Here for Blood – TADFF 2022
October 19 to October 23, 2022
Content Advisory: Excessive or gratuitous violence
A professional wrestler babysitting in place of his girlfriend has to deal with a demonic cult in Here for Blood. Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) has to study for an exam, so she asks her pro-wrestler boyfriend, Tom O’Bannon (Shawn Roberts), to go in her place to babysit Grace (Maya Misaljevic) for yuppie couple Barb (Tara Spencer-Nairn) and Gil (Michael Therriault). However, it isn’t long until Tom has to protect Grace from a demon-worshiping cult led by The Jackyl (Glen Grant), who want both Grace and Phoebe as offerings to the Eternal Ones.
Here for Blood is a horror-comedy directed by Daniel Turres and starring Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: Afterlife) as pro-wrestler turned demon-killer Tom O’Bannon. Tom’s babysitting job is interrupted by the arrival of a masked cult with many of the members played by indie pro-wrestlers such as Channing Decker and Marc-André Boulanger. Tom has to protect Grace and his girlfriend Phoebe while dealing with demon-possessed cult members, zombified victims, and a hungry, talking severed head voiced by Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider.
As a very apparent homage to The Evil Dead, at the very least, it can be said that Here for Blood delivers on its title with practical gore effects by The Butcher Shop FX studio. While the film’s kills are quite satisfying, I also felt that Here for Blood dabbled a bit into style-over-substance territory with what is ultimately a bare-bones plot. However, Here for Blood is still a major crowd-pleaser and is worth seeing if only for the Dee Snider-voiced skull puppet screaming, “Feed Me!”
Trailer for Here for Blood – TADFF 2022
