User Reviews

In LA, an artist (Dora Madison) is at a creative block, but finds herself in a nightmarish spiral of drug addiction and murder. She takes an hallucinogenic drug at a party that unblocks her artistic impasse, but also gives her a vampiric craving for blood.

Joe Begos's debut feature does not hold back, with more than a hint and a shade of Abel Ferrara about it and lots of gratuitous and aggressive sex and violence. It would probably have worked better as a short film rather than a feature that at 80 minutes still feels a little long and drawn out. It does pull out all the shock stops and is most definately of interest.

Dezzy (Dora Madison) is a struggling artist. The muse seems to have deserted her. She spends her time high as a kite, having sex, listening to chunky grunge music and swearing. A lot. To have a good time, or to cope with a bad time, she meets up with others just like herself. Together, they get as high as a kite, have sex and listen to chunky grunge music. Oh, and they swear a lot. So much so that, at the beginning of the film, their stream of endless profanities and imaginatively arranged expletives are riotously funny - until you get used to it and it just becomes irritating. In between all these pastimes, they talk about themselves endlessly. Who would have thought being so 'bad' could be so boring?

That's the characters, though, not this film. 'Bliss' moves along at a brisk pace. 'Norm' (George Wendt) turns up as 'Pop' for the briefest time. Even he is surrounded by thick cigarette smoke and a whirl of bad language. Director Joe Begos clearly wants us to become as immersed in this grindhouse lifestyle as possible. There are eccentric camera angles and fast edits to create for us a disorientating world. There's even a warning for epileptics at the beginning.

I enjoyed the film. It's a slow build-up. Yes, we understand - these characters are hardcore! But it is a convincing environment and the horror, when it comes, alongside some excellent gore effects, is effective and above all - does something different.

It isn't possible to sympathise with someone who takes so many narcotics just so she can function enough to take *more* narcotics - and then complains, in the strongest possible terms of course, that she is not well. I get the impression, though, we're not being asked to sympathise with her. Whether we care about her is up to us - she is presented as what she is: take it or leave it. In real life, I would definitely leave it, but in this film, it is interesting to see where her increasingly deadly trips - and her equally immersive art - are taking her.

Being one that loves any type of vampire film this one was done exceptionally well in the dark setting he chose and the actress that portrayed the main character! This is one trippy dark ride in the city of Angels!

At the very beginning of 'Bliss' comes a warning that there are a lot of flashing lights in the movie and that epileptic people should be warned. Now I'm not epileptic in any way but man did I struggle to watch the opening credits. It was almost hypnotic, I wanted to look away but couldn't. This was an early indicator that this would be a very visually unique movie. A lot of bizarre and fascinating imagery is thrown at the audience. It's not an aspect of movies I typically notice but I couldn't help but be aware of it in this case.

The film had a bit of a 'Requiem for a Dream' vibe about it, particularly early on. There is a lot of heavy drug use featured in the film - in fact that's more or less what it's about. If you want to give your children a "don't do drugs" lesson this could be a good film to throw at them. It doesn't particularly glamourise them at all, in fact it makes them look downright nasty.

The final third of this film really changes everything and makes it into an almost entirely different film. I guess it's what makes it fall into the "horror" category. To be honest that was probably my least favourite element to the film. I could see why they went that way, and it tied in beautifully with the painting that is central to the film, but it just didn't work for me. Because no other characters are ever given any screen time or introduced to us in anyway it was impossible to care about any of them, and so the end scenes had almost zero intensity.

'Bliss' is a very quick little film (sitting at about 80 minutes) that has some really interesting stuff going on, but just struggles to combine it all into a fluent package. The ideas are all there, the execution is just slightly off.

The main character spends the majority of the movie not giving a damn about anything and soon you wont either. The movie feels like it was written in 3 hours in a bar and they just grabbed the people in the bar to be in it. George Wendt must have been walking by and got yanked in. I didnt know you could write a script around the word f--k. Seriously, skip it.

Nothing is particularly obvious in this movie until late on when the story explodes.

The acting - especially by Dora Madison - is excellent throughout with believable characters that take you into their disturbed lives.

