Books Of Blood (2020)

As much as I love the original source material, a collected volume of short stories written by Clive Barker, trying to adapt any of The Books Of Blood into movie form always feels a bit like a fool’s errand. There are so many great stories there, every page is an example of a writer delivering some of his absolute best work, but it is material that doesn’t tend to translate well into movie form. Someone should really give us all the horror anthology show that we deserve, but I suspect that will never happen.

Let’s get to this movie then, another in a line of movies that have unsuccessfully tried to make something worthwhile from the rich source material (others include Quicksilver Highway, Dread, and, well, Book Of Blood, a 2009 film that covers some of the material also covered here). There are three main stories here, focusing on four main characters. Britt Robertson is Jenna, a very depressed and troubled young woman who ends up leaving home and staying at a house that may have some very dark secrets behind the walls. Bennett (Yul Vazquez) is a man contracted to track down a valuable book, but it’s also something very powerful and dangerous. And, last but not least, Mary (Anna Friel) is a debunker of psychic phenomena who thinks she has finally found someone (Simon, played by Rafi Gavron) who can communicate with the dead.

The first feature film directed by Brannon Braga, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Adam Simon (the two having worked together for many years), there is definitely a feeling here of people trying to do more than just coast along on something with brand recognition (it might be niche brand recognition, but it’s still something a number of horror fans will take notice of). Constructed in a way that allows the tales to intersect at various points, culminating in a final act that brings everything together in a fitting and effective way, the biggest problem the film has is the time it takes to start gathering any momentum. It’s very satisfying to see things cleared up in a dark and twisting third act, but the earlier scenes feel horribly inert and disconnected until the full shape of the narrative starts to become clear, like a lump of clay being sculpted.

Robertson, Vazquez, Friel, and Gavron all do well enough in their roles, but they are characters who are due to have horrors unfold around them, like so many characters written by Barker. Friel plays the one person who ends up having most control, and her main storyline is the best of them, but the rest are very much autumn leaves blown around in some chill winds. I do also have to mention Freda Foh Shen and Nicholas Campbell. Both are used well, playing the owners of the house that ends up playing such a vital role in the fate of Robertson’s character.

Arguably better than most of the other attempts to get any of these tales from page to screen, Books Of Blood still falls short of being as good as it could, or should, be. I think one extra tale intertwining with the others would have been enough to elevate this, but I couldn’t tell you which one would have made the best addition. What you have here is polished, occasionally visually interesting, and decent enough for something to schedule when you want some spookiness. It’s just also quite forgettable, sadly, despite a bittersweet ending that stands out as one of the best horror movie endings of the last few years.

6/10

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Snitch (2013)

It's tough being a teenager, making mistakes that you don't always get away with. Sometimes, dumb stuff can get you in a LOT of trouble. Which is what happens to Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron), a young man who is set up by a friend. He receives a box full of drugs and is immediately apprehended by the DEA. He's going to jail for a very long time, unless he can provide information that can lead to more arrests. Unfortunately, Jason doesn't know of anyone else he can snitch on, which leaves him with the prospect of rotting in jail for many years. Jason's dad, however, is a man willing to do whatever it takes to help his son. And he happens to be Dwayne Johnson. He starts negotiating with someone (Susan Sarandon) who has the power to help quash his son's sentence, IF he gets the results they need.

Anyone after a standard action flick that makes the best use of Dwayne Johnson is going to end up disappointed here. This is more of a drama, with one or two fleeting moments of action used to help sell the film to a wider audience. More interestingly, it's all a bit of an indictment of America's continuing war on drugs. The increasingly drastic measures put in place to clamp down on what is viewed as the main menace to society ends up, arguably, causing more problems and creating more victims than the initial drugs themselves.

Johnson is, as always, solid in the lead role, playing down his toughness, but always looking ready for action. Let's face it, he can't NOT look ready for action, but he does a good job of portraying a "normal" man willing to risk his safety in an attempt to save his son from a terrible fate. Jon Bernthal does well enough as the man who helps him find his way into the world of drug dealers, a world populated by people such as Malik (Michael K. Williams) and 'El Topo' (Benjamin Bratt). Sarandon is very good as the woman who may be able to help out, if it benefits her politically, and Barry Pepper is on fine form (is he ever not?) as a DEA operative equally tempted by the prospect of a big bust, but also concerned about the safety of a man who may not realise quite how deep he is about to get himself.

The script, co-written by Justin Haythe and director Ric Roman Waugh, does enough to sketch out the characters and situations, but it falls down elsewhere. A lot of the dialogue is so dull, and repetitive, that it threatens to put viewers to sleep. Which isn't what anyone expects from any movie starring Dwayne Johnson.

Waugh directs competently enough, but the film lacks any real sense of energy or urgency, most notable during a finale that doesn't ever get the adrenaline pumping. It's almost as if everything that was set up with care during the preceding 60-70 minutes is just thrown aside in favour of a teeny tiny bit of action that will come as too little too late for anyone wanting such simple pleasure, and will prove dissatisfying to those who were enjoying the more straightforward drama that accounts for most of the movie.

It's not a complete waste of time, but Snitch isn't one I'd recommend to anyone. It's decidedly average.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Snitch-Blu-ray-UltraViolet-Digital-Copy/dp/B00BUC4VS4/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1402246430&sr=1-3&keywords=snitch