Blood Machines is Old School Horror Sci-Fi at its Finest!
Have you ever sat down to watch a movie and it felt like the creators of the film had jacked into your brain somehow and extracted the essence of what you like and somehow translated it to film? Well the latest Shudder series Blood Machines has successfully captured the essence of Bud in every way imaginable in it’s three amazing 20 minute episodes.
Chapter One - Mima
Next to horror, my favorite genre of film has to be Sci-Fi, although lately in the genre there has been a notable shift in the style and tone. A quick browse through some of the streaming services I subscribe to and the Sci-Fi section is full of two things; hard Sci-Fi and superhero stuff. Now I know superheroes are all the rage and in our modern world where technology and our understanding of it has advanced so far that making hard, scientifically accurate films is appealing, but frankly, it’s boring as fuck.
I long for the reckless age of Sci-Fi from decades past. An age without rules, without logic and without a need to explain. There was a time, in the ‘80s mostly, where Sci-Fi was not restricted by a need to be accurate, it was just purely fiction. There were films like They Live with inter-dimensional shapeshifters that could only be seen with sunglasses, Hell Comes to Frogtown was about a post apocalyptic world where humans were sterile and only Roddy Piper could save a pregnant woman from frog people. New York was prison, everyone wanted a Cherry 2000 sex bot and it was key that the spice flowed, always. The films from this era were extreme in their creativity and were not handcuffed to a reality of what science is but instead to explore a world of what science could be, and it didn't need to explain to you why.
The first episode of Blood Machines borrows heavily from this idea. A pair of scrapers Vascan and Lago are sent to track down a crashed ship with a rogue AI on a remote planet. When they land they encounter a tribe of space women who believe the ship, the machine, is alive and they are there to resurrect it. The captain, Vascan, tries to fight off the oil drinking, possibly android redheaded women with his neon green laser gun but the elder tribe’s woman plays a song with a stick and a naked woman with a glowing upside down cross on her abdomen explodes from the ship and flies off into space.
No explanation. No basis in real science. And none is needed. An opening title card about the crashed ship and 10 minutes of dialogue and you know exactly what is what. Vascan, the captain, is a cocky dickhead. The old man Lago is compassionate to AI. The tribal woman, especially the one kidnapped by the two scrapers, Corey, knows something about the metaphysical nature of AI that no one else does. And the ship’s AI, Tracy, clearly is up to something. I am a huge fan of a simple narrative, especially one that is vague on the details. It leaves you the viewer with the ability to fill in the blanks of the story. When this happens, you are no longer simply watching a movie, you are experiencing it.
Chapter Two: Corey
Another thing sorely missing from modern Sci-Fi is the futuristic soundtrack. These modern films are great and all but could you imagine when Sandra Bullock is floating around in space in Gravity if it were set to some ass kickin’ synthwave? Or when Matthew McConaughey was stuck in an inter-dimensional bookshelf that some futuristic pipe organ music was playing in the background? A modern Sci-Fi film that actually acknowledges that in the future there are no fucking violins or pianos and actually gave us some robot techno music was Tron:Legacy. The filmmakers teamed up with Daft Punk to make a score that sounds exactly like you would think it would sound if you were sucked into a computer. The creators behind Blood Machines followed in this pattern by employing synth wave musician Carpenter Brut to score this film, and it’s amazing.
The second episode of Blood Machines is the opening credits. The majority of the 15 minute episode is Carpenter Brut music playing loud as fuck while Vascan, Lago and Corey chase down the naked flying lady as she floats through neon space through a field of debris from exploded ships. This portion of the film is all visual, there is no dialogue to slow it down. There is no exposition to distract from the musical and visual artistry. This episode is nothing more than a chase through space and the synth wave/outrun soundtrack fits perfectly. The only thing that really happens in the episode is that Lasco and Corey leave the ship to track down the naked lady. Everything starts to have a neon glow. Lasco is trapped in some weird room where every exit is some sort of wormhole portal to the other side of the room and Corey seduces him for his gun.
Chapter Three - Tracy
I’ve spent a lot of time in this article complaining about modern Sci-Fi’s serious, hard science approaches but I want to complain about the other trend in Sci-Fi I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Superhero films. Yes, I get it, they make a lot of money and they are fun but what I miss about older Sci-Fi that superhero movies steer clear from is the nihilism. Once upon a time, Sci-Fi movies did not have a happy ending. In They Live everyone you care about turns bad or dies. In 1984 the totalitarian government won. Even though Snake gets the upper hand in Escape from New York the rest of the world is plunged into war and in Soylent Green we realize they have been eating people. Gone are the days of Charlton Heston slamming his fist into the sand shouting, “You finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up!” and here are the days of Iron Man winking into the camera knowing he has saved the day again and everything is happy.
Gross.
The final episode of Blood Machines in one of those excellent nihilistic endings of Sci-Fi days past where the good guy doesn’t win. Hell, I am not even certain if the bad guy wins in this one, basically everyone dies and it’s naked as fuck. It picks up where the previous episode ended, Lasco is stuck in a space room with Corey and the naked space demon woman seducing him from his gun. They shoot him and rip out his guts to drink the blood from his intestines. Meanwhile on the ship, the old man Lago tries to dismantle the robot, Tracy, but dies of a heart attack. Lasco makes his way back to the ship to deliver a message to his space commander warning that the demon AI space women are coming before revealing he is actually a clone under Corey’s power. He blows his head off. Corey puts on a gas mask and a bunch of naked women come out of nowhere and start dancing around her while she uses the force or something to pull together debris from space to make a giant ship.
The ship then transforms into a gigantic version of the naked space demon lady and they bring the old man back to life.
I have no idea why or what is going on in the final episode, but I fucking love it. It’s insane, nothing makes any sense whatsoever, the music is rocking, slimy naked women are everywhere and then as suddenly as the whole thing started, it ends and the credits roll.
Consider my mind blown. I thought the days of out of this world Sci-Fi that didn't need a happy ending with a kick ass soundtrack were gone but the creative team behind Blood Machines proved me wrong. Directorial debut from Scott Ickerman with a fantastic soundtrack by Carpenter Brut that I am listening to on repeat while writing this review. I hope to see more of this in the future. Perhaps a feature length film? Perhaps a sequel? Or perhaps, like old Sci-Fi, this is it. This is the end of the tale and it will remain a stand alone piece forever. One can only hope.
5 out of 5. 10 out of 10. Check it out now
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