Blood Relatives (1978)
"Les liens de sang" (original title)

Montreal: Late at night the teenage Patricia flees into a police department, covered all over with blood. She states together with her cousin she took shelter from rain in an entry way on ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Sydney Banks, Claude Chabrol,

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Aude Landry, Lisa Langlois

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Sutherland	...	Steve Carella
Aude Landry	...	Patricia Lowery
Lisa Langlois	...	Muriel Stark
Laurent Malet	...	Andrew Lowery
Stéphane Audran	...	Mrs. Lowery
Walter Massey	...	Mr. Lowery
Micheline Lanctôt	...	Mrs. Carella
Donald Pleasence	...	James Doniac
David Hemmings	...	Armstrong
Ian Ireland	...	Bert Klinger
Guy Hoffmann	...	Priest
Marguerite Lemir	...	Helene Beck
Gregory Giannis	...	Sully
Jan Rooney	...	Grandmother (as Jan Chamberlain)
Tim Henry	...	Captain Marriott

Storyline

Montreal: Late at night the teenage Patricia flees into a police department, covered all over with blood. She states together with her cousin she took shelter from rain in an entry way on their way home from a party, when an unknown man threatened them, forced her cousin to perform oral sex and then killed her. Patricia could barely escape. The police starts searching among the known sex criminals - but then Patricia changes her statement and states her brother Andrew, who had an affair with his cousin, was the murderer. Inspector Carella doesn't quite believe both the statements.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | blood | investigator | teen | murder | 

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Taglines:

The Most Intimate Act Of All Is... ...Murder!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada France

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blood Relatives

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 1,450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinévidéo, Filmel, Classic Film Industries

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut theatrical feature film of Canadian actress Lisa Langlois

User Reviews

BLOOD RELATIVES (Claude Chabrol, 1978) ***

This is an unusual foray in the English language for Chabrol (albeit set in Canada, where French is extensively spoken) but a most typical mystery for him (based on a novel by popular American pulp writer Ed McBain) and, in retrospect, an underrated (if unassuming) work.

The director also managed to rope in a good cast, led by Donald Sutherland (a genuine Canadian, playing a character not too far removed from his star-making turn in KLUTE [1971]), as well as David Hemmings and Donald Pleasence (quietly impressive in the role of a paedophile) to act as red herrings. However, the best performances come from the two young female protagonists (who were ostensibly assaulted one night at the film's very start) and especially the sole survivor, whose version of events keeps changing throughout the film, as Sutherland – and the audience – gradually begins to put the pieces together with every new disclosed fact. On the other hand, Chabrol's own wife – Stephane Audran – is saddled with a thankless mother role.

Though the ultimate revelation is hardly overwhelmingly original, the incestuous connotations are provocative enough to make the journey there a fairly powerful one. The copy I acquired (which seems to be slightly trimmed – running 91 minutes against the official 100) was full-frame and excessively soft, but certainly serviceable for such a rare item. Interestingly, the French edition of this title contains an alternate score by Chabrol regular Pierre Jansen to the one provided here by Howard Blake.