Bloody Murder

Bloody Murder (also known as Scream Bloody Murder in the United Kingdom) is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Ralph E. Portillo and written by John R. Stevenson. It stars Jessica Morris, Crystalle Ford, Peter Guillemette, and Patrick Cavanaugh. The plot follows a group of counselors working at a summer camp, where a masked assailant begins a murder spree.

Bloody Murder
DVD cover art
Directed byRalph E. Portillo
Produced by
  • Jamie Elliott
  • Ralph E. Portillo
Screenplay byJohn R. Stevenson
Starring
Music bySteven M. Stern
CinematographyKeith Holland
Edited byCarlos Puente
Production
company
Hemisphere Entertainment
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 21, 2000 (2000-08-21)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bloody Murder is often criticized for being too similar to the Friday the 13th and Scream franchises.

It was followed by a sequel, Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp (2003), and a spin-off, The Graveyard (2006).[1]

Plot

Teenage friends Julie, her boyfriend Jason, Dean, Whitney and Tobe are working as summer camp counselors at Camp Placid Pines. Their boss Patrick introduces them to the other counselors, including Drew.

The groundskeeper, Henry, warns Julie that there is something dangerous in the woods, but Patrick dismisses him as crazy. Late that night, the counselors decide to play a game called Bloody Murder, a combination of hide and seek and tag. Jason is designated "it". He and Dean play a prank on one of the counselors, Brad. Afterwards, Dean sees Jason making out with Whitney, his ex-girlfriend. After she leaves, Jason is confronted by an unknown person.

The next morning, Julie asks where Jason is. Dean tells her he said he was taking a few days off, but Julie is still concerned. The following night, the counselors gather to watch a movie. In the kitchen, a man in a hockey mask stabs Whitney to death. The next day, the counselors inform Patrick that Jason and Whitney have gone missing, and they call the local sheriff. Dean has been acting suspiciously and cannot provide an alibi, so he is taken in for questioning. Henry tells Julie to ask her father about "Nelson", so she sends him an email. Brad is killed and Dean is released from custody because he could not have been responsible.

Julie's father replies saying he doesn't remember a Nelson. Julie is attacked by the killer in the woods and she flees to camp. Dean is killed by the murderer. Julie finds a photo of her dad at the camp with someone named Nelson Hammond. She discovers that Nelson Hammond was almost killed in an accident involving the game Bloody Murder. Years later, he returned to the camp and killed the counselor involved. He was caught and sent to a mental institution.

That night, Julie is attacked again, but escapes by locking her attacker in the freezer. The attacker is revealed to be Jason, who fled because he was worried Dean would tell Julie he had cheated with Whitney, and also because he was worried the police were after him. Jason is taken in by the police.

The killer murders Doug. Julie's father arrives and walks with Drew to the lake, as Julie gathers her things from her cabin. She discovers that Drew's father was Bill Anderson, the man that Nelson Hammond killed for revenge, and concludes that Drew must be the killer. She confronts Drew, but the killer arrives and attacks them, proving her wrong. Drew is knocked out and Julie flees.

Julie runs into Patrick, who reveals he is the killer and actually Nelson Hammond, who has returned to camp to complete his revenge. He chases Julie through the woods with an axe. She runs to the camp, where the other counselors are with the police. Patrick arrives and says that Julie hit her head and is delusional. Tobe believes Julie and threatens to shoot Patrick, but finds out he has no bullets. Patrick swings at Julie, but Drew shoots him in the arm. Patrick is arrested.

Sheriff Williams asks Patrick why he killed Doug. Patrick denies killing Doug and says someone named Trevor Moorehouse must have been responsible. As Jason is walking home alone, Clayton Moorehouse, Trevor's father, comes out of the bushes wielding a chainsaw. Jason screams in terror before the screen cuts out.

Cast
  • Jessica Morris as Julie McConnell
  • Peter Guillemette as Patrick/Nelson Hammond
  • Patrick Cavanaugh as Tobe
  • Crystalle Ford as Drew Zemke/Patricia Zemke
  • Michael Stone as Dean
  • Justin Ross Martin as Jason Hathaway
  • Tracy Pacheco as Whitney Chambers
  • Lindsey Leigh as Jamie
  • David Smigelski as Brad Thompson
  • William Winter as Doug
  • Michael Prohaska as Sheriff Williams
  • Jerry Richards as Tommy McConnell
  • Bobby Stuart as Henry

Production

Filming took place in California at three different camps, which were edited to appear as one location.[2]

Release

Bloody Murder was released on VHS on August 21, 2000,[3] and on DVD on September 12, 2000, by Artisan Entertainment.[4]

Reception

Buzz McClain of AllMovie condemned the film as "infuriatingly boring" and gave it 1/5.[5] A 1 was also awarded by John Fallon of Arrow in the Head, who wrote, "Movies like this make you realize just how good Friday the 13th and Scream are. It tries to blend both together but fails for three reasons: It has no heart, it has no brain and it has no balls. This flick is not even fun in a bad way",[6] and Devon Bertsch of Digital Retribution, who wrote, "The plotting can get so bad it's almost gibberish. The acting is atrocious. There are BAD fade-outs and just general fades, and poor editing for continuity and the things that need a quick pace. Too many theories as to what happened are presented visually, like some bizarre homage to the ending of Clue, or even Wayne's World. It's all bad, and the great tragedy is that it's not even funny, dammit!"[7]

The film garnered further 1's from G. Noel Gross of DVD Talk, who referred to Bloody Murder as "less a horror movie, but more an inane whodunit with the production values of an after school special with a couple dirty words mixed in",[8] and Robert Pardi of TV Guide, who dismissed Bloody Murder as a "generic Friday the 13th rip-off" that "is the very model of anonymous filmmaking".[9] In a review for DVD Verdict, Patrick Naugle lambasted the film, writing, "I don't even know where to begin to talk about this movie. It's terrible. It goes beyond terrible. At least cheesy, cruddy films such as the ones Roger Corman made were enjoyable to watch for their high camp value. Bloody Murder doesn't even have that going for it".[10]

References
  1. Jim Harper (2004). Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies. Critical Vision. pp. 70–71. ISBN 9781900486392.
  2. Portillo, Ralph (June 5, 2000). Bloody Murder (DVD) (Liner notes). Artisan Entertainment. p. 1.
  3. "Bloody Murder [VHS]". Amazon. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  4. "Bloody Murder [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  5. McClain, Buzz. "Bloody Murder (2000)". AllMovie. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  6. Fallon, John. "Bloody Murder (2000)". Arrow in the Head. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  7. Bertsch, Devon (October 21, 2005). "Bloody Murder (2000)". Digital Retribution. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  8. Gross, Noel (October 29, 2010). "Bloody Murder: Special Edition". DVD Talk. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  9. Pardi, Robert. "Bloody Murder". TV Guide. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  10. Naugle, Patrick (October 17, 2010). "Bloody Murder". DVD Verdict. DVD Verdict. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
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