HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2019: Bliss (2019)

Our sponsors (with friends)

Today we welcome as our sponsor two women who brought such enthusiasm and life to last year’s festival I dubbed them The Queens of The Horrorfest, The Great and Terrible Jen and Sylvia Soska!  Their latest film, Rabid, is making the festival rounds, and I cannot wait for it to be released to us general public types.  And if you’re a comic book fan, I’d strongly recommend you pick up Black Widow: No Restraint Play.

(Why Disney didn't just give the twins a buttload of money and had them sit down with Scarlett Johannsen to come up with a kick-ass R rated Widow actioner, I do. not. know.)

The twins have chosen Bliss, an indie film about drugs, blood, creativity, and vampirism....I think.

You should know before we begin that I never got through Mandy because the stylization of the storytelling left me numb.  I also have a problem with what I like to call ‘Hipster Horror’ as far back as a midnight viewing of Liquid Sky in Greenwich Village and that I particularly hate The Lost Boys, which is name checked in the film and is all hipster and little in the way of horror.

Bliss refers to a black, powdery drug that is enthusiastically consumed by Dezzy (Dora Madison), who is suffering from a major creative block while trying to complete a commission for an upcoming art show.  Luckily, said bliss (to be more precise, a strong iteration of same dubbed ‘Diablo’) seems to be spurring Dez into periods where she blacks out and apparently paints in ecstasy--and frequently little else, if you know what I mean--before waking up smeared in blood.  She struggles with the after-effects during the day...including a thirst for blood.  Does this have something to do with an incident in a nightclub bathroom where her friend Courtney (Tru Collins) ripped open the throat of a innocent bystander and gave Dezzy...something?

That moment I just referred to in the bathroom is a great moment that upturns the table.  It takes place at roughly the half-hour mark, and up until then it’s been Dezzy and her pals acting all bohemian and stuff.  It’s a hell of a hook that grabs you by the collar and yells ‘pay attention.’  The problem of this film is that it doesn’t follow through on that moment.  Director Joe Begos seems to want to be enigmatic about his storyline, and that results in a frustrating forty minutes where I was constantly confused.  This extended to me not being sure what Dezzy had become.  It seems like she has become a vampire without fangs, but we see her taking healthy bites and ingesting human flesh as if she was some form of zombie.  There are moments where, let’s say, Dezzy’s boyfriend (Jeremy Carver) comes back to life only to be killed by Countney before the two women get into a catfight where I was thoroughly befuddled.  I’m a big proponent for a film allowing you to make up your own mind as to what is going on, but this story desperately needed a moment where someone--preferably Courtney--puts down a few brief rules.  Not enough to shatter the hallucinatory tone Begos is going for, but just enough for there to be some comprehension.

The other nagging thing that bothered me about this film is that the aspect of Dezzy’s creativity isn’t really addressed save for an exchange during a fight she has with her boyfriend.  As a creative type myself who has (fairly recently) struggled with massive blocks, I was upset at how little was made of it after the set-up.   Yeah, there are moments where it’s given some lip service, but it sinks below the ice of the script’s obscurity.

This is not a knock of Dora Madison, who is also listed as a producer.  She is a compelling, charismatic actor playing an uncharismatic figure more or less realistically while still being watchable, which is pretty damn impressive.  It’s the strength of her performance that carried me through the last half of the film, and I’d love to see her do other parts.  I also admit that I loved seeing Abraham Benrubi in a small role, although it will always be hard for me to think of him as anybody other than Kubiack in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, a series I had immense fondness for.

I also have to think it’s not as big a knock on Joe Begos as it might seem.  As muddled as the story is, I cannot deny that the film looks great and that there are some choices he makes cinematically that really caught my eye.  I do wish he hadn’t fallen in with what is ‘modern indie horror’ visual tropes in the third act, but I cannot deny he makes excellent choices at times.  I am actively interested in what Begos has in store for me next.

While I cannot recommend this because of that impenetrable script, I do recognize that it is not exactly made for me.  If you’re one of that legion of horror fans who went nuts for Mandy and The Devil’s Candy, I guarantee you will enjoy the Hell out of this.  The visual aesthetics of the film will very easily overwhelm the story problems I had with it and result in an entertaining experience.

I hope you’re not disappointed with me after this review, Jen and Sylvia....there are two other films in the list you gave me that has intrigued me enough that I will visit them sooner rather than later.  Maybe if the Randomizer coughs up 2019, I’ll get to either Satanic Panic or Daniel Isn’t Real before the Horrorfest is over.

After all the Sponsor Star Power of the last few days, I need a breather, so the Randomizer has taken over tomorrow’s entry.  We’re going all the way back to 1944, and a flick starring Bela Lugosi and John Carradine, Voodoo Man, directed by William ‘One Shot’ Beaudine.  I suspect we’re going to be in for some prime-ass cheese, folks!

If you want to join the Soskas, Kelli Maroney, Greg Lamberson, and other great Horror Luminaries in getting me to watch a movie of your own choice during the Halloween Horrorfest, please consider joining the Domicile of Dread Patreon at the $3 Tier or greater.  Each new patron gets a free slot in this Gauntlet of Ghoulishness!  There are still eight open slots, so act fast!