath and holds you, traumatized, until Evie's final death throws. Linda Blair does not play the lead in this particular movie, but that murder sequence should have earned her some kind of nomination for her acting skills. You feel Evie's shock and desperation throughout every frame. (Debra Winger has a famous death scene, of course, in "Terms of Endearment", and Garbo in "Camille", but they don't hold a candle to Linda in "Bad Blood") But it is beyond doubt that this is Ruth Raymond's film all the way. She certainly knew it, and she doesn't waste any time letting all of us know it, in an over-the-top performance in the rare vein of Faye Dunaway in "Mommie Dearest" and Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" - two ridiculously larger-than-life performances that have deservedly become both classics and camp classics. There is a fire behind Raymond's performance as Arlene that is truly a wonder to behold. She is never out of character, and nothing less than electrifying. It is an AMAZING performance, and she doesn't shy away from one word of the audacious, sordid material. She IS Arlene Bellings, chewing sets, scenery, and co-stars all the way through to the end, and creating one of the most complex, pitiable, and frightening villains that horror has ever seen. Of course major credit must go to Director Chuck Vincent, for keeping it all together and getting good performances out of all the players (and I'm sure just standing out of the way of Ruth Raymond and her performance) and to Director of Photography Larry Revene for excellent composition in many of the shots.