This is one of the movies I purchased over the weekend. Let’s just say… I was enticed by the cover. Bloody Mary 3D was originally titled Bloody Mary: The Legend Returns, but I guess it received a name change when it was picked up for distribution by TomCat Films. This is also an older title, released the very last day of 2011, but I figured I would give it a review anyway.
Bloody Mary 3D is written by Keith Parker and directed by Charlie Vaughn. Cast members include Alena Savostikova, Derek Jameson, Bear Badeaux, Shannon Bobo, Michael Simon, Natalie Pero (“All My Children”), Shawn C. Phillips (Girls Gone Dead, Ghost Shark), Ron Jeremy (Bloody Bloody Bible Camp, Jersey Shore Massacre), and Veronica Ricci as Bloody Mary.
“While making a music video, a group of filmmakers accidentally waken the curse of Bloody Mary, a young woman who was brutally murdered over 100 years ago by her jealous husband whose distant descendant is the star of the music video. Seductive and mysterious, the redhead ghost of Mary draws the crew people one by one into her web to kill them.”
The film starts off with a fairly average lesbian sex scene which borders on soft-core pornography. Ok, I get it, the cover has an underwear clad bloody woman, the villain is portrayed by a Hustler and Penthouse cover-girl. This is going to be a sexy horror movie. The only problem with this is the sexiness is so forced that it becomes unsexy in certain ways. I mean, I can’t criticize the looks of any of the women in this picture. However, it should be noticed that woman can be just as sexy fully clothed or with a hint of mystery to them. Maybe I’m just one of the few people who watch horror films for suspense and to route for characters I like. I’ll save the porn for the internet searches.
Now, I should have known this movie was going to be somewhat low quality when it went straight to opening credits. No previews. No DVD menu. No logos. Movie starts as soon as the disc loads. Things, from a production standpoint, pretty much went downhill from there. Whoever was working behind-the-scenes have some shred of talent, but it wasn’t showcased here. The cinematography was the most frustrating part: some scenes looked top notch and others left a lot to be desired. The audio was just as scattered, with fishbowl audio in some spots and flawless audio in others. Was there a long gap between shooting dates where crew members had to be replaced? Why isn’t the overall quality cohesive at all?
The only positive aspect I have to highlight is the special effects department. Corey Webber and Jacky Belle seem to be the only crew members who showed up, did their job correctly, and moved on. They did amazing work here. If only their work could have been showcased with more clarity by better actors and a better editor. Speaking of the acting, the performances here range from average to way below average.
Bloody Mary 3D is the first Bloody Mary feature I’ve seen in years. There’s certainly other titles that are much, much better. With that said this one kind of isn’t worth the price of purchase unless you’re streaming it somewhere. Pretty women doesn’t equal a pretty film. Final Score: 4 out of 10.
