Bleed with Me Review: Shudder’s Original Is a Stiff, Sluggish Descent Into Bloodthirsty Madness
The ever-growing gem of a streaming platform, Shudder, has given us some great platform-exclusive horror flicks, including the recent absconding thriller The Boy Behind The Door, which is worth your look for the nail-biting tension. More often than not, anything labelled a “Shudder Original” is lovely solid. It angers me to contend they have a rare miss. Their new limited feature from writer/director Amelia Moses, Bleed With Me, is a stiff and sluggish attempt at an atmospheric downfall into bloodthirsty madness. What empties with a favourable grim moodiness and striking, the secluded setting becomes a slog through slow-burn horror conferences while mediocre actors behind sterile characters disregard to add any odd life.
Moses broke out with 2020 vampire horror Bloodthirsty and is still clearly thirsty for blood, refunding with a quick follow-up that also features blood pertinently in the film and record. It follows a shy and paranoid young woman along with her secluded woodsy cabin getaway where she’s third-wheeling with an unlikeable couple who don’t seem to even care for her. That’s an age-old horror mixture for hellish atmosphere, memorably weird junctures, and a spooky climax. Bleed With Me might profit from having some of that.
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The film opens with obligatory, beautiful shots of winding snowy hills and woods. Rowan (Lee Marshall) is travelling with her coworker Emily (Lauren Beatty) and Emily’s boyfriend Brendan (Arias Tyros) for a getaway to a cabin owned by Emily’s family. Throughout their travels, a few facts become evident: Rowan is depressed and tense. Shy and consistently not feeling well. She doesn’t speak much but does hear her anxious thoughts loudly. It also becomes clear she’s in an unfortunate third-wheeling situation with Emily and Brendan, who are horny for each other and have the personalities of mulch.
Initially, Brendan hardly even speaks to Rowan – a good co-worker friend of his girlfriend who surely they must have invited along. It takes until they all arrive at the cabin for Brendan to ask, “How do you two know each other again?”
Emily does not present herself as a friend to Rowan and frequently gets hot and heavy with her boyfriend in front of her. Brendan eventually warms up a little to Rowan and begins conversing with her more, which Emily pays attention to with jealous looks.
At one point Rowan cuts herself before Emily willingly sucks the blood from her thumb.
The chemistry between Rowan and the couple feels even less personal as time moves. She spends quite a bit of time alone in an attic looking at photos. Rowan’s anxiety heightens to the point of daily and nightly nightmarish visions. Soon her paranoid visions start showing up in reality.