Blood Relations (1988)

The members of a severely dysfunctional family get together at a snow-covered, isolated mansion in the winter. There the family members - including the father, an arrogant surgeon who may ... See full summary »

Director:

Graeme Campbell

Writer:

Steven Saylor

Stars:

Jan Rubes, Lydie Denier, Kevin Hicks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jan Rubes	...	Andreas
Lydie Denier	...	Marie
Kevin Hicks	...	Thomas
Lynne Adams	...	Sharon
Steven Saylor	...	Jack
Sam Malkin	...	Yuri
Carrie Leigh	...	Thomas' Girlfriend
Ray Walston	...	Charles McLeod
Joe Pahonick	...	Male Patient
David MacKay	...	Young Doctor
Marilyn Haskell	...	Sheila
Susan Bayliss	...	Woman Doctor
Denis Akiyama	...	Heart Surgeon
Jane Schoettle	...	Nurse
Michael Beattie	...	Young Intern

Storyline

The members of a severely dysfunctional family get together at a snow-covered, isolated mansion in the winter. There the family members - including the father, an arrogant surgeon who may have murdered his wealthy wife - expose each others' secrets, with surprising results.

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Plot Keywords:

mansion | dysfunctional family | bed ridden | secret laboratory | neurosurgeon | 

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Taglines:

Anything for the family.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blutsbande

Company Credits

Production Co:

SC Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Sleazy, trashy, and stupid. Not necessarily in that order.

Definitely the worst movie I've seen in recent memory, a late night rental by one of my roommates that I had the misfortune of having to sit through. The story is of a young woman brought home to a sprawling mansion in the country in order to meet her fiancé's strange family, and from that commences intrigue, murder, horror, and acting on par with the average ventriloquist's dummy.

The film tries very hard to be scary but instead falls short of even being campy. Every twist is utterly predictable and the attempts to shock us with gore just fall flat. The cast all seem uniformly embarrassed to be part of such a sleazy production and you as they deadpan their way through dialogue of a quality usually reserved for 70s porno films you can almost read their thoughts : "Is it still too late to back out of this one? Can I have possibly have my name struck from the credits? Wait a minute, what am I worried about, no one is even going to watch this garbage anyway."

The gratuitous nudity (which is about the only thing worth watching) and over-the-top murders lend the flick a very trashy quality reminiscent of B-grade exploitation films of ages past, or just a very bad "Tales from the Crypt" episode in ages slightly less past. The ending is equal parts predictable, depressing, offensive, and absurd, leaving a bad taste in your mouth on every possible level.