10/12: Bliss

 

10/12

Continuing with the low-budget theme I seem to have going this year is the frantic heavy metal splatter-fest Bliss. Deezy, a painter suffering from a creative block, takes a next-level drug to find inspiration. Along the way she partakes in a threesome ritual(?) with some vampires(?) and turns into a vampire herself(?), thirsting for blood just as much as she's thirsting for creativity. All those question marks back there? Yeah, in a nuthshell that's how I feel about this movie. A day later, I'm still not sure if I liked it. 

I'm not much of gratuitous blood-n-gore type guy, and in many ways, Bliss is evidence why. When the gore is put front and center and story left behind, I'm often left feeling empty. It feels like an exercise in futility. But like I said before: is Bliss futile? Is it good? 

There's so much it has going for it: a killer soundtrack (Isis's Dulcinea during the climatic scene was incredible), a new spin on the vampire genre, and a genuine, acid-soaked, drugged out vision that, even though it's soaked in an absurd amount of blood, feels cool. Oh, and there's Norm from Cheers. Who gets vampire-eaten.

I literally did a double take. Like... what are you doing in this movie?

Then there's all that doesn't work. The movie is shot like a drug trip, which is cool, but look: when I've seen the camera spin around frantically quick-cut with flashing lights (this movie is a seizure on film) for the 500th time, it starts to lose it's impact, ya dig? Then there's the plot, which, like the shooting style, is madness. You have to give me just a little explanation to ground me, and there's not really anything here. What's real? What isn't? Are you being artsy, or just using it to cover up cinematic shortcomings (looking at you, continuity errors)? 

At the end of the day this movie is an experience, and it definitely gets points for that. Still, though, I'm left wondering: did I like it? I'm still not sure, so this rating reflects about the best I can do with that indecision.

6/10