Blood Relations (1988)

Blood Relations (1988)
Director: Graeme Campbell
Cast: Jan Rubes, Lydie Denier, Kevin Hicks, Lynne Adams
A severely dysfunctional family gathers at a snow covered, isolated mansion in the winter. There the family members including the father, an arrogant surgeon who may have murdered his wealthy wife expose each others' secrets, with surprising results.

Newly wed Thomas alongside his wife Marie return back to his families mansion, that is owned by his rich brain surgeon father Andreas. Thomas aim's to murder him for his wealth. Only one hurdle stands between the young couple and the inheritance, Andreas lawyer has stated only one son gets the lot and he cannot share who that will be. So its either prove to Andreas that it should be theirs or kill the other brother Jack. Thomas persuades Maria to sleep with his father in the hope the excitement will be enough to take him out of the picture. Only Andreas is not as frail as he seems and has a truly shocking agenda lined up for his new daughter-in law.

Extremely odd and perverse Canadian movie, the plots muddled throughout but at least it's never predictable, especially the bizarre final. Marie 'Lydie Denier' really smolders onscreen, she has the chic of Audrey Hepburn and mystery of Isabella Rossellini all rolled up in one. Marie not only sleeps with the son his brother and father, she even strips naked and strokes the families dying grandfather. Some of the sexual encounters are forced, due to her being drugged. There is a real incestuous tone throughout the movie that becomes really weird when we reach the films headfuck of a climax. I'll be honest part way into the story I was expecting it to surface at some point that she was the sister, especially due to no women being in the house. Blood Relations isn't that obvious and will pull the carpet from under most viewers feet. I'd never really known of the director Graeme Campbell before, it came as a shock when I found out he'd gone from sleazy shit like this to kids TV stuff, like Degrassi Street and Blake Holsey High. Damn now I've gotta rank it and it's really hard, the ending and sleaze factor would deserve a high score, yet the overall film and messy plot would probably be in the low to mid range. Worth seeking out, if you are after exploitation add 2 to the rank, if you want a well paced thriller take away 2.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 2]
[Gorequota 4/10]

Themes Included: Inheritance ● Family ● Father to Son