Saturday, January 19, 2013

Blood Junkie

aka Rocky Trails

Director - Drew Rosas (Billy Club)
Starring - Nick Sommer (Billy Club), Mike Johnson (Billy Club), and Sarah Luther (Hamlet A.D.D.)
Release Date - 2010
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline- "The party of their lives is about to get cut short" and "A harmless trip finds harm's way"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Bootleg or screener)

Rating (out of 5):
      When I was in college I would often visit a nearby pawn shop.  I hate buying used DVDs but if the price is right I'll pick em up.  On one of my visits I was looking through their unorganized DVDs when I found a case with no cover art.  When I opened the case I saw it was a DVD-R with "Rocky Trails" written in Sharpie.  This was before I had a smart phone and could look the film up.  I asked the owner if he knew anything about the movie and he said that a collector pawned it off about a week prior with almost 200 other movies.  He said he was told that this film was a rare 80's film that was gave to him by someone who was part of the cast and crew.  Not knowing anything about the film I decided to grab it and it has set on my shelf since.  After looking through my collection I decided to throw this one in and see what it was all about.  However, before I did I looked it up.  I discovered that the film was actually titled Blood Junkie and was released in 2010.  The film pays homage to those slasher flicks from the 80's and was distributed by Troma. 
     The film follows two friends, Craig and Teddy, who enjoy cheap beer and easy women.  The pair spot two girls scamming a local convenient store clerk in to selling them liquor.  They ask the two if they would like to go camping for the weekend.  The girls agree only if one can bring her younger brother along.  She has to babysit for the weekend while her parents are away.  The boys agree and they set out to stay at an abandoned camp.  After a night of drinking the group head to bed.  The following morning the girls wake before the men and head off on a hike.  The two wonder across an abandoned building and decided to check it out.  Once inside the building one of the girls becomes infatuated and refuses to leave.  The other leaves her behind and heads back to camp.  Once she arrives back at camp the two men head back out in search of her.  The two make it to the building but are unable to find her and head back to camp.  When they arrive they find their car has the window busted and a bloody machete nearby.  The two head back to the building to fuck up those responsible only to meet their death at the hands of a maniac in a gas mask.  The lone survivor, the young boy, shoots the maniac with Teddy's gun.  When the police arrive the young boy tells them of the events that unfolded and they are unable to find the killers body...
     This movie blew my mind.  I was not expecting to see a movie this good and it surprised me on many different levels.  The film does an amazing job at staying in the 80's look and vibe.  Most films abandon this idea before the halfway mark, however, this film stays true until the very end.  They made every aspect of the film look and feel genuinely 80's.  Another thing I really liked was the acting in this low budget flick.  Those that have seen other Troma films know that the acting is never that great, however, this is a change of pace.  The cast do a great job at playing their roles.  I also really enjoyed the story.  The story is your typical slasher storyline and the 80's look and feel only strengthens that.  The comedy also works very well with the story.  This film made me laugh multiple times which is rare in most low budget horror comedies.  Finally, I really enjoyed the score, which once again only adds to the 80's vibe of the flick.  This film has a lot going for it and with a little more work I could have easily gave it a 5, but this film lacks everything that makes a horror movie so much fun...the deaths.  This film has horrible death scenes and even worse special effects.  The kills are laughable and I'm sure this was not the creator's intent.  The deaths are your standard slashing and stabbing with no originality and are poorly executed.  The production team put all their time and effort in creating that great 80's vibe and skipped on the death scenes.  Being the greedy bastard I am, I want the film to have both.  Overall, this is an amazing film.  What the film lacks in blood and carnage it more than makes up for in pure entertainment.  I love this film, plain and simple.  I love it so much I ordered an actual copy from amazon.com before I wrote this review.  Pick up a copy.   


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