Rent Blood Out (2011)

Blood Out review by Melissa Orcine - Cinema Paradiso

Sheriff Michael Savion (Luke Goss) looks after the small town that he inhabits but when he learns that his younger brother David (Ryan Donowho), a reformed gangbanger suspected to be a snitch is murdered by the gang he has joined, Savion’s world is turned upside-down. When the detectives at the police department dismiss Savion’s request to investigate his brother’s case, he takes matters in his own hands by infiltrating the same gang to be one of them, get to David’s killer, and avenge his brother’s death. This is what drives the DTV (direct-to-video) ‘Blood Out’, the debut feature of director Jason Hewitt.

As far as ‘revenge movies’ go, ‘Blood Out’ works to a degree but a tad silly and forced. On its DVD cover the names and images of Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, Vinnie Jones, and Val Kilmer are given more exposure than the movie’s actual lead, Luke Goss.

These big names are actually in the movie less than 10 minutes each. What you get is false advertising and great expectations on ‘Blood Out’ being more than what it is – a B-movie with illusions of A-list grandeur. However, Luke Goss is a capable leading man, taking the project too seriously for his own good while the big-named stars ham it up to the camera – especially a more rotund version of Val Kilmer as Arturo, the head honcho of a human trafficking ring.

A highlight in the movie is a ridiculously choreographed car chase scene. Ambitious and mostly B-movie campy fun, ‘Blood Out’ could have been a vehicle for someone as Jason Statham and make it more bad-ass, but Luke Goss is an okay substitute, tattoos and all. Gratuitous casting goes to Anna Lynne McCord, a dominatrix-leather-wearing love interest that has zero chemistry with Goss even when they’re thrown in bed together. Incessantly peppered with cheesy dialogue and shaky-cam shots film does not make an action-thriller-crime-drama make.