Blood Vessel (2019 film)

Last updated
Blood Vessel
Directed byJustin Dix
Written byJustin Dix
Jordan Prosser
Produced byCorey Trent Ackerman
William Byerley
Justin Dix
Matthew Graham
Jeff Harrison
Charmaine Kuhn
Steven Matusko
Steven McKinnon
Nathan Phillips
Silvio Salom
Veronica Sive
Brett Thornquest
Starring
CinematographySky Davies
Edited byDavid Redman
Music byBrian Cachia
Production
companies
Storm Vision Entertainment
SunJive Studios
Wicked of Oz Studios
Distributed byShaw Organisation
Entertainment Squad
The Horror Collective
Umbrella Entertainment
Release date
  • 2019 (2019)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Blood Vessel is a 2019 horror film that was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. [1] The film was directed by Justin Dix and written by Dix and Jordan Prosser. It stars Alyssa Sutherland, Robert Taylor, Nathan Phillips, Christopher Kirby, John Lloyd Fillingham, and Alex Cooke. [2] The film premiered as a closing night film at 2019 FilmQuest in Provo, Utah, [3] where it was nominated for eleven awards, winning for Best Art Department, Best Costume, and Best Supporting Actress for Sutherland. [4] The film was released on 21 July 2020 via video-on-demand service Shudder. [5] [6]

Contents

Plot

In late 1945, near the end of World War II, a life raft is adrift in the North Atlantic, carrying the survivors of a hospital ship that was hit by a German torpedo and sunk. The survivors - American cook Bigelow, American mechanic Jackson, British nurse Jane Prescott, British codebreaker Gerard Faraday, Australian soldier Sinclair, Russian sniper Alexander Teplov, and Malone, the American captain of the hospital ship - have been adrift for days and have run out of food when suddenly a Nazi minesweeper drifts by. Teplov uses the last bullet in Malone's rifle to shoot one of the ship's cables and the survivors use it to climb up onto the ship's deck, but while Malone is trying to board, the ladder snaps and he falls into the water and is killed by the ship's propellers. The remaining survivors investigate the seemingly-abandoned ship, with Sinclair, Teplov, and Bigelow going to the bridge and finding that the steering wheel has been chained in place. They also find the body of one of the German crew, decapitated and with huge veins extending out of his neck and sticking to the wall. Below-deck, Jackson checks out the engine and finds bodies that seem to have been burned to death, and also discovers that the boiler has failed and the ship could explode at any time if the engine keeps running, so he shuts off the engine, leaving the ship dead in the water.

The survivors regroup in the galley and discover a young girl hiding there. The girl is frightened and reflexively bites Jane when Jane attempts to reach out to her, but Jane calms her down and comforts her. When the girl finally speaks, Teplov identifies her language as Romanian despite not being able to fully understand it, and the girl introduces herself as Mya. Mya leads the survivors to a heavy locked door further below-deck and the group hears a man speaking German on the other side. They cautiously open the door and find a surviving German crew member wielding a Luger, who becomes terrified at the sight of Mya. He fires at Mya multiple times, wounding Teplov's leg and hitting Jackson in the head, killing him; Teplov kills the German survivor with a knife. Bigelow and Sinclair investigate the room that the German survivor was holed up in and find multiple large wooden boxes, a box of gold, and a box filled with crucifixes and transparent glass containers shaped like grenades that are filled with water. Jane, Teplov, and Mya return to the galley where Jane treats Teplov's bullet wound; Faraday sneaks off on his own and attempts to reach someone on the ship's shortwave radio; and Sinclair and Bigelow look through the quarters of the ship's dead captain, finding a wealth of photographs and documents showing Nazi soldiers unearthing ancient artifacts, including what appear to be multiple sarcophagi. They also find a thick tome showing images of monstrous creatures. Bigelow decides to go back to the storage room to take some of the gold for himself, and also opens up one of the large wooden boxes, which contains one of the sarcophagi from the photographs. He breaks the chains holding it shut and opens it, hoping to find more treasure, but instead finds a slumbering creature with a bat-like face. The creature suddenly awakens and kills Bigelow; Sinclair encounters the creature as it attacks Bigelow but manages to lock the storage room door, trapping it inside. The creature's awakening triggers a transformation in Mya, who is revealed to be of the same species; she suddenly attacks Jane, but Teplov shoots her, scaring her off.

