Review: Blood Fest (2018)
Rooster Teeth may not have the best track record when it comes to feature filmmaking. After all, their first two movies were Lazer Team and Lazer Team 2. But by broadening their target audience, they might just succeed with their latest feature, Blood Fes
+ Recommended - NR, Comedy Horror
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Rooster Teeth may not have the best track record when it comes to feature filmmaking. After all, their first two movies were Lazer Team and Lazer Team 2. But by broadening their target audience, they might just succeed with their latest feature, Blood Fest; a satirical, horror comedy made by horror lovers, for horror lovers. Check it out in theatres on August 31st!
The festival of the summer is here! All of the biggest names in horror and their fans flock to Blood Fest 2018. It's a festival that will bring the nightmares everyone has seen on screen to a stage for all experience in person. Dax and his friends gain entry into the festival, but when the showrunner reveals to everyone that he has plans to make a real life horror movie, they must put their horror knowledge to use and escape their one true fate: death. Hopefully they can save Zachery Levi, who's leading the Karaoke festivities, along the way too.With an estimated budget of $1 million, it's hard to make any theatrical feature flawless. There are many issues, specifically with dialogue, special effects, and some questionable bits of acting. But when did general audiences lose their suspense of disbelief, which is crucial to any film or any type of theatrics, ever? More times than not, jokes are successful and do invoke some type of reaction. Our screening was small, but people were engaging with the film; some yelling at the characters and others mentioning how cool certain sequences were; many of these scenes were throwbacks to older genre staples.
Blood Fest's main trio of characters are likable, with additional characters adding little flare, but hosting some very pleasing death scenes. Our main character, Dax, is played by Robbie Kay (Once Upon a Time, 2013-2018), whose love for the genre may end up getting his friends brutally murdered. His friends, Sam and Krill, played by Seychelle Gabriel (The Spirit, 2008) and Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming), respectively. If you loved Batalon as Ned in the latest Spider-Man, you'll enjoy his presence here; bringing the same comedic charm to a horror movie. Although, his talent for acting is underused and Krill really isn't given much to do. The final villain reveal is disappointing, as I felt severely underwhelmed; you could predict this happening from the very beginning in addition to the sub-par acting.
While this may not be a memorable movie-going experience, Blood Fest would be an enjoyable film to play at a Halloween party. It's not too serious, and if you're a lover of the genre, you'll notice the different Easter eggs writer-director Owen Egerton has carefully crafted throughout; some revolve around visual cues, and others are noticeable in the way each scene is blocked. According to a close source, who loves Rooster Teeth content, Blood Fest is the best feature film that they have to date. If you love this studio, then you'll enjoy this movie.