This movie is a conceptual idea of horror from beginning to end without the cliches and with superb production.

If you like something different on your movie menu this is certainly one to watch.

The filmmaker tries so hard to be edgy, but the film is about as edgy as a tennis ball. The lead actress can't act. It's like they said, "We need someone who has a look of Linda Cardelini, with the acting chops of Tara Reid." Garbage film. The 5.8 is way too high.

Look, there's not really a lot that happens in Bliss. There's a lot of setup, especially for a horror movie, and you have to wait a while for it to pay off. At times reminiscent of Starry Eyes, Bliss is three-quarters drama-- but then, aren't us horror fans always telling our judgmental friends that drama and horror aren't that different? Horror is just tragedy written all-caps.

But this isn't anything you'd call slow burn. It's not understated. It's loud. It's in your face. There's a lot of blood. There are a lot of boobs. There are a lot of bloody boobs. And there's no apology for any of that, not in Bliss-- there's exultation.

Eventually, I guess, Bliss is supernatural horror, playing around a popular enough trope, adding it's own fresh take on the (frankly tired) canon. I'd tell you more, except maybe you don't want to be spoiled. But really, it doesn't matter, not for this film. It's not about the plot, not about any kind of twist. It's about the character and the imagery.

There are a few reasons why Bliss really works. First, the lead is perfect. "Angsty," yes, but not to the point of parody. Madison takes us along for the ride in a way that few could. Second, the visuals are stunning. Part of this is filming. Part of it is editing. Most of it is just having the guts to follow the vision. If Bliss is part Starry Eyes, it's equally part Beyond the Black Rainbow: style above all.

...a drug induced, vibrant, caked-in-paint, covered in sweat and just overall a bloody mess of a good time. I like it. When the devil is inside of you, evil, I suppose, is no longer something to fear. This is definitely one of those movies that takes a minute for it to find its rhythm, but once it does you are rewarded with what this type of late nite horror thrill-fest is all about!

A pretty solid effort for such a low budget movie. If you are looking for some fast demonic scenes, this movie has a few. If you are looking for some real odd sex-type scenes, this movie has a few. And without spoiling too much if you are looking for a little drugged out, not sure which way is up, painting with blood to metal music this movie has just about enough of that.

Now I don't understand why movies still start out with the ultra cliche, struggling artist "your rent is two weeks past due" landlord scenario introductions. That said I'll say from there the movie is a pretty original descent into a mad Los Angeles moonlight world fueled by paranoia, drugs, an unrelenting desire to follow a creative trigger, and a good amount of fast paced, bright but dimly lit scenes (a real struggle to achieve I'm sure, the whole aesthetic really being mostly at nite time) with so much tension that you'll feel like you are on the drugs yourself being chased by the demon inside of you.

I enjoyed the ride, mostly, my own gripes really coming from the lack of building a convincing world. How is this artist so famous? Because it just seems like some random artist to me. That's really a minor problem. Also the name...Bliss? Really? Could've come up with something a bit more original. I guess the drug she is doing in the movie everyone refers to as "Bliss" but still..

I liked the actor who played the drug dealer and the main actress has some very nice freak-out/panic moments. Even apart from that the storyline here about a struggling artist looking for inspiration was well played out and even the more standard scenes played out nicely. I like the whole art agent scenario with the new pieces and the upcoming gallery show. And the stuff with the blonde was confusing but I really didn't mind because...I mean...the whole movie was a bit confusing but that's the thing about it: a little demonic mystery.

Not necessarily a masterpiece and I won't reccomend this to everyone but for me it hit the spot and I think it deserves a wider audience.

Just a note that there is a photosensitive epilepsy warning at the beginning of the film

I get it - Why tell a movie in straight-forward fashion when you have have poor lightning, aggravating camera angles, Super-8-quality film-making, and scenes so dark, oddly-colored and unclear that it looked like it was shot in a psychedelic cave? 'Bliss' is all this and then some. I actually liked the acting of the lead painter; I think she'll go places. The rest of the cast? Not so much. (Norm was wasted in this flick!) There was an interesting, though half-done story in there somewhere, but it collapsed under the sheer weight of the drugs, profanity and violence. 'Bliss' isn't recommended unless you're a gorehound. In that case, you'll get your money's worth.

