TIED IN BLOOD

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Movie Info

Returning home, a father is horrified to find his wife and children dead. Insisting that a ghostly presence killed them he asks a gifted spiritualist, Robert Brandon, to find the paranormal killer but as the dead return to tell of ghosts, demons, seduction and murder, Robert discovers a horror more real than any ghost story.

Anything Horror

Let’s get this outta the way. You all know my feelings about ghost stories. Even more so than the zombie genre, most of the plots of ghost stories are identical, only switching the smaller details in each flick to be able to call it an “original” story, and a lot of the scares are so choreographed that you see them coming a mile away. Seriously, what ghost movie hasn’t employed the “looking-in-the-bathroom-mirror-and-moving-the-mirror-to-reveal-a-ghost” gimmick? Not too many. But when a ghost story is done right they can be extremely effective. I take a lot of shit for liking the first PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, but it was a very well-executed film that worked. TIED IN BLOOD, an import from West Yorkshire, England and being distributed by Chemical Burn Entertainment, has its moments but is overall too flawed in its plot and execution to be really enjoyed.

TIED IN BLOOD is the story of Robert (Paul McEwan), a psychic who has the ability to make contact with the spiritual world. He has a true talent that he wastes away on cheap parlor tricks. As the film begins, Robert is in moral and personal turmoil about squandering away his unique talent. Then George (Kenneth G. Hodgson) comes around, desperate to find out what happened to his family. George lives on a rather remote farm and after being gone one night comes home to find his entire family slaughtered. George thinks the culprit is a ghost and hires Robert to get to the truth of what really happened. Okay; not a bad set up. We have one main character going through a bit of inner turmoil (Robert) and another who is emotionally fragile after losing his entire family to (possibly) a murderous spirit. My hopes were up for this one.

Robert (Paul McEwan) & George (Kenneth G. Hodgson) looking on in disbelief.

But then Robert gets to the farmhouse and everything falls apart rather quickly. Robert walks around the farmhouse trying to make contact and the first ghost that “materializes” is Stuart (Chris Leach), George’s son. After a CGI “fade-in” effect, Stuart looks like a regular living person and tells the story of the events that led up to what happened that fateful night. Gradually through the film, mom and sister (Denise Cooke and Laura O’Donoughue) appear to add to Stuart’s tale. Writer David Ross tries to offer up a lot of twists and turns to the story but any viewer with the keen eye will see where it’s all going long before Ross has a chance to surprise you.

Seriously? THIS is the best you can do with the ghost f/x?? Really?!??

On a positive note all the performances were well done. Everyone did a nice job in their roles and were at times quite believable. Unfortunately the script was weak and didn’t really provide the cast with anything substantial. The story feels as though it was originally written for the stage. In and of itself this isn’t a bad thing, but it seems there was no re-writing of the play for the big screen. The story unfolds in a typical and standard way. There’s nothing there to grab you after the initial set-up. What ever happened to the side plot of Robert’s inner turmoil? It disappears quicker than your interest in this film. What started out as promising quickly turned into having the feel of a stage play being filmed, and then ultimately felt like a bad episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Sis won’t take this laying down (ah-hem).

The f/x couldn’t even save TIED IN BLOOD. The f/x were executed at the TV-movie level as ghosts fade in and out and the blood used was a little too red. The f/x here were nothing a 15 year old couldn’t accomplish with a Mac laptop and some red food coloring.

I’ll admit that I’m really hard to please when it comes to ghost stories. It’s not my favorite sub-genre, but when one is done well it can be a really fun experience. Unfortunately TIED IN BLOOD just isn’t executed well. The story is very flawed (I’m not going into details because that would require giving away a few spoilers) and the entire film has a made-for-TV feel to it. Add to this some very unimpressive f/x and you have a film that just disappoints all around. TIED IN BLOOD is being distributed by Chemical Burn Entertainment and is available on various VOD systems. Unfortunately I must say “pass” on TIED IN BLOOD.

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