“Wicked Blood” is not a groundbreaking film by any means but it is entertaining despite being somewhat predictable. The strength of the film relies on the strengths of its acting talent and for the most part, “Wicked Blood” is a standard popcorn drama/action film.
© 2013 Wicked Blood Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Wicked Blood
FILM RELEASE: 2014
DURATION: 94 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: Industrial Entertainment
RATED: Not Rated
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Written and Directed by Mark Young
Produced by Eric Bassett, Jason Pinardo, Nick Stagliano
Co-Producer: Brandon Baker, Michael Mandaville
Executive Producer: Brittany Bowen, Jason Hewitt, Benjamin Krause, Guy Quigley, Andre Relis
Line Producer: Jack Sojka
Music by Elia Cmiral
Cinematography by Gregg Easterbrook
Edited by Ryan Folsey
Casting by Shannon Makhanian
Production Design by Ruston Head
Art Direction by Dave Quinlan
Costume Design by Jennifer Kamrath
Starring:
Abigail Breslin as Hannah Lee
Alex PenaVega as Amber
Sean Bean as Uncle Frank Stinson
James Purefoy as Wild Bill
J.D. Evermore as Doctor
Jake Busey as Bobby Stinson
Lew Temple as Donny
Hannah (ABIGAIL BRESLIN) and her older sister Amber (ALEXA VEGA) are trapped in a dark Southern underworld of violence, drugs and biker gangs. Both live in fear of their “Uncle Frank†Stinson (SEAN BEAN), the ruthless leader of a powerful crime organization. But when Amber falls in love with Bill Owens (JAMES PUREFOY), an outlaw biker and Stinson family rival, Hannah devises a plan to pit one against the other in a cunning game of revenge.
Filmmaker Mark Young is known for many of his indie films such “Tooth and Nail”, “Dead Bodies” and “Phreaker”.
And now Young is back with his latest film “Wicked Blood” starring Abigail Breslin (“Zombieland”, “Signs”, “Little Miss Sunshine”), Alexa PenaVega (“Spy Kids” films), Sean Bean (“The Lord of the Rings” films, “GoldenEye”, Game of Thrones”), James Purefoy (“John Carter, “Solomon Kane”, “A Knight’s Tale”), Lew Temple (“The Lone Ranger”, “Unstoppable”, “Lawless”) and Jake Busey (“Starship Troopers”, “Enemy of the State”).
And now, “Wicked Blood” is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD.
“Wicked Blood” revolves around Hannah Lee (portrayed by Abigail Breslin), a bright chess player who has gone through life changes after her and her older sister Amber (portrayed by Alexa PenaVega) are forced to live with their guardian, a meth addicted uncle named Donny (portrayed by Lew Temple).
But with Donny’s drug troubles and his ties to their Uncle Frank Stinson (portrayed by Sean Bean), who runs an illegal family business dealing in narcotics and arms deals, a visit from the authorities has Hanna scared that she will be living in foster homes and separated from the only family that she has left.
Meanwhile, her older sister falls for a meth trafficker named “Wild Bill” (portrayed by James Purefoy) but while happy with her new man, she is often feeling strange vibes from Frank’s younger brother Bobby (portrayed by Jake Busey), who keeps staring at her.
As Hannah and the others trying to survive, Hannah comes up with an idea to work for her Uncle Frank, but when she sees upfront of how her uncle and Bobby run their business with threats and murder, Hannah makes a decision that may impact her and the family.
VIDEO:
“Wicked Blood” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). The film looks great on Blu-ray as a lot of the scenes are shot outdoors. Outdoor scenes are vibrant, skin tones are natural with very good detail on closeups. I didn’t notice any major artifacts or banding during my viewing of the film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Wicked Blood” is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and while the film primarily is dialogue driven, by the end of the film there are moments of surround usage during a gun exchange and also good use of LFE for an explosion.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Wicked Blood” comes with interviews with actresses Abigail Breslin and Alexa PenaVega and actors Sean Bean and James Purefoy.
EXTRAS:
“Wicked Blood” comes with a slipcover.
“Wicked Blood” is an entertaining low budget indie film about a two young ladies who lose their father and live with their poor meth-head uncle.
One teenager who is bright but fears being separated by family and living with a foster family, while an older sister who tends to have a reputation of messing with guys, dating an older man who happens to be a drug trafficker.
While the storyline tackles the rural town and its criminals who operate meth labs and make a lot of money drug and arms trafficking, you feel bad for the characters because in some way, their current upbringing and living environment is not the best.
The film is rather predictable as the character of Uncle Donny is the strung-out meth head that you feel immediately that he will be gun fodder, while the character of Amber is often stared upon older men or creepy guys that you feel that something unfortunate will happen to her.   And as for the protagonist, Hannah… you know she is bright but unfortunately, she is too tied into her setting of being around those who are addicted to drugs.
And with her inexperience and thirst of wanting to make money, she ends up making a foolish decision that has its repercussions.
But the film’s strength is that it does have its stars. Oscar nominated actress Abigail Breslin does a good job of playing Hannah, cautious, naive but always has her head thinking of a strategy as the film establishes earlier on of how her brain is constantly thinking, considering she is great at chess.
Actor Sean Bean who has been seen on “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings” films does a great job of playing the leader of the criminal activities in town; James Purefoy who sports a beard in the film, as a biker and drug trafficker; while actor Jake Busey has a knack of playing creepy individuals.
While actress Alexa PenaVega (or Alex Vega) as the beautiful older sister and while she made her sexy statement in “Machete Kills”, it’s sometimes hard to believe that this is the same person who was the young teen in the “Spy Kids” films.
As for the Blu-ray release, the film looks great on Blu-ray with a lot of shots are outdoor scenes. Colors are vibrant, detail for the most part is good and I detected no artifacts or banding issues. You get a few interviews with four of the cast members also included in the special features.
Overall, “Wicked Blood” is not a groundbreaking film by any means but it is entertaining despite being somewhat predictable. The strength of the film relies on the strengths of its acting talent and for the most part, “Wicked Blood” is a standard popcorn drama/action film.
