BloodHook

Blood Hook (1986)

The movie opens up with a young kid doing some fishing off of a dock with his grandfather. Suddenly something pulls the old man into the water and we are lead to believe that he is killed. Years later the boy, Peter, returns to the lake with a group of friends for the annual Muskie Madness festival, which is a big fishing tournament. Not long after they arrive people start to die as someone goes fishing for them. Seriously the victims are hooked and “caught” just like fish. Does this have anything to do with Peter’s grandfather or is there just another crazy super competitive fisherman on the loose?

As I sit here and try to write a review for Blood Hook I’m really torn. See this isn’t meant to be a serious attempt at a slasher movie, or at least I don’t think so. There are parts that are clearly being played for laughs. But then the movie turns around and executes a few decent effects and gets kind of serious. So by the end of the movie I found myself a bit confused. The story starts off goofy and there are quite a few puns and gags that are kind of funny. I mean I wasn’t laughing my butt off, but again there were a few chuckles here and there. I did think some of the sight gags like the giant fishhook being repeatedly thrown onto one of the victims was kind of amusing.

Just about the time that I thought the movie was going to be a mediocre attempt at poking fun at the slasher genre it kind of shifts gears a bit. You still get some of the goofy fishing related kills, but things do get a bit more serious. After we get past the red herrings (fishing pun intended) and the actual killer is revealed things get a bit more serious. Well I suppose serious is a relative term with this being a cheesy slasher movie. But after the killer is revealed the movie really doesn’t go for any more laughs and plays things a bit straighter. The last 3rd of Blood Hook delivers the overly complicated and kind of predictable ending that was common with the 80s slasher flicks. Though I have to say the identity of the killer and more importantly the motivation behind the killings was really creative and fun. But in the end the serious bits of the story are about as mediocre as the attempts at comedy.

I do want to mention that I was surprised with the effects in Blood Hook. Given the silly tone of the movie and the first couple of kills being played for laughs my expectations were kind of low. But then as the movie progressed along the kills started to get bloodier and more interesting. Now I don’t want to set expectations too high, this isn’t The Burning or Friday the 13th Part IV (Savini rules!). But there is a cool H.G. Lewis type vibe to the effects and the glee to which the red stuff is spilled that I did enjoy.

For me Blood Hook falls in that dreaded middle ground of not being a great movie, but at the same time not being a terrible one. It is an utterly forgettable and mediocre movie that had some potential, but just fails to get the job done. I can only recommend this movie if you are a slasher nerd and have a desire to check out something a bit different.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer