Painted in Blood – review

Director: Aaron Mirtes

Release date: 2022

Contains spoilers

I was torn as to whether to review this as a vampire film or honourably mention it. It isn’t a typical vampire film, by any stretch. The creature (Dylan A. Young) seems demonic almost but, at the same time, was reminiscent of Orlok (albeit an eyeless Orlok), there is a blood motif and the stealing of souls. There is a connection in the genre between vampirism and artists – be it the Vampire by Jan Naruda whose sketches died, or painting through a medium of blood as in the film Drawing Blood or even the vampirism causing the artist to tap into their inner genius as happened in Bliss.

It is also a budget film that absolutely rails against its humble origin with an intriguing, interesting story; offering a dark, atmospheric film and a mighty fine central performance that hands the viewer a satisfying, unusual filmic experience.

Deiondre Teagle as Malik

Malik (Deiondre Teagle) wakes in his studio, which is in the garage, and he is late. After his housemate, Carson (Brad Belemjian), runs some juvenile interference he manages to get ready and get to work but he is sacked for repeated tardiness. This leaves him financially impoverished as he barely sells his landscapes (an artform he specialises in because they are commercial). Carson mentions that a local community gallery is due to show a valuable painting and they may be looking for security – a job he has done in the past.

Deborah Seidel as Trisha

He goes there and the gallery curator, Trisha (Deborah Seidel), admits they could do with someone – they normally rely on cameras outside the building but this is a piece that was thought lost, is on tour and she managed to get it. It is called The Dead Speak Again, something said by the original artist before he killed himself. She gives Malik the job. That night he hears noises in the gallery (an old building and he was warned that it creaked) but the noises seem to come where the painting is stored. He hears a banging from its crate and opens it, becoming mesmerised and sitting in front of it.

the painting

Come the morning, Trisha gets there early to hang the painting and Malik just about gets the crate resealed so she doesn't know he had opened it. Once hung we see that the painting is dominated by a blackness that, when looking closer seems to be a demonic face. The painting haunts Malik, whose own work becomes influenced by it. Plus he hears a voice, mocking at first, and the creature seems to be able to leave the canvas and walk in our world. Soon Malik is its apprentice and his first lesson is that all painting should seem as though it is painted in his own blood – something he literally does. So we have the painting in blood but why have I gone down a vampiric line?

Malik's new style

The creature – be it in the canvas or, indeed, in its own place (a pocket dimension, it might be argued, where the view is of the universe) is the repository of, what Simon Bacon calls, undead memory. The creature brings out the inner genius of the artist it works with, through pain, to the point where it drives the artist to suicide and the suicide paints a canvas in the artist’s lifeblood, stealing their spirit and embedding it in a portrait that it hangs in its own place. So, through blood, it steals the soul (whether it then feeds itself on the soul or is nourished by the art is not explored) and captures the memory of the artist and their art forever, but represses it by taking it to its own place. Suicide is, of course, also something that the genre is associated with.

the gallery of artists

You might think this tenuous, I think this worked through that lens very well and, beyond anything else, it is a film that works well within its own budget with the creature seen in shadow most of the time. However, the reason the film works so very well is down, in great part, to Deiondre Teagle who offers a powerful performance as Malik. His tortured artistry is believable and his performance very natural and strong enough to bear the weight of the film. This is a great little indie 7.5 out of 10. The film has been reviewed from a provided screener.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK