Bleeders (film)

Last updated
Bleeders
Bleeders-movie.jpg
DVD cover
Directed byPeter Svatek
Written byCharles Adair
Dan O'Bannon
Ronald Shusett
Produced byJulie Allan
Pieter Kroonenburg
Starring Roy Dupuis
Kristin Lehman
Rutger Hauer
CinematographyBarry Gravelle
Edited byHeidi Haines
Music by Alan Reeves
Production
companies
  • Fries/Schultz Film Group
  • Kingsborough Greenlight Pictures
Distributed byFries Film Group
Release date
  • 14 September 1997 (1997-09-14)(Fantastisk Film Festival Lund)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Bleeders (also known as Hemoglobin) is a 1997 Canadian horror film directed by Peter Svatek and based upon H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Lurking Fear". It premiered at the Fantastisk Film Festival Lund in Sweden on September 14, 1997, and was released direct to video the following year. [1] It is the last original script written by Dan O'Bannon produced during his lifetime.

Contents

Plot

John and Kathleen Strauss are a French-Canadian couple attempting to uncover the secret to John's rare blood disease. They encounter Dr. Marlowe, who is intrigued by the case. They are unaware that the Grand Manan Island in Canada's New Brunswick which they are about to set foot upon is home to the Van Dam family, mutant-like creatures who have become deformed and bloodthirsty from centuries of inbreeding. Their mutation began with their relative Eva Van Dam, who had a incestuous relationship with her twin brother. Also, they are fully functioning hermaphrodites, capable of reproducing with themselves. They need to survive on (dead or alive) human flesh.

John discovers that he is a Van Dam, born normal looking and taking part in normal society, but his rare blood disease can only be suppressed with human flesh and sex with his siblings.

Cast

Reception

HorrorNews.net panned the film overall, criticizing it for its "abundance of clichés" and commenting that they would "be damned if there was anything in this picture worth seeing again". [2] Moria gave the film two stars and stated that "one can see that a number of sequences have been designed on paper in a way that could have had some shock impact had they been directed by someone with half an ounce of talent". [3]

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Hemoglobin is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transport of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae and the tissues of some invertebrate animals. Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen from the respiratory organs to the other tissues of the body, where it releases the oxygen to enable aerobic respiration which powers the animal's metabolism. A healthy human has 12 to 20 grams of hemoglobin in every 100 mL of blood. Hemoglobin is a metalloprotein, a chromoprotein, and globulin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red blood cell</span> Oxygen-delivering blood cell and the most common type of blood cell

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemoglobin M disease</span> Medical condition

Hemoglobin M disease is a rare form of hemoglobinopathy, characterized by the presence of hemoglobin M (HbM) and elevated methemoglobin (metHb) level in blood. HbM is an altered form of hemoglobin (Hb) due to point mutation occurring in globin-encoding genes, mostly involving tyrosine substitution for proximal (F8) or distal (E7) histidine residues. HbM variants are inherited as autosomal dominant disorders and have altered oxygen affinity. The pathophysiology of hemoglobin M disease involves heme iron autoxidation promoted by heme pocket structural alteration.

References

  1. "WARM, FUZZY FILMS THESE AIN'T". Contra Costa Times. October 16, 1998. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. "Film Review: Bleeders (1997)". HorrorNews.net. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  3. "HEMOGLOBIN aka BLEEDERS (review)". Moria. 27 April 1999. Retrieved 10 November 2013.