Books of Blood

 


Name: Books of Blood

Directed By: Brannon Braga 

Subgenre: Anthology

Series: Spooktober 2020 entry #9; review #71

Review: Clive Barker's (Of Hellraiser and Candyman fame, among others) Books of Blood is an anthology film with 3 stories blending together into a singularly uninteresting narrative. While each of the individual stories have their own character and unique ideas, they're executed in the most boring way conceivable. There are three tales in the film, each weaving together but in a manner that doesn't really add much to the overall execution beyond being able to say "neat" at the connections once they're made. Of the three tales, only one was actually adapted from Barker's anthology of short stories, The Book of Blood, which became the second segment (Miles). Unsurprisingly, it's the most interesting and, of course, is also the shortest. Apparently Barker had been conceiving of the Jenna segment for some time prior to this adaptation, which is...disappointing to say the least. Barring a few mildly engaging scenes, there's nothing really of value here that wasn't already touched on in the equally messy but better executed Book of Blood (2009). Worse yet, the acting and cinematography feels like Books of Blood should have aired as a SyFi channel original and not an aggressively marketed Hulu exclusive. And to pour some extra salt in the wounds, evidently the project was originally slated to be an anthology series but, due to everyone's favorite pandemic, the disparate bits had to be stitched together into the Frankenstein's Monster we have here in order to recoup some losses. Oh, what could have been. Point is, skip this one and go (re)watch the 2009 adaptation--and then let me know which, if any, you prefer!




Overall Score: 1.5 out of 5 Chads mourning the loss of what could have been. Did Books of Blood scare you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

IMDB: Here

How to Watch: Books of Blood is available on these platforms.


Official Trailer



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