Paranoia and the desire to escape for a few days are like fire and water when a black trio head to a lake in writer/director Timothy Covell’s new rural noir BLOOD CONSCIOUS.
Kevin (Oghenero Gbaje), his older sister, Brittney (DeShawn White) and her fiancé, Tony (Lenny Thomas) , set off to the siblings’ parents’ lakeside cottage where they hope to have a great time and catch up as families do.
However, when Kevin discovers the bodies of the parents in the surrounding acreage along with other bodies seemingly blown away, things take a turn for the worse, even more so when an armed man threatens them with a shotgun and takes away their mobile phones before driving off, claiming that the victims were in fact demons in disguise.
The situation is clearly accelerating beyond what they wished and it isn’t long before paranoia and suspicions about not only the armed man, but other people who they encounter, leading to bigger questions and concerns….
Firmly in the ever-growing influence of diversity and the success of GET OUT, BLOOD CONSCIOUS takes a simple concept, which the director has said is a ‘what if?’ idea built on the traditional stalk-and-slash style, that taps into the simplicity of suspense in single-location works like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976).
Although there are moments of specific violence in the film, it is Covell’s use of shadow and silence, in similar manner to John Krasinski’s A QUIET PLACE, that yield the bigger dividends. Good performances all around heighten the conflict. A vintage-style usage of the Academy (1.33:1) ratio takes this film to an even more retro reflective place earlier than the likes of FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) were in.
Whilst race is very much at the heart of this film, one hopes that the context of films like this in future becomes more about embracing these characters irrespective of their ethnic background and to treat them as equally and respectfully. Ultimately, it is about telling a story efficiently and involving with characters we care about.
BLOOD CONSCIOUS is such a tale, breathing fresh ideas and life into a well-worn genre concept.
BLOOD CONSCIOUS – released from August 20th, 2021 -opening in the following Cities:
International Horror & Sci-fi Film Festival – Phoenix, AZ
Popcorn Frights Film Festival – Miami, FL
Gateway Film Center – Columbus, OH
Screenland Cinemas – Kansas City, MO
FilmBar – Phoenix, AZ
Facets Cinematheque – Chicago, IL
Little Theater – Rochester, NY
Screening Room Cinema & Cafe – Amherst, NY
