dir. Daniel Turres

When his girlfriend Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) is swamped with revision for her college exams, amateur wrestler Tom O’Bannon (Shawn Roberts) agrees to cover her babysitting job for a wealthy family. Stuck in an isolated home with a child who just wants to play video games, Tom soon realises that something is amiss as mysterious masked figures begin to show up with wicked intentions.

From director Daniel Turres, this over-the-top horror comedy is far better than it has any right to be. The set-up may seem unoriginal with its predictable home invasion story of a babysitter being besieged by crazed killers: however the main difference here is that the house doesn’t contain a young Jamie Lee Curtis or Carol Kane, but a grown man with bulging biceps and a taste for violence. This muscle man is played by none other than Shawn Roberts, who Resident Evil fans may recognise as Albert Wesker from Paul W.S. Anderson’s long-running franchise, and Roberts is certainly on top form, his performance rife with comedic timing and awkward ‘strong-man-turned-caregiver’ vibes, which works well as he navigates elaborate fight sequences and well-choreographed gore. 

And what gore there is, with Here for Blood more than living up to its name with more splatter than you can shake a corpse at. The special effects are particularly impressive, curated by The Butcher Shop FX Studio, who have shared a behind the scenes glimpse on their YouTube channel of some of the filming process. The gore-to-kill ratio is turned up to eleven for the majority of murders, of which – no spoilers here – there is a surprising abundance given the fact that the story kicks off with just two people in a house. And as the film slices into its final act, audiences will be left wondering how on Earth they arrived at a denouement with a body count to rival some of the classic slashers. 

With its mix of silliness and cool action Here for Blood won’t be for everyone, but for those within the target audience it hits the nail/intruder squarely on the head. Anyone who enjoys wrestling, nonsensical narratives or oddball tomfoolery should certainly be happy. 

© Iona Smith

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