I love driving. Most of the time, I’m chilling out, listening to podcasts (like Watching Now on CouchSoup.com!) and trying to block out the world… safely, of course. However, I’m from little old England where you’re never far from the next town over. It’s not America where there could be hundreds of miles between gas stations. That would turn my afternoon drive into Stress City.
It would be even worse if I was being tormented by a psychopathic policeman who was making my life a living hell!
Welcome to Blood Star, the new film from Lawrence Jacomelli, starring John Schwab and Britni Camacho. A young nursing student, Bobbie (Camacho), finds herself on the wrong side of small-town law enforcement in the form of Sheriff Bilstein (Schwab).
However, there is something seriously wrong with that Sheriff…
Bobbie is traveling across the country to see her less-than-perfect boyfriend, Rhett, despite being warned by her sister to stay away from the abusive douchebag. After stopping at a backwater gas station to fill up her tank, she finds herself running afoul of small-town Sheriff Bilstein. Yeah, she’s speeding, fine, but the other charges are absolute bs.
Wait, is he allowed to confiscate her phone and extort money from her? I didn’t think so, but this guy does it anyway. Bobbie, to her credit, does everything she can to appease the guy. Although, it doesn’t take long for him to try something else pretty creepy. Like, I dunno, pull out his rifle and shoot out her tires?
Yeahhhhhhh, this guy ain’t all there.
What follows is a tense cat-and-mouse game between a vulnerable young woman and a man who seemingly has all the power in the ‘verse. It doesn’t look good for Bobbie!
Sheriff Bilstein, played by John Schwab, was excellent. He projected power, dominance, and jackassery in abundance. You really feel for Bobbie because there seems to be no hope. Schwab conveys a sadistic, chauvinistic symbol of authority so well that you could never know he’s a really nice bloke in real life, as was witnessed at Grimmfest.
The cinematography hits hard. The use of mirrors and reflections makes things scarier. Take our douchebag Sheriff, for example. You can’t see past those aviator sunglasses to see his expressions, and that ambiguity is unnerving. Utilizing reflections gives the viewer a sense of uncertainty and really adds to the vibe. In general, there are no ugly shots in this movie (unless specifically made that way).
Blood Star is a road movie at its core, but it’s also a story about the vulnerability of driving alone in the wilderness. The whole vibe is isolation and loneliness, and how dangerous that can be for someone. Although this film is not scream-out-loud scary, it does make you feel uneasy from start to finish, and that’s great! That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be frightened of, though. There are certainly some moments that made me squirm in the back half of the film.
From a distance, Blood Star is a tight movie with a believable cast of characters and little or no plot holes. When you start squinting, though, there’s some questionable sh*t in this world. The biggest flaw in this story is arguably also the character that elevates the film the most: the Sheriff. They say it on screen: the Sheriff is an elected official. That’s not bizarre by itself, but he doesn’t rule the county under an iron fist, nor by fear. He’s a dick, and everybody knows it. So, why is he still in power?
I suppose you could say that in this one-gas-station town, nobody wanted the job, and he ran unopposed. Sure, let’s say that. But I’m sure at least one person would challenge him because they KNOW HE’S AN ASSHOLE! They might not know how much of an asshole, but an asshole nonetheless. Maybe I’ve just thought too much about this and I should just accept it, but I dunno. It’s these things that really scratch at my brain.
The only other thing that let Blood Star down is some of the supporting cast performances. Aside from Bobbie, the Sheriff, a young waitress (Sydney Brumfield) and another character I won’t spoil who is present in the endgame, the rest of the cast felt like they were going through the motions. This isn’t that distracting because they are very much bit-part players, but the main cast is so good that it’s noticeable when the smaller roles are a little off.
Blood Star was my favorite film of the four I saw at Grimmfest. It had the vibe, the tension, the shocking moments, and a villain worthy of any horror movie. Sheriff Bilstein is quite frankly one of the best antagonists of the year. I hate that dude so much, and anything that can evoke such a strong emotion from me is a winner in my book.
Although the plot is fairly straightforward and there is some questionable world-building, that doesn’t majorly detract from the overall presentation, nor the stellar performances from our leading cast: Britni Camacho as Bobbie and John Schwab as Sheriff Bilstein. They play their parts superbly, making me care and worry for the safety of Bobbie in the face of a monstrosity.
This film was developed in the wake of the atrocities leading to the Black Lives Matter movement, and you can tell. There is no love lost for the police, and Blood Star makes you distrust the authorities even more than before. That feeling where the people who are meant to protect you from harm are the ones causing it in the first place is unsettling, to say the least.
Be careful out there, especially in the wilderness. You never know who could be lurking around the next bend…
