Director: Andrew Bell
Release date: 2024
Contains spoilers
I saw this at Grimmfest 2024 and offered a First Impression last year. Now it’s made its way to streaming I felt it was time to turn a reviewing eye to it.
Bleeding is, without doubt, a film about drugs and the opioid crisis in the States. The opening intertitle states, “BLOOD is a deadly and addictive opioid, harvested from the fluids of infected persons. Since its introduction, drug related deaths have increased over 400% in 15-19 year old demographics. DUST, a euphoria-producing stimulant, is believed to be a derivative.
“If you witness an overdose, do not engage. Infection and reanimation are imminent.”
This, of course, sets the basic premise well and we are in a world where there is a cross between science (it is stated that countries such as Canada are treating the phenomena as a disease and searching for a cure) and the supernatural (infection reanimates the dead). It is also not the first vehicle to introduce vampires as the drug – be it the blood itself or their ashes.
The opening sees a drug producer who has kept a vampire locked down and is harvesting their blood. A user (we assume) has broken in but is overpowered and left for dead – the spilt blood retrieved as much as possible. Cooking it on a stove is not, we discover later, the way that dust is commonly made. Elsewhere Eric (John R. Howley) climbs out of a house window. He is chased by the owner. Eric has a habit of breaking and entering, but he doesn’t take anything.
Getting home he smokes some drugs and then finds his mother zonked out – she heavily uses a prescription drug later described as suicide pills and the inference is it is due to the fact that Eric’s older brother, Markus (Josh Krol), overdosed on blood and turned and was then terminated. Eric helps himself to some of her prescription pills (he later trades them for marijuana). He then leaves and goes to visit his cousin Sean (Jasper Jones).
Before he sees Sean, he has to get past his Uncle Hank (Jay Dunn). Hank is a cop and his drug of choice is alcohol; he is already drinking despite the early hour. He shows Eric bodycam footage of a raid on a vampire, and we see the reaction to sunlight. It is inferred that Hank’s drinking is due to the pressures of the job – not least as it is inferred later that Hank was the cop who terminated the turning Markus.
Upstairs Sean has snorted dust and we see his reaction. Eric wants to buy pot but is told not to smoke it in the room – he ignores this and Hank smells it and heads upstairs. Sean tries to hide the big pack of dust he has but Hank finds it and scatters the drug to the wind, causing an angry reaction, a smashed window and the lads running off. Sean got the drug from Dustin (Andrew Bell) and owes him a couple of grand for it and so they head for a holiday lake house to lay low but discover it has a vampire held in there. Sean stabs her neck and drinks from the source, almost overdosing, and Eric recognises her as Sara (Tori Wong) and, saying her name, reaches her and discovers the turned are not the senseless monsters supposed.
It is worth noting that Sara prevents Sean from turning as his body needs vitamin D to fight the infection and this ties, of course, with the reaction to sunlight once turned. We discover that she was a runaway, made vulnerable by using drugs and deliberately injected to cause an overdose and make her a source of blood. We also discover that, when a vampire is dry (all their blood has been harvested and not replenished) they will set them alight and that is how dust is made.
All the characters in this are (at the very least) flawed in one way or another, many are addicted (though some are addicted to legal substances). The vampire is both addicted to human blood and is the font of the drugs the human addicts are using. The drug messaging is pretty on the nose but works for that. The primary performances are excellent, special mention to John R. Howley who holds the film together. The photography is pretty dark and bleak but that fits a story that is dark and bleak. There isn’t a feel-good aspect to this film, it treads through the dark underbelly of society with deliberate purpose. Not a good time, but a good film. 7 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Demand @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK
 |
| cooking the blood |
This, of course, sets the basic premise well and we are in a world where there is a cross between science (it is stated that countries such as Canada are treating the phenomena as a disease and searching for a cure) and the supernatural (infection reanimates the dead). It is also not the first vehicle to introduce vampires as the drug – be it the blood itself or their ashes.
 |
| John R. Howley as Eric |
The opening sees a drug producer who has kept a vampire locked down and is harvesting their blood. A user (we assume) has broken in but is overpowered and left for dead – the spilt blood retrieved as much as possible. Cooking it on a stove is not, we discover later, the way that dust is commonly made. Elsewhere Eric (John R. Howley) climbs out of a house window. He is chased by the owner. Eric has a habit of breaking and entering, but he doesn’t take anything.
 |
| Jasper Jones as Sean |
Getting home he smokes some drugs and then finds his mother zonked out – she heavily uses a prescription drug later described as suicide pills and the inference is it is due to the fact that Eric’s older brother, Markus (Josh Krol), overdosed on blood and turned and was then terminated. Eric helps himself to some of her prescription pills (he later trades them for marijuana). He then leaves and goes to visit his cousin Sean (Jasper Jones).
 |
| reaction to sunlight |
Before he sees Sean, he has to get past his Uncle Hank (Jay Dunn). Hank is a cop and his drug of choice is alcohol; he is already drinking despite the early hour. He shows Eric bodycam footage of a raid on a vampire, and we see the reaction to sunlight. It is inferred that Hank’s drinking is due to the pressures of the job – not least as it is inferred later that Hank was the cop who terminated the turning Markus.
 |
| scattering the dust |
Upstairs Sean has snorted dust and we see his reaction. Eric wants to buy pot but is told not to smoke it in the room – he ignores this and Hank smells it and heads upstairs. Sean tries to hide the big pack of dust he has but Hank finds it and scatters the drug to the wind, causing an angry reaction, a smashed window and the lads running off. Sean got the drug from Dustin (Andrew Bell) and owes him a couple of grand for it and so they head for a holiday lake house to lay low but discover it has a vampire held in there. Sean stabs her neck and drinks from the source, almost overdosing, and Eric recognises her as Sara (Tori Wong) and, saying her name, reaches her and discovers the turned are not the senseless monsters supposed.
 |
| Sara in vamp mode |
It is worth noting that Sara prevents Sean from turning as his body needs vitamin D to fight the infection and this ties, of course, with the reaction to sunlight once turned. We discover that she was a runaway, made vulnerable by using drugs and deliberately injected to cause an overdose and make her a source of blood. We also discover that, when a vampire is dry (all their blood has been harvested and not replenished) they will set them alight and that is how dust is made.
 |
| feeding |
All the characters in this are (at the very least) flawed in one way or another, many are addicted (though some are addicted to legal substances). The vampire is both addicted to human blood and is the font of the drugs the human addicts are using. The drug messaging is pretty on the nose but works for that. The primary performances are excellent, special mention to John R. Howley who holds the film together. The photography is pretty dark and bleak but that fits a story that is dark and bleak. There isn’t a feel-good aspect to this film, it treads through the dark underbelly of society with deliberate purpose. Not a good time, but a good film. 7 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Demand @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK
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