The Bloodhound

Summary

I think it would be safe to say that 2020 was a strange year for everyone. A pandemic was raging and at the time I was busy doing everything I could to help keep our family business alive. I also had a lot of time with my wife and two boys due to school cancellations and quarantines. I watched a lot of movies during that time, although on many days I did not have the mental fortitude to write about them because of the abnormal amount of stress that weighed on me at that time. Reading books at first went to the wayside, but as the world began to get back to normal after the initial lockdown, I began reading again. Seeing that Shout! Factory was re-releasing a box set of Vincent Price films, I began devouring stories from the great Edgar Allan Poe. It was definitely a strange time to read Masque of the Red Death, but I also reread many of his other stories including The Fall of the House of Usher. It is in my opinion one of Poe’s best works, and has been ripe for adaptation into films over the years. 2020 was one of the hardest years for young filmmakers due to the cancellation of numerous festivals and many of the larger festivals moving into the digital realm for their events. Arrow Video acquired the rights to the film The Bloodhound during that strange time. The Bloodhound is an adaptation and modernization of The Fall of the House of Usher from first time film director Patrick Picard. Recently I viewed the film to see how it compared to the story by Poe.

Francis (Liam Aiken) is invited to the home of his wealthy friend Jean Paul Luret (Joe Adler.) Due to his lack of funds and prospects, Francis accepts the invitation. Jean Paul lives in an upscale home with his sister Vivian (Annalise Basso.) Their family has been plagued by mental illness and physical frailty. Vivian for the most part is secluded to her room because she is fairly deranged. As Francis lives in their home with them, he experiences the madness of their secluded lives.

The Bloodhound follows the original story by Poe pretty closely. The updates to modernize the tale are fairly simple. Poe’s story took place in a dilapidated mansion, The Bloodhound takes place in a modern house in California, for example. Instead of having a tomb in the house, the house contains a vault. I did not have any issue with any of these updates which for the most part were clever – even if a dilapidated mansion seems more intimidating and scary to me than a home built in the Seventies with stylish furnishings. I want to give credit where it is due on the updates employed by the writer, which for the most part work.

The film takes its name from a story told by Jean Paul regarding a man with features of a bloodhound. The man wears a suit and slinks from the river into the homes of people and his presence makes those people reach a point of clarity before he moves on to another home. This idea is somewhat nonsensical, but it gives the film an added layer to entertain and an edge that would not be there without its inclusion. That said, this story also amounts to basically nothing for the viewer because it never becomes fully clear what purpose the story serves, so it has issues.

Here is the unfortunate part: the film, despite its very brief 72 minute running time, feels extremely slow. The story itself by Poe was condensed and effective. Unlike adaptations of the story, like the excellent Roger Corman adaptation with Vincent Price, the film does not really add anything to the story that helps to reach a normal runtime for a film. The camera inexplicably fixates on characters and rooms for long periods of silence. This type of pause can be used effectively if there is  a sufficient reason to feel scared, but in this case, it felt like the filmmaker was grasping at straws for how to extend his film’s runtime. 

I don’t like to speak overly negative about films that people put hard work into. I would prefer to just say that in this case, I was not left enthused by the film because of its pacing. There are plenty of aspects of the film that are well done. The two male leads in the film are both capable. The cinematography is pretty well composed. I would gladly check out the next film by first time director Patrick Picard, I just don’t have any urge to revisit The Bloodhound.

Video

Arrow Video have released The Bloodhound with a sharp looking transfer from the digitally shot negative. Shot in 1.66:1, the film features fairly striking cinematography by Jake Magee. The imagery is well composed. The film’s fans will be more than satisfied with how the film looks on Blu-ray.

Audio

The Bloodhound is a dialogue driven film that is silent for a decent amount of time. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track replicates the original sound design well and how it was intended. There is not much to this track, but fans will find it does its job.

Supplements:

• Audio commentary by director Patrick Picard and editor David Scorca
• Four experimental short films by director Patrick Picard: bad dream, the muffled hammerfall in action, the mosaic code and wiggleworm
• On the Trail of The Bloodhound: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Chiller – exclusive 45-minute making-of featurette

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 3/5

The Bloodhound is an interesting film that is definitely a good first attempt for first time director and writer Patrick Picard. Unfortunately, the movie did not work for me due to its very purposefully slow pace. I did not feel the slowed pace served the plot. I had trouble deciding if this choice was in order to make the sense of dread more palpable, or if it was a choice that was made out of necessity to help pad the screen time. I do not want to be overly critical, but this decision kept me from enjoying the film. I still admire the attempt to update Poe’s work for our times. Arrow Video has done a great job on this release with a stellar transfer and well appointed supplements. The score reflects the great job put into the release by Arrow, and my overall dissatisfaction with the film itself.