Sinclair reunites with Teplov and Jane and informs them of the monster in the storage room; meanwhile, Faraday makes contact with a German over the radio and offers up classified British information in exchange for rescue, but is attacked by Mya. Sinclair, Teplov, and Jane look over the documents and film in the captain's cabin, and when Teplov looks at the tome, he recognizes the monsters depicted inside as Strigoi, fairytale creatures that are said to feed on the blood of their victims and have the power to shape-shift and command the minds of others. In the storage room, the male strigoi opens the second sarcophagus and bites into his own hand, spilling blood into the open mouth of the female strigoi sleeping within, awakening her. Sinclair, Teplov, and Jane resolve to find Faraday and then kill the strigoi using the holy armaments in the storage room. They find Faraday, but he has been bitten by Mya, which allows the Patriarch of the strigoi to psychically control him. Speaking through Faraday, the Patriarch taunts and then attacks the remaining survivors, but Jane kills Faraday by stabbing him. The survivors then go searching for Mya. Jane finds her and lures her to the upper deck where Sinclair and Teplov trap her in a small room that they have doused in gasoline. Teplov then drops a lighter through a hole in the wall, igniting the gasoline and burning Mya to death. As she burns, the Patriarch initiates a psychic connection with Jane through the small bite she received when they first discovered Mya, which has slowly been growing worse. Jane slips away from Sinclair and Teplov and goes below-deck, freeing the pair of strigoi; the Patriarch then bites her neck.

Teplov goes back to the storage room to arm himself with the holy weapons stored there, but is ambushed by the Patriarch and bitten in the neck. He manages to escape by wounding the Patriarch with one of the holy water grenades and a flare gun recovered from the captain's cabin. Meanwhile, Sinclair, while searching for Jane, encounters his estranged wife on the upper deck. He breaks down upon seeing her, but Teplov finds them and sees that it is actually the Matriarch using her powers on Sinclair. Teplov breaks the illusion by firing the flare gun into the air, getting Sinclair's attention at the last second and saving his life. Teplov then wounds the Matriarch with the heavy mounted machine gun on the ship's highest deck and Sinclair finishes her off by decapitating her with an axe. The pair hear a distant ship approaching, alerted by the flare gun, so they agree to find Jane and then destroy the Nazi ship by detonating a warhead in the munitions storage in order to kill the Patriarch. They go to the munitions room and find it full of infected German crew, but they fight through the strigoi and kill them all. Teplov then reveals his neck wound from the Patriarch and decides to stay behind to detonate the warhead himself, ordering Sinclair to escape with Jane. Sinclair goes back to the upper deck and finds Jane, who appears disoriented and tells Sinclair to leave her behind, but he ignores her pleading. Teplov attempts to detonate the warhead by bludgeoning it with an axe and is stopped at the last second by the arrival of the Patriarch, who freezes Teplov's body with a psychic attack, but Teplov frees himself from control by pressing a crucifix into his neck wound, severing the psychic connection between him and the Patriarch. He slams his axe into the warhead, detonating it and causing a chain of explosions across the ship as Sinclair and Jane jump overboard. Sinclair dives underwater to rescue Jane, and begins yelling and waving at the approaching British ship, but when Jane regains consciousness, she is revealed to have been infected by the Patriarch, and bites Sinclair's neck, killing him and then letting him sink into the ocean. Jane is rescued by the British sailors.

Related Research Articles

HMHS <i>Britannic</i> Olympic-class ocean liner

HMHSBritannic was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the youngest sister of the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world.

<i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury</i> 2004 American film

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury is a 2004 American anime-influenced adult animated science fiction short film, directed by Korean-American animator Peter Chung, and featuring Vin Diesel reprising his role as Richard B. Riddick. It acts as a bridgepoint between Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick and explains why Riddick decides to go into hiding and deliver Jack and Imam Abu al-Walid to New Mecca.

<i>Books of Blood</i> Series of fiction anthologies collecting original stories

Books of Blood is a series of six horror fiction anthologies collecting original stories written by British author, playwright, and filmmaker Clive Barker in 1984 and 1985. Known primarily for writing stage plays beforehand, Barker gained a wider audience and fanbase through this anthology series, leading to a successful career as a novelist. Originally presented as six volumes, the anthologies were subsequently re-published in two omnibus editions containing three volumes each. Each volume contains four, five or six stories. The Volume 1–3 omnibus contained a foreword by Barker's fellow Liverpudlian horror writer Ramsey Campbell. Author Stephen King praised Books of Blood, leading to a quote from him appearing on the first US edition of the book: "I have seen the future of horror and his name is Clive Barker."

<i>Spasms</i> (film) 1983 Canadian film

Spasms is a 1983 Canadian horror film directed by William Fruet and starring Peter Fonda, Oliver Reed, and Kerrie Keane. It is based on the 1979 novel Death Bite by Michael Maryk and Brent Monahan

<i>Deep Rising</i> 1998 American action horror film by Stephen Sommers

Deep Rising is a 1998 American action horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Treat Williams, Famke Janssen and Anthony Heald. It was distributed by Hollywood Pictures and Cinergi Pictures and released on January 30, 1998. While the film was a critical and box office failure, it has been regarded as a cult film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampires in popular culture</span>

Vampires are frequently represented in popular culture across various forms of media, including appearances in ballet, films, literature, music, opera, theatre, paintings, and video games.

<i>Frankenstein: The True Story</i> 1973 film by Jack Smight

Frankenstein: The True Story is a 1973 British made-for-television film loosely based on the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. It was directed by Jack Smight, and the screenplay was written by novelist Christopher Isherwood and his longtime partner Don Bachardy.

