Blutsverwandte (1978)

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
Kenny Ireland	...	Bert Klinger (as Ian Ireland)
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 | family relationships | sister sister relationship | sibling incest subtext | 

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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

First English language film of French director Claude Chabrol. Though filmed in Canada which hosts both French and English as native languages, French director Claude Chabrol chose to shoot the film in English rather than French as he felt the story would work better on film in the native language of its novel.

User Reviews

Underrated mystery thriller with a great performance from Donald Sutherland.

Donald Sutherland was one of the most interesting and intelligent actors of the 1970s with impressive roles in movie such as 'Klute', 'Steelyard Blues', 'The Day Of The Locust', 'Don't Look Now' and '1900'. But for some reason 'Blood Relatives' has disappeared into obscurity, despite being directed by acclaimed French New Wave figure Claude Chabrol, and featuring yet another fine Sutherland performance. Why this movie has been all but forgotten is difficult to explain. I really have no idea. But as I could EASILY list 100 other unfairly neglected movies off the top of my head it doesn't really surprise me. Anyway, this is a very well made mystery thriller which kept me fascinated throughout. Sutherland is great, the three young leads (who include Lisa Langlois later of trash classic 'Class Of 1984'!) are all very good, plus we get the wonderful David Hemmings ('Blowup'/'Barbarella'/'Profondo Rosso'), and a brilliant cameo from Donald Pleasence ('THX 1138'/'Halloween') as a creepy paedophile. 'Blood Relatives' is recommended to mystery buffs and Sutherland fans.