Bleeding is the feature-length debut of writer/director Andrew Bell. The film follows cousins Eric (John R. Howley) and Sean (Jasper Jones), whose bond is cemented by their shared terrible home lives rather than genuine friendship. Eric’s mom has schizophrenia and has been beside herself since her older son succumbed to his addiction and turned into a vampire. See, “Dust” is a potent drug created from the blood of vampires. Overdosing causes one to turn into a lethargic being, only waking to consume another hit, which in this case are people.
Eric (John R. Howley) and Sean (Jasper Jones) flee their troubled home lives in Bleeding, seeking refuge in the forest after a violent confrontation.
“…the place isn’t as empty as the cousins believe, as they soon find Sara unconscious in one of the rooms.”
Sean’s father, Hank (Jay Dunn), is a cop, but that doesn’t stop him from abusing his family members. To cope, Sean turned to drugs and now plans to sell some “Dust” to get the money needed to escape. Unfortunately, his stash is discovered by Hank, so Sean and Eric flee into the woods. They soon find themselves at an abandoned house, which they break into to assess their options. Unfortunately, the place isn’t as empty as the cousins believe, as they soon find Sara (Tori Wong) unconscious in one of the rooms. Why is she there alone? Is she a vampire just waiting to consume her next victim?
Bleeding has a lot of outstanding aspects, but let’s get this out of the way now. The world-building is simply awful. This whole vampire angle ultimately means nothing. The same outcome would result from having the drug of choice be Tide pods that turn people violent after ingesting a certain amount. The origin of vampirism in this world is not explored, leaving a host of unanswered questions. The biggest of all is: who discovered that “dust” could be made from vampire blood and how? Also, how did that person survive a vampire encounter if they weren’t one already? Granted, none of this is the story’s focus, but why introduce a semi-supernatural element just to leave it largely unexplored when almost any other drug, even a fictional one with a more grounded backstory, could do just as well? This thought lingers in the back of the mind, preventing audiences from fully engaging with the picture. It certainly doesn’t help that vampirism as addiction has been so thoroughly explored in titles that use the vampire angle to chilling effect, such as Thirst, Daybreakers, The Hunger, and Habit.
"…does not offer easy answers..."
