Table of Contents
Movie of the Day: Blood on the Bleachers
Today’s movie is one that I supported during its crowdfunding campaign! I picked the Blu-ray perk, as usual, but I’ve been waiting for it to come out on streaming before writing a review. That time is now, so here are my thoughts about Blood on the Bleachers.
Blood on the Bleachers begins in a high school where we witness a murder at the end of a series of killings perpetrated by someone in a mask. One year later, the case is still open. The murders have stopped, but the killer was never identified. Students in a forensic psychology class at the same high school are given an assignment to come up with a criminal profile for the murderer. Among the students is Hannah (Arianna Harris) who takes the assignment very seriously. But as Hannah works on the project, the murders begin again. Now Hannah, her friends, and the school faculty are all in danger of falling to the blade of a masked maniac, a maniac who could be any one of them.
The crowdfunding campaign promised a movie in the style of Scream, and I definitely got some Scream vibes throughout. Blood on the Bleachers is a whodunit slasher like Scream, but there are similarities beyond just that. There’s a strong focus on Hannah’s relationships (and certain lack of relationships) with her friends and classmates. It’s complicated, naturally, and there are clues and red herrings dropped for multiple people close to Hannah who might be the killer. I was a little surprised with how much is revealed about a certain character fairly early in the story, but the early reveal doesn’t impact the mystery in a negative way. It absolutely pulls the focus towards someone, but if you’re a fan of murder mysteries then you’ll know that not everything is always as it seems on the surface. Though sometimes it is. But maybe it isn’t this time. What I’m saying is, you’ll have a few prime suspects, but there’s enough intrigue to keep the mystery alive until late in the story.
I was also reminded of Scream during the finale. The killer reveals in Scream have a very recognizable tone when it comes to how the killer (or killers) acts once their mask is off. I’m not always the biggest fan of that tone, but it really depends on the performance of the actor in the moment. In Blood on the Bleachers, I think the killer (or killers) did a very good job conveying madness without crossing over into parody. I can’t praise the actor (or actors) by name because of spoilers, but once you watch the movie you’ll know who I mean.
I also have to praise the micro-budget blood and gore used throughout Blood on the Bleachers. It feels very old-school, and I mean that in a good way. When the guts come out, they look a little iffy, but I appreciate that they’re there. The stabbing and blood though, that’s very well done. Don’t expect buckets of blood, but do expect a proper amount of splatter for a micro-budget movie.
So yes, I enjoyed Blood on the Bleachers. I will say though, it’s too long. Two hours is too long for a movie like this. Had the story been more complex and the mystery more intricate, I could understand the length. But the same mystery could have been explored just as much at ninety minutes or under, and that shorter time would have helped the pacing. At times it felt like the story was repeating ideas that were already sufficiently conveyed, and at other times it felt like it lingered too long on moments and scenes that didn’t add much to the overall experience.
Star Rating: 3 out of 5
Blood on the Bleachers is a fun slasher for fans of micro-budget charm and retro-inspired thrills. There are some really nice chase and kill scenes (one near a football field stands out to me as probably the best), and the main characters are all engaging. You can rent Blood on the Bleachers digitally through Amazon Prime Video. If you want a Blu-ray instead, they’re available through the Cut 2 the Chase Entertainment web site.
In the News
- Alberto Vázquez, writer and director of the excellent animated film Unicorn Wars, will premiere his newest film at Fantastic Fest. Titled Decorado, the movie is a surreal journey for a middle-aged mouse having an existential crisis. There is currently no general release date for North America, but we’ll post it when we find out.
- Idris Elba will star in a film adaptation of Neil LaBute’s play This is How It Goes. The story is a psychological thriller about a married couple who rent a room to a high school acquaintance who ends up throwing their lives into emotional turmoil. (Variety)
- Eli Roth has signed a merchandising deal with BlackCraft Cult to create limited-edition merchandise for projects from his media company The Horror Section. The first project BlackCraft will tackle is the recently-in-theaters film Jimmy & Stiggs. (Variety)
Birthdays
Zackary Arthur was born on September 12th, 2006. Zackary starred in all three seasons of the Chucky TV series as Jake Wheeler, the teenager who unfortunately bought Chucky from a yard sale and could never get rid of the killer doll. Zackary was also in the horror film Mom and Dad (2017) with Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage.
More birthdays on September 12th:
- Joe Pantoliano (1951) – The Final Terror (1983), Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)
- Sydney Sweeney (1997) – Spiders (2013), Immaculate (2024)
- Scotty Landes (1981) – writer of Ma (2019)
Events on This Day
The Game came out in theaters on September 12th, 1997. David Fincher had initially intended to direct The Game before Seven, but it turned out better having the order switched. The success of Seven allowed The Game to have a bigger budget which met the needs of the story Fincher wanted to tell.
Cabin Fever was released in North American theaters on September 12th, 2003. It had made its festival premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival almost exactly a year prior on September 14th, 2002. However, the script had been sitting around for years prior to that. Eli Roth and friend Randy Pearlstein wrote the script in the mid-90s, but they couldn’t find a studio interested in making it. Eli Roth has said that it took six years to raise the money to finally begin production.
More movies released on September 12th:
- The Bad Seed (1956)
- Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (video, 1995)
- Bloody Murder (video, 2000)
- Are You Scared? (video, 2006)