<i>The Poseidon Adventure</i> (novel) Novel By Paul Gallico

The Poseidon Adventure is an American adventure novel by Paul Gallico, published in 1969. It concerns the capsizing of a luxurious ocean liner, the S.S. Poseidon, due to an undersea earthquake that causes a 90-foot (27-meter) wave, and the desperate struggles of a handful of survivors to reach the bottom of the liner's hull before the ship sinks.

<i>Intermedio</i> (film) 2005 film by Andrew Lauer

Intermedio is a 2005 American horror film directed by Andrew Lauer.

<i>Death Ship</i> (1980 film) 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff

Death Ship is a 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Richard Crenna, George Kennedy, Nick Mancuso, Sally Ann Howes, Kate Reid, Victoria Burgoyne, and Saul Rubinek in an early role. The screenplay by John Robins was based on a story by Jack Hill and David P. Lewis.

<i>Vampire Academy</i> Series of young adult paranormal romance novels by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy is a series of six young adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway, a dhampir girl, who is training to be a guardian of her moroi best friend, Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. In the process of learning how to defeat strigoi in St. Vladimir's Academy, Rose finds herself caught in a forbidden romance with her instructor, Dimitri Belikov, while having an unbreakable psychic bond with Lissa.

<i>From Beyond the Grave</i> 1974 British film

From Beyond the Grave is a 1974 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by Kevin Connor, produced by Milton Subotsky and based on short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.

<i>Bloodlines</i> (Mead novel) 2011 novel by Richelle Mead

Bloodlines is the first book in the spin-off series of the Vampire Academy series by American author Richelle Mead. It follows the story of narrator Sydney Sage, the alchemist who helped Rose in Blood Promise, Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice.

<i>Uninvited</i> (1987 film) 1988 film by Greydon Clark

Uninvited is a 1987 American science-fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Greydon Clark and starring George Kennedy, Alex Cord, Clu Gulager, Toni Hudson and Eric Larson. The film primarily takes place aboard a luxury yacht owned by a criminal multimillionaire and bound for the Cayman Islands, whose passengers and crew are terrorized by a mutant cat.

Star Runners is a 2009 Sci Fi channel original film, directed by Mat King and written by Rafael Jordan, and starring Connor Trinneer, James Kyson Lee, Toni Trucks, Aja Evans and Michael Culkin.

<i>The Fiery Heart</i> 2013 novel by Richelle Mead

The Fiery Heart is the fourth book in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines series and was released on November 19, 2013. It is told from both Adrian's and Sydney's perspectives. As from the start of the series, Sydney Sage is an Alchemist who been assigned to protect the Moroi princess, Jillian Mastrano Dragomir, from the assassins who would like to overthrow Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir, the Queen of the Moroi, from her throne.

<i>Shake, Rattle & Roll XV</i> 2014 Filipino film

Shake, Rattle & Roll XV is a 2014 Filipino horror anthology film directed by Dondon Santos, Jerrold Tarog, and Perci Intalan, and the fifteenth installment of the Shake, Rattle & Roll film series. The film stars an ensemble cast including Erich Gonzales, JC de Vera, Carla Abellana, Dennis Trillo, Lovi Poe, Matteo Guidicelli, and John Lapus.

<i>Alien: Out of the Shadows</i> Book by Tim Lebbon

Alien: Out of the Shadows is a 2014 novel written by Tim Lebbon and published by Titan Books. Set between Alien and Aliens, the book chronicles Ellen Ripley's involvement in a Xenomorph outbreak on the planet LV-178 and the mining vessel in orbit above it. The survivors' attempts to escape the creatures are further complicated by Ash, whose A.I. consciousness has survived inside Narcissus, the shuttle that brought Ripley to them.

Hrabě Drakula is a Czechoslovakian 1971 black and white TV film adaptation of Bram Stoker's original novel Dracula.

<i>Caliban</i> (comic book series) 2014 comic books by Garth Ennis

Caliban is a creator-owned comic book series, blending the science fiction and horror genres. The series was created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Facundo Percio, and published by Avatar Press as a seven-issue limited series in 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Groves, Don (4 June 2018). "Justin Dix raises hell in 'Blood Vessel'". If Magazine . Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  2. ↑ Foutch, Haleigh (15 June 2020). "Exclusive 'Blood Vessel' Trailer Sets Sail with Vampires on an Abandoned Nazi Ship". Collider. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "2019 Schedule". FilmQuest. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "Utah Blood Vessel World Premiere". Mark Diaco. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. ↑ Musnicky, Sarah (16 June 2020). "[News] Vampire Terror Blood Vessel Arrives on VOD on July 21". Nightmarish Conjurings. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  6. ↑ Herbert, Jeremy (5 September 2019). "FilmQuest Review: Blood Vessel (2019)". Screen Fervor. Retrieved 13 July 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.