Lionsgate
R1 DVD
Clive
Barker has, for many years, been at the cutting edge of modern horror. From his
earliest books, Books of Blood,
through Hellraiser to the more recent
Midnight Meat Train, he has always explored
dark territories where many would fear to tread. As covered in our Halloween
feature on Barker’s books and cinema he is a truly talented artiste producing
works in poetry and prose, art, film and moving between genres such as horror
and fantasy, even producing fantasy books for children.
The
work which brought Barker international acclaim was Books of Blood, this was a series of books which united short tales
with an overarching plot. The structure of the work hinged on a young man who
was part con-man part psychic. He was recruited by a parapsychologist
investigating a supposedly haunted house. What neither of them realised is that
the dead have highways and byways through which they move and this premises is
a “hot point” between the worlds. When Simon McNeal tries to bluff his way
through their work the dead take their revenge by writing their tales on his
body.
The
film loosely follows the book as well as fleshing out the tale with elements
from On Jerusalem Street, the
postscript to the final volume of the Books of Blood. The film offers a
fascinating and gruesome visual exploration of the tale as McNeal’s body
becomes the palette on which the spirits communicate and Mary Florescu, the
parapsychologist, a flawed scientist, compromised by her personal ambition and
personal attraction to McNeal allows the situation to get out of control. As
with all of Barker’s works there is a intense mixture of horror and eroticism,
in this case revealed in the illicit affair between Mary and Simon and the way
in which his beautiful youthful body is slowly turned into a scarred record of
the stories of the dead.
This
is an impressive adaptation of Barker’s work offering a top class ghost story
which is expressed through a constant sense of dread. The film uses the very
latest in special effects and CGI and hence when gore is needed it is certainly
used in an innovative and challenging manner. The cinematography is moody and
gothic used muted tones and the dark and eerie environs of Edinburgh.
Clive Barker’s Book of Blood
is supposedly the first adaptation from Barker’s original Books of Blood
series; if this is any indication of the quality and creativity then we will be
in for some marvellous horror cinema.
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