Since we really needed a fishing-based horror film - we got Blood Hook. By "we" I mean mid-80s American Video stores (I'd guess this wasn't big in theaters), and by "horror film" I mean a goofy comedy masquerading as a horror film. Blood Hook is the kind of deal where you can't really tell (at first) if the filmmakers are spoofing the genre or just being really generic and tone deaf. And muddying the waters even more - it's got that regional feel to it, as it was shot in beautiful Hayward, Wisconsin. (Making it my third Wisconsin-based film of the month, after The Rohl Farm Haunting and Deranged. Strange.) But eventually you get the idea that it was written and shot with its tongue planted firmly in cheek.
My Synopsis: A group of college kids go up to a muskie fishing tournament. Our hero Peter has recently inherited a house which belonged to his long deceased grandfather, who died under mysterious circumstances. The tournament has brought a lot of people to town, but they are just potential victims for the Blood Hook! (Seriously, this guy exclusively kills people with a big fishing lure.) It's up to Peter and a couple of kooky locals to stop the Blood Hooking and save the town!
Elaborate Genre: Cheesy comedic slasher
Overall: Eh - it's not without it's charm, but it's more concerned with laughs that don't really click. It feels dated as a horror film, and probably even more dated as a comedy.
I'll give Blood Hook credit for a couple of things. I have always been scared of accidentally getting hooked while fishing - and I don't even fish. Even if I'm just walking on a pier or whatever, I'm 90% sure I'm going to get nipped by some casting jerk. And Blood Hook exploits that fear well. Something about it just gives me the willies, and that's basically the *only* way that people get killed in this film. I got the chills several times based on the hook/flesh interaction alone. Also, Blood Hook doles out the "gore" (as it were) at a good pace. It's not a gory movie, but each kill escalates to be bigger and bloodier than the last. So it builds appropriately, and feels pretty decently paced because of this.
Our main characters are reasonable, I guess, for a slasher film of this sort. They are not intentionally aggravating, and seem to behave realistically. The supporting cast though - yikes. You've got a delusional Vietnam War Veteran who yells the entire movie, a cranky old man who really hates city folk, and an uber-Sven type who runs a bait shop, donchaknow. So who knows - perhaps our main characters seem mostly normal because no one else in the film is?
And Blood Hook is just kind of dumb at times. Our killer rows his boat up to people before killing them. I'm having trouble thinking of a less menacing mode of transportation for a killer. Maybe those shoes with the wheels built in? And the less said about his motivation the better.
But again, the ridiculousness is doled out in an interesting way. Blood Hook takes itself less and less seriously as the film moves on. At first, it kind of tricks you into thinking it might be a real movie, but eventually it gets to the point where it admits it's joking around. Which might piss some people off, but at least it's a different approach.
Another interesting Midwest connection? Director James Mallon is none other that MST3K super producer Jim Mallon. And I guess Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo on MST3K) was a key grip or something. So that's fun. I guess the MST3K connection also supports the idea that Blood Hook was not meant to be taken entirely seriously.
Ultimately? I guess I'm glad I watched it. I'm easily won over by cheesy horror films shot in Wisconsin (much love to Bill Rebane and The Capture of Bigfoot and Croaked: Frog Monster from Hell). But I don't think I could in good conscience recommend Blood Hook. It's not particularly funny, and not that scary, aside from the terror inherent in the concept of fish hooks. I don't think it was a waste of *my* time, but I don't think most people would feel the same way.
I would probably not recommend this film.
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