Clive Barker's Book of Blood

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When judging a horror movie, I first check if the content is cheesy or cool. If it's the latter, is it all atmosphere and no substance, or is there an interesting story?

Bless Clive Barker's twisted little brain, Book of Blood passed on both counts.

American supernatural scholar Mary Florescu (Sophie Ward) travels to England

Mary makes some friends.

to teach a class and do some research at a house said to be haunted. There, one of her students, Simon (Jonas Armstrong), shows a talent for otherworldly detection, and Mary eagerly asks for his help exploring the house. And her body (seducing your students is the mark of a professional, apparently). They start out having a lot of fun, but both Mary and Simon have secrets that fuel obsessions the house can sense, and will use for its own designs the longer they stay.

I liked this movie. Great atmosphere, solid acting (an all-too-often overlooked, and very important, element in horror movies–if I don't believe characters are evil or scared, I'M not scared), a story that made sense but still had a few pretty cool twists, interesting characters…Book of Blood had it all. Plus enough gore for those who love their scares with "Ewwww!" moments, but not so much gore than those who don't will get bored.

Are you sure this is sanitary?

Given that it must've been made on a shoestring budget the effects were pretty good; nothing left me laughing instead of cringing. Also, bonus points for the use of Doug Bradley, best known as Pinhead from the Hellraiser franchise, appearing in a small role as a slimy psychopath.

Book of Blood walked the line between character-based horror and splattergore horror quite well by exploring the depths of its characters and finding bloody, torturous things within them. It's a solid movie for either type of horror fan to enjoy.

It's just what I wanted!

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Review by Elizabeth Reuter