“Clive Barker’s Book of Blood is a strange beast. The cover looks nice, the blurb on the back sounds good, and the final chapter is brilliant. But then there's the other 389 pages. Telling
the story of Mary Florescu’s (Sophie Ward) paranormal investigations, the
female researcher is lead to Simon McNeal, a college student who appears to be channeling
messages from the dead. As their erotic relationship oddly develops, the line
between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred and finally
collapse in a strangely likeable climax.
There’s much to enjoy in John Harrison’s movie. The premise is a good one (if you have the patience to wait for the revelation during an unnerving climax), and there are a couple of neat jolts to send a few chills down the
spine along the way. Sadly, Ward’s sex-fuelled relationship with Jonas
Armstrong’s Simon isn’t convincing, and after an intriguing introduction, a
large chunk of the film adds few thrills, little plot development and little
entertainment. Still, it looks eerie enough, Ward gets them out a lot, and the
scene in which Janie gets her face ripped off is quite simply brilliant.” DW
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