THE 12 NIGHTS OF HALLOWEEN: #12 - Blood Vessel (2019)

 I am going to press pause on the countdown of the 100 Best War Movies to do a special Halloween rundown. Recently, I watched a few more war horror movies to go along with the ones I had already seen. I ended up with a total of 30. I have ranked the top 12 for what I am calling the 12 Nights of Halloween. Use it as recommendations on films to watch to prepare for the big day. I have to concede that I am not a big horror movie fan, so war horror movies are not high on my list of subgenres. Many of the 30 movies are not really war movies. I have judged them as horror movies, not war movies. I am sure there will be disagreements with my opinions from horror fans. They tend to overlook ridiculous developments while I don't. With that said, here we go. 

12.  Blood Vessel  (2019)

            “Blood Vessel” is an Australian war horror film directed and co-written by Justin Dix. It is part of the subsubgenre of Nazi war horror movies. As though the Nazis weren’t horrible enough. It takes place near the end of the war in Europe. A motley boatload of survivors luck into a deserted German ship. I didn’t say it was good luck. For those of you who are fans of Robert Taylor of “Longmire”, don’t get too attached to his character. One down, six to go. The six are a mix. Sinclair (Nathan Phillips) is an Aussie soldier. Bigelow is the asshole who has dead meat tattooed on his forehead. Faraday is the nerdy British codebreaker who insists he be saved for the good of the war effort. Jackson is the black cook who deserves better than being the only black in a horror movie. Teplov (Alex Cooke) is a Russian sniper. There’s no explanation what he is doing in the lifeboat. And lastly, nurse Jane (Alyssa Sutherland of “Vikings”) to bring the testosterone level down.

            The ship seems deserted with plenty of clues that something horrific happened on board. There are clues that it is occult related. Those damn Nazis, always trying to cheat to win. They discover a girl named Mya. She ain’t Newt. The asshole discovers a coffin that he opens, of course. In a horror movie trope, greed leads to ghouls. The Patriarch is pretty scary. And he has a mate! Toplev uses his knowledge of Russian folk tales to identify the pair as shape-shifting vampires. All the humans have to do is survive a ship full of vampires and zombies. Piece of cake.

            “Blood Vessel” is an undisputed great title for a horror on ship movie. Obviously, “Death Ship” and “Ship of the Dead” were already taken. It’s no wonder horror movie makers like the claustrophobic and inescapable nature of ships and subs. This movie is a cut above the others because of the acting. It’s good despite losing the best actor early. The characters are all stereotypes, but not caricatures. Not that you can’t wait to see some of them die. And it’s not like you have to worry about them surviving. The movie is more creepy and suspenseful than scary. There are no jump scares. It is gory. The monster effects are not impressive. Being a low budget film, we get low budget effects.

            Typical of a horror movie, we are left pondering the aftermath of the conclusion. It is unclear if the incident changes the outcome of the war. Hopefully there is a sequel. They’ll need a new cast. Well, almost.

            It can be seen on Tubi.

GRADE  =  B-