Bloodline review: Seann William Scott destroys his happy-go-lucky Stifler persona with his turn as a chilling killer in Bloodline.
Blue Finch Films
Being a new parent can be hard, especially when you have proclivities for murder. This is the predicament that Evan (Seann William Scott) finds himself in. By day Evan is a mild-mannered social worker working at the local high school. By night he stalks the streets looking for the deadbeat parents of the children he looks after.
We first meet Evan and his heavily pregnant wife Lauren (Mariela Garriga) just as Lauren goes into labour. Once the baby has arrived, Evan’s mum moves in to help with the baby, but Evan finds it all too much. Needing a release, he decides to play avenging angel to a trio of teens he is counselling. Similarities to Dexter are obvious, but they would be slightly unfair because Bloodline is its own beast. The film opens up some interesting debate around the age-old nature-versus-nurture debate as well as highlighting the rough time that new fathers can have.
Be warned, director Henry Jacobson doesn’t hold back on the labour scenes, and you see everything. The imagery on display has since been seared onto my retinas since I watched it, and I had a baby in December. If you’re not a regular viewer of One Born Every Minute, you might want to close your eyes for a few moments. If that’s how Jacobson handles the natural phenomena of birth, you can imagine how bloody Eva’s murders become. It’s not just the eyes that he assaults here though, the sound design also works to create an immersive experience. There are several stabbing sequences that specifically sound rather unpleasant.
Henry Jacobson’s career has seen him work primarily in the realms of documentary as a cinematographer; in Bloodline he moves into the arenas of directing and co-writing. This film may be fiction, but Jacobson utilises some tricks of his former trade and the majority of the film has a nice easy naturalistic style. Much like Evan himself, the cinematography has a secret side, a hyper-stylised side that sees the screen bathed in vibrant reds and neon blues.
The strongest component of Bloodline is the performance by Seann William Scott. Scott is, of course, better known for his comedic roles. He burst onto the scene as Steve Stifler in American Pie, and has steadily worked within the realm of comedy ever since. Even when he appeared in the 2000 horror film Final Destination, his character Billy Hitchcock was the light relief. In Bloodline, Scott has been stripped of all his humour. Evan is a rather serious man and Scott has to tap into a different side of his psyche to play the cold-hearted killer. From the moment you meet Evan, all traces of Stifler et al are gone; Evan is subdued, sensible and slightly off. During the day, Evan is ‘normal’ enough, but once night comes around and he goes into kill mode, he’s all business, with Scott oozing menace. This is a man you do not want to meet down a dark alley. They often say that comedy actors make for the best horror actors, there being something about the preparation for a joke that aligns with preparation for a scare. Scott once again proves this argument valid. His turn as Evan is easily Scott’s best work.
Thanks to a great lead performance, a balanced handle of gore and violence, Bloodline is a fantastic character piece. A darkly twisted study of the ties of family and the lengths we’ll go to protect them, Bloodline makes a strong case for Henry Jacobson to make the shift from documentary to fiction permanent.
Bloodline was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
