Blood Riders: The Devil Rides With Us

Director - Lari Teras (Neighborhood Heroes)
Starring - Corey Lof (Bitten), A.J. Morabito (Snow Hard), and Caitlynne Medrek (Dragon Ball)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     What brought me to reviews was my obsession with collecting horror flicks.  Horror became a mainstay in my life ever since the early 90s when Goosebumps hit the school library.  This opened the door to other books on hauntings and cryptozoology.  My horror obsession was pretty much confined to literature at the time.  I loved films of all genres so horror was never my top tier genre until I got a little older, middle school age, when I became reacquainted with Sam Raimi's classic Evil Dead trilogy.  Since then I couldn't help myself.  I had to own every horror film I could find which is a chore when there is many indie horror films that get brushed under the rug for more pop horror releases that are mediocre at best.  Case in point, Blood Riders: The Devil Rides With Us.  This is a film that I had no idea existed until I received a review copy of Sonno Profondo and it accompanied it.  I'm very grateful they sent this bonus film because it was well worth the time to watch it.

     The film follows two friends who decide one night to steal a car just for the hell of it.  However, they are busted by a young girl and her secretly gay best friend.  They try to avoid them but they refuse to leave them alone and convince the two boys to steal a car with them.  They find one and take it only to find a dead girl in the trunk.  They panic and call a fellow friend who they think can help them hide the body.  When he arrives they accidentally kill him.  They try to hide the body the best they can and return to their home to sleep the night away.  The following day a cop shows up asking questions about the young man who is now missing.  The girl panics and kills the cop.  They decide to visit a girl outside of town who is known for her run ins with the cops.  She agrees to help them but they have to retrieve something from a house nearby who turns out to be a Neo-Nazi.  They inadvertently kill everyone in the house and retrieve the box.  They take it back to her where they learn she is in a cult who want to resurrect Hitler.  There must now stop this cult from unleashing this evil upon the world again all while trying to save their asses.
     Blood Rider: The Devil Rides With Us is a flick that completely caught me off guard.  I knew nothing of the film beforehand but even if I did it would not have prepared me for the insane story that I saw unfold in front of me.  The acting in this one is hard to get used to but once you warm up to the cast you really appreciate the dedication everyone has for the film and the commitment to their role.  Some of the characters are more straight forward which required a little more acting to make it believable but others were a little unconventional and you can tell the cast members had fun with those roles.  The story for this one is all over the place but several elements just felt out of place which ruined a perfectly insane story.  The story following the group of youths accidentally and purposely killing people was pretty fun.  It offered up some blood along with some laughs.  The adding of Neo-Nazis and cults added even more humor and several what the fuck moments but the after laugh with the man judging each one that dies was pointless and really ruined the flow of the film.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills ranging from bloody and intense to quick and edited almost to the point you can miss them.  Most of the kills have some great practical effects that really surprised me while others had just enough to pass them off as a kill.  The practical effects and death are not very consistent which was a very big let down.  Overall, Blood Riders: The Devil Rides With Us is a surprisingly fun horror film that does not get the recognition that it truly deserves.  If you are looking for a well rounded horror flick then look no further.  Check it out!