Blood Car

 (2007)

by Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

The time is the near future. Gas prices have risen so high that only the very rich can afford to drive. A politically correct, mild-mannered, vegan first grade teacher thinks he has the solution. An amateur inventor, he is convinced that he can get a car to run on wheat grass. Unfortunately his experiments fail time and time again until he accidentally cuts himself and spills some blood into the wheat mixture. To make a long story short, he discovers empirically that his engine will run perfectly on blood, but only of the human variety.

At first he's reluctant to face the implications of that conclusion, but he finds that there are certain perquisites which come with owning the only car on the road, not the least of which is an unlimited supply of kinky sex. In order to maintain his newly developed sex addiction, he must operate his blood car, and in order to operate his blood car, he must kill humans. Q.E.D.

As he starts to wipe out the local supply of the elderly, homeless, and hitchhikers, his every move is being monitored by a top secret cabal of government agents. They are not particularly concerned with his killing spree, since they realize they will have to do the same thing once they possess what they really want from him - the blood car technology, for America and America alone.

This is an extraordinarily funny black comedy, and that statement comes from a guy who is not especially fond of black comedies. It is quite clever from start to finish, tautly scripted, with lots of politically incorrect laughs in almost every scene. Some examples:

When the teacher finds out that his car runs on blood, he thinks animal blood may work, so he starts to kill small animals in his neighborhood. Unfortunately, he only has one of those Daisy air rifles, so it takes him forever to hurt even a small dog. He can't even penetrate the dog's skin, despite reloading again and again. Eventually he has to bludgeon the adorable little critter to death, crying as he does, for he's a vegan and can't bear the thought of hurting animals.

After the feds recruit him, they must erase all traces of his identity. This involves, among other things, brutally slaying all of the first graders who would remember him.

He kills a wounded war veteran with multiple artificial limbs, but is disappointed to see that this tactic produces only a quarter of a tank of fuel, while his previous kills had filled 'er up. "Damn," he says to himself, "I need a WHOLE person."

The funny script is ably supported by some outstanding cinematography. Visually, the director created a parallel universe very similar to the one in Napoleon Dynamite, one in which wide open spaces are populated by a very small number of people, all of whom are extraordinary and eccentric. The musical score, a blend of classical and vintage pop, works perfectly to accentuate the twisted actions on screen. The actors are young and generally inexperienced, so there are some weak performances and some inappropriate casting, but the cast all "gets it." They understand the offbeat tone of the film, and they create their characters with that in mind, so the eccentric line readings, often dry and deadbeat, seem to be in character for eccentric people, as opposed to just bad acting. I think it worked great.

The film is only 75 minutes long including the credit sequences, and that's a good thing. One can only tolerate so much weird behavior until it stops being charmingly quirky and becomes irritating, so a short running time prevents Blood Car from overstaying its welcome. The pacing is excellent, and the editing consistently invents unique ways to support the comedy, both with timing and creative visuals.

Overall, this one was a completely pleasant surprise for me: a total sleeper that turned out to be one of the better "sick" comedies I've ever seen. It's Napoleon Dynamite meets Troma meets South Park. Alex Orr, the writer/director, is a name to watch.

DVD INFO

Widescreen anamorphic

 Commentary with director Alex Orr, co-writer Adam Pinney, and stars Mike Brune and Katie Rowlett

Bogus commentary with fictional film scholar Dr. Rutherford Thorpe

60 minutes behind the scenes of Blood Car

Short film: The Last Last and the Tribulations of Johnnybush

Mike Brune's presidential announcement at World Premiere

Essay by film critic Steve Palopoli

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

  Variety

 

Many reviews from genre sites are linked from the IMDb page

THE PEOPLE

   
5.6 IMDB summary (of 10)
   

THE BOX OFFICE

Straight to DVD.

 

NUDITY REPORT

  • The film is filled with raunchy dialogue and nudity. Three minor characters showed their breasts, and lead actress Katie Rowlett's dialogue consisted of a steady stream of particularly colorful sex talk, both during and before sex scenes, although she did not contribute any nudity. One source reports that another lead actress, Anna Chlumsky, took a shower in the extra features, but I can't confirm that as of now. (She also takes a shower in the completed film, but nothing is visible.)

Google
 
Web www.scoopy.com

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C+

It is a very entertaining "sick" comedy and the look of the film is absolute genius, considering the obvious budget limitations.