The titular, haunting creature is an entity that recurs in JP’s nightmares. He is a man in jeans and a leather jacket whose head is covered with a piece of cloth. He moves by crawling on the ground. JP says you can feel that beneath the fabric over his head, his face is half dog and half pig. The creature moves through sewers and rivers, entering houses and hiding in the closets. This demonic being feeds on the fear of the people inside, and when they are mentally broken, he moves on to another household.
Its dreadful presence is felt from the very beginning of The Bloodhound, but it is only after JP describes him that the viewer realizes the source of the tension and fear in the film and starts to empathize with the characters. The Bloodhound is the symbol of our fear of loneliness. Unlike other monsters from horror films, this creature does not kill or even hurt its victims. It just watches silently, waiting until its victims lose their minds. Loneliness does exactly the same thing. It does not kill us; it only turns our brains against us and breaks our spirits.
“…the chilling music composed mainly of stringed instruments, add an unsettling thrill…”
Most of us have experienced anxiety in the middle of the night, the feeling that something is crawling under our bed or watching us through the half-open door of the closet. No matter how hard we try to convince the conscious part of our mind that we are too old for such childish concepts, it still haunts us every now and then. This fear is the main focus of The Bloodhound, and Patrick Picard has done an excellent job portraying it. The film relies heavily on full shots and fade-outs to show the reclusion of the manor and the solitude of the people inside it. These techniques, along with the chilling music composed mainly of stringed instruments, add an unsettling thrill to the psychological horror film.
As previously mentioned, The Bloodhound is a disturbing experience, but in a good way. It reminds us that no matter how wealthy or successful we are, we still need our friends. We need someone to share our joys and fears with, and if we neglect this primal need, it will turn into a monster that devours our life. The film addresses the greatest pain of modern society, and it just so happen to hit when the collective world needs that reminder more than ever.
"…this creature does not kill or even hurt its victims..."