No spoilers. Apart from getting sold on the synopsis I didn't really have any ideas on what "Bliss" is going to be, somehow Joe Beggos had slipped under my radar before. Not going to lie, I'm now definitely planning to watch his previous movies & wait eagerly for the ones to come.

I'm pretty sure that "Bliss" is going to find a cozy place with only certain audiences & I realize that the rest will likely pass it by or watch it and go like "eww" with some dissatisfaction. For me, "Bliss" was a doozy, 80 minutes long blast of awe. It is a mean-spirited grindhouse/art-house flick, a nightmare fueled by drugs, sex, blood, filth and an atmosphere that feels like the impending doom. It was easy to be amazed, perhaps it is the fact that this is the kind of style I'd like to explore as a filmmaker or that art-house is by far my most favorite subgenre, but pretty much everything in this movie, contents-wise & filmmaking-wise, was impressive. The lead performance by Dora Madison is sure and strong, the cinematography/editing/sound design is creative, effortful and adds to the atmosphere a lot. Mad props for the soundtrack & original score, heard Electric Wizard and more great stuff. Pacing is fast, boredom - nonexistent. Depiction of the underground world - as filthy as it is. As for the plot, nothing more was necessary, a lot can be found in the pleasantly chaotic visual story telling.

9 months into 2019 "Bliss" takes a high place among my favorite horror movies of this year & something like this was well needed. I recommend "Bliss" to anyone who enjoys the aforementioned horror subgenres, is into drug or metal culture, or likes dark art, any art. My rating: 8/10.

Sex, drugs, rock n roll, paint and blood. This movie is like a slow and enjoyable trip to hell but really too long for what he got

This was a waste of time! The main character is just so annoying but well played. But then she just becomes stupidly underwritten and badly played. The horror is juste gore all over and the interesting parts are lost in over-stylish shots... The characters from intriguing become a parody of horror characters. And the abuse of the word doesn't give an edge to the situations but empties all the dialogue of any meaning. It was a waste of time for everyone. Watch The Devil's candy instead it is about better painting and excellent horror with loads of good heavy music.

The actresses' mediocre performance doesn't help, but jesus, could they have written this girl to be more obnoxious, annoying, and a piece of crap? Ruins what is an otherwise a great job behind the camera.

Dezzy is an artist living on the fringes of the dark underbelly of the Los Angeles art scene. Ego centric and drug addicted hers is a shallow existence of cheap thrills and. She's a deeply dislikable person devoid of any endearing characteristics.

One night of particular debauched excess leads her to a new addiction; a craving for human blood.

As we follow Dezzy's transformation into vampirism, she develops a painting which simultaneously moves from an abstract and formless piece, towards something more familiar.

What we have here is a reinterpretation of The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. In that story the painting becomes a spiritual receptacle for the artist's life of immortality. In Bliss that transference is reversed, the painting seems to absorb the remaining slither of good that dwells within Dezzy while we follow her murderous rampage of bloody self realisation.

As with Wilde's story it doesn't end ell for the artist. But how could it? Dezzy was already a monster before she became a vampire. In the completion of the painting we meet a similar moment of destruction to Dorian Grey, all that remains of her physical body is the blood she craves while the painting becomes her failed hope for redemption.

It's an interesting take in the vampire trope and Bliss definitely goes with the Vampirism as a curse idea first uttered by Nosferatu and Bram Stoker. Not for Dezzy the life of stylish vampires suffering eternal life, she's too self destructive for that.

**NON-SPOILER**

I think it would have been easier to follow the film if I wasn't sober. It's very trippy and somewhat hard to follow, jumping from scene to scene without anything really developing. They probably achieved the type of film they wanted to, however it just didn't get going and it was hard to get into. The picture itself is good though and good effects were used throughout.

I am a fairly easy sell for a movie, particularly a genre film, when its tone, mood and aesthetics are up my alley. "Bliss" does that, which is why I've found myself throwing it on frequently over the last few years.

