Blood On The Highway (2010) Review

Though it wasn't the first of it's kind, since "Shaun Of The Dead" exploded into the mainstream cult classic that it is, the Horror/Comedy sub-genre of film has been an easy in for a lot of filmmakers. From 2005 on, it became almost impossible to find a flick that wasn't aiming to exploit the success of this style of filmmaking. Ultimately, as with any genre, you have a few that shine, and a metric fuck-ton of complete failures. I wouldn't go as far as to call "Blood On The Highway" a cult classic in the making, but I will say that I had a hell of a time watching it.

"Blood on the Highway" follows three friends as they travel across the country to attend some sort of music festival. After a spell of motion sickness causes the entire car to be caked in vomit, and destroys the map, the trio pull off at the nearest exit to find their way. What they don't know is, that they are driving into a town infested with a hilarious horde of vampires.




I thoroughly enjoyed this film's opening montage. Displaying the population of the town as brain dead before they actually become the undead was a fairly clever way to open the film. The opening follows the town folk as they shamble as a horde into the local mega-mart "Consumart". It sets the tone of the film up properly, and plays an important part in the overall plot of the film.



The acting in this film, is from what I could tell, purposefully over the top. So if you need Oscar winning performances in your horror, this may be a turn-off for you. It didn't bother me, and at times, it was actually fairly hilarious. Some of the one-liners in the flick were so ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud. One of the things that bugs me in films, is that when people are cursing, it's always so poetic. People don't sound like that in real life, they fumble their words, and say outlandish shit. I liked that this element of reality was written into the script.



One thing to clear up is that "Blood on the Highway" is not a horror movie. It's at it's core, a comedy. There just happens to be a town infested by vampires. Nothing that happens within this film will scare you, or even disgust you for that matter. The vampire aspect of the film is pretty cut and dry. There are vampires afoot, and they must be dealt with.

"Blood on the Highway" does well to exploit both the drive-in movie, and that nihilistic tone that was made famous by indie films of the 90s. It's one of those movies that your friends that aren't into horror wouldn't understand. It looks cheap, it talks cheap, and the violence is silly. On the other hand, it's the type of film that gives demented, like-minded folks a half-chub when the opening credits begin.  It won't make my list of top 10 films of 2010, but there was never a boring moment. I had fun watching this flick, and that's what it's all about.

6.5/10