Despite issues I have with some of the dialogue, and the Pulp Fiction-esque drug-buy scene, I'm all in for the journey. Begos' visual sensibilities and set pieces keep me coming back. This film feels very much like a West coast take on the 80s and early 90s, gritty exploitation run of New York films; specifically Abel Ferrara's filmography. The use of neon lights, 16mm grain and chaotic perspectives is enough to capture a simple dude like me. I love it!

Our main character is challenging, no doubt. She is quite unlikable. She is crass, selfish and, well, hard to root for? With that said, her only antagonist is herself. The minimal storytelling style is suitable for a movie like this; nightmare logic and a "descent into madness." This combination could absolutely alienate a general audience and any issues one might have with the film, are likely understandable. It is far from a traditional or comprehensive narrative, but that just doesn't bother me.

A great strength it has, is it's runtime. It doesn't overstay its welcome, which when combined with all above, makes a fantastic midnight movie. After Joe's "neon trio" (Bliss, VFW and Christmas Bloody Christmas) I've found myself really looking forward to seeing what he does next. I'm sure it will be polarizing.

8/10.

This film I saw a poster for at the Gateway Film Center and heard some buzz about this. I know that it played at the Nightmares Film Festival as well ahead of me seeing it. The person who does the programming there was impressed by it, so it went on a list for me to see. When I saw it was showing the following weekend, I decided to check it out. I'm now giving it a second viewing as part of the Summer Series for the Podcast Under the Stairs. The synopsis is a brilliant painter facing the worst creative block of her life turns into anything she can to complete her masterpiece, spiraling into a hallucinatory hellscape of drugs, sex and murder in the sleazy underbelly of Los Angeles.

We start this in the apartment of Dezzy (Dora Madison). She is a painter that is currently struggling from the synopsis. She hasn't been able to paint in months. She's looking over a canvas that is supposed to be turned in for a gallery opening and all she has is the base. Her boyfriend, Clive (Jeremy Gardner), asks her to give him a ride. She tells him she doesn't have time, but he does get her to agree. The problem is though he makes her late. As their leaving, her landlord Lance (Mark Beltzman) yells at her as she's behind on her rent and he threatens to throw her out. She does get him to calm down and promises him the check.

She then goes to see her agent, David (Chris McKenna) and he asks about the piece that she was supposed to be finished with. She asks for an extension, but he tells her that he needs something to go on to Nikki St. Jean (Rachel Avery). She tells him that she can't do that and he drops her as a client.

This causes her to go into a tailspin and she calls up Hadrian (Graham Skipper). She asks if he is holding because she needs something to give her inspiration. When she arrives at his place, there are three guys playing poker. They are Pops (George Wendt), Abe (Abraham Benrubi) and Bobby (Josh Ethier). She goes into the back room with Hadrian and he shows her the drugs he has. She decides on one called Diablo and he gives her a sample.

We see her go on a bender that night that leads her to Courtney (Tru Collins) and Ronnie (Rhys Wakefield). This involves a lot of drug use and them having a sexual encounter. When Dezzy comes out of it, she did some painting, but she doesn't remember it. When Clive shows up and asks her to come out for a drink. She has had issues with drugs in the past and she's relapsing into the hard stuff that leads her down a dark path that results in her painting. He's not happy about what he finds as he does care about her, but also into a new addiction that puts the lives of everyone around her in jeopardy.

Now I'm glad that I came in as blind as I did with this film, so I didn't have any preconceived notions of what to expect. Where I'll start is that this movie is an interesting allegory. Dezzy is, of course, a painter. This makes sense as many great people in the arts have battled addictions. She was clean for 3 months and it isn't shocking that is the same length of her not being able to paint. As she falls back into this, she gets inspiration. There is a problem as she cannot use responsibly.

That will take me to the painting aspect here. I find this interesting as when she was 'sober', she couldn't paint and put herself in a bad position. She never gives up alcohol and marijuana, but just the hard stuff. The moment she relapses though, she is creative again. There is another addiction that Courtney and Ronnie introduce her to. It is when she goes into these blackouts that she is productive. I like the idea that she is strung out, hangover, going through withdrawals, but despite all of this, she must keep going in her eyes.

As Dezzy is working on her masterpiece, she is hurting those around her to do so. This is another aspect of addiction, hurting those that care about you. I like that the faces in the painting seem to look like those that she hurts during her black out. I can see how drugs and her producing can affect the lives around her. She can't give this up though as she just needs to get it out of her, even if it kills her in the process.

The last part of the story I'll touch on is a possible supernatural aspect to this film as well. What I really like though is that when we first see it, she is on a bender. We don't know if she is just hallucinating the things or if they're really happening. This is a fine line to tiptoe though. Everything I've said can be taken as psychological and a grounded explanation. I do like that it does show us the truth of the matter and I like what the reveal is that has happened to her. It is interesting that she doesn't have a lot of self-control, so I could buy that she wouldn't be able to control this new addiction. I do believe the supernatural things are happening as well.

I'll shift next to the pacing of the movie, which I think is good. I like that it doesn't waste any time jumping right in. It builds tension through worrying about what Dezzy is dealing with. We see that each time she loses control, she is struggling when she wakes up from it. What is interesting though, we see her panic and consider staying sober. It doesn't take long for her to change her mind. I do like how it ends and seeing the final product she is working on as well. The editing is also interesting here. It shows us her black outs and how weird things are. As I said earlier, that is how I remember some things during mine as it is quite incoherent. We get a manic pace, which is fitting here and the low runtime helps.

To the acting here, I thought that Madison was great. In the beginning we see that she's a bit desperate. She hasn't been able to paint in months and it's wearing on her. We then see her relapse and descend into drug induced madness. I feel for her, even though she needs help, but she isn't ready for it. We do get character growth; it is just negative. She is also attractive and we get to see her nude quite a bit, which I didn't mind at all. Collins is interesting as well as Wakefield. They're bad influences and just are free spirits. Their take on the creature in this is a curious one that is scary. Gardner is kind of a jerk, but I liked that he really does care about Dezzy, he's just not the best for her. Skipper and the rest of the cast round out the film for what was needed, with nice cameos by Wendt, Benrubi and Ethier.

As to the effects, cinematography and soundtrack, I think they were good as well. I've touched on there's a bit of a psychedelic feel while she is high. Since I've never taken drugs that would do that to me, I would just assume this is how it would be experience it. I feel like there's a bit of haziness when it is day, which does feel like a hangover. That I can confirm as how it feels. Going from there, the blood and the gore we get was good. It was done practically, which I'm a fan of. I wasn't expecting that at all. The cinematography is also well done for the reasons I've said. It just looks great and fits the grimy feel we need here. The soundtrack is used well and is enhances some the scenes. I could feel the sense of dread or anxiety growing. It isn't necessarily music that I would revisit, but it works for what they needed.

Now with that said, I enjoyed this film. I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but what I saw blew me away after that first viewing. There's a cautionary tale here of drug use and losing control. What we see in the movie, I felt was a good representation of going too far with them, from personal experience. I like that we build to the supernatural aspect and it was interesting. I think that the acting of Madison was good and brought the character of Dezzy to life. The rest of the cast really did round out for what they needed. It has a manic pace that works. The effects were good and the soundtrack fit for what they needed, with moments where it really enhanced the scenes. I'll admit, I love this film and was a contender for my favorite film of the year. I'm not as high as that first viewing, but this is still a good one.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Had no idea what this was about when I put it on. But slowly you drop from normality into the coke head world, then further into the addict jungle, then further into a trippie existence that I can't even imagine, then even further still as if descending Dante's levels one by one until you actually do reach the dungeon of hell. Dora Madison is nothing less than brilliant, and although the trippie scenes are not for the faint hearted they are well done and perfectly executed by the bizarre and psychotic lost soul that Madison plays. Mulholland Drive by comparison is a Sunday afternoon B movie compared to this and it gets the highest score I've given a movie this year.

This started off OK but the main characters motivations for her actions werent believable. Why even the most hardened drug-user would keep snorting that is obviously causing real damage is beyond me.

The gore got too much for me too - and I can handle a certain amount of it. Oh by the way, its also a vampire film....