WICKED BLOOD

WICKED BLOOD

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Coming to DVD from director/writer Mark Young and Entertainment One comes the story of family ties that are soaked in WICKED BLOOD.

This film tells the story of Hannah (Abigail Breslin), a teenage girl living in a small southern town with no parents to guide her. Living with her older sister Amber (Alexa Vega) they are constantly at odds with one another.

Finding comfort in family she plays chess with her Uncle Donny (Lew Temple). The one thing all three of them have in common is that they are afraid of Uncle Frank Stinson (Sean Bean) and his brother Bobby (Jake Busey). Everyone knows Frank runs an illicit criminal organization and has no problem killing anyone who gets in his way.

Amber works in a café where she meets Wild Bill (James Purefoy), a biker who is also running meth and is the archenemy of the Stinson’s. Without telling anyone, Hannah gets a job running drugs for Uncle Frank to make money of her own knowing how dangerous it is.

But everything isn’t as it looks on the surface as one serious move by Hannah sets up a chain reaction that will hit the young girl to her very core!

FINAL WORD: Breslin as Hannah portrays a young girl trying to find her way among adults who are clearly screwed up. Watching Breslin go through the story, she is quiet when needs be listening to what is going on around her. Looking for a way to make things right, she plays a dangerous game with killers. This young actress has come such a long way from LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE proving she has the talent and know how to carry this role and do it extremely well.

Vegas as Amber gets the glorious role of falling in love with the bad boy biker Bill. Also trying to find her way she deals with a sister who has a mind of her own and an Uncle who can’t keep his hands off drugs.

Temple as Uncle Donny truly does care for Hannah and Amber but he also has his own addictions and troubles dealing with Frank. Temple, it has to be said, was awesome in the series THE WALKING DEAD so it was very cool indeed to see him in this film.

Busey as Bobby has the opportunity to play a real sick individual in WICKED BLOOD. If Frank is the calm crime boss then Bobby is the complete opposite with his erratic anger and obvious lack of conscience over those he hurts.

Bean as Frank Stinson says everything short and sweet. But when he realizes someone is stealing from him and men who work for him are killed – this character becomes determined and that’s just the cherry on top of the revenge cake. From LORD OF THE RINGS to GAME OF THRONES it’s always a treat to see Bean play a character less like what we’ve come to expect.

Purefoy as Wild Bill wants nothing more than to bring Stinson down. There is a side to him that is nothing like the Stinson. He cares for Hannah’s welfare and finds himself falling for Amber. Hard to believe Wild Bill is a hardened criminal – or is he? I’ve watched Purefoy play so many roles and truth be told I can’t get enough of him. From righteous king to serial killer there isn’t any role Purefoy has played that fans don’t enjoy.

Other cast includes: Ritchie Montgomery as Hank, Ricky Wayne as the FBI Agent, Casey Hendershot as Lukas, and Jody Quigley as Jackson.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give WICKED BLOOD three and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. This stellar cast puts in performances that are equal all around. No one character stands out more than the other and that is difficult to pull off. Watching the story unfold has Breslin showing what a major talent she is to this day.

Filmed with a grit that is a character all its own lends real authenticity to the story. Director/writer Young chose his cast and setting wisely pulling off a film that I truly enjoyed watching. I’m a huge fan of Breslin, Bean and Purefoy and with the addition of Vega, Busey and Temple the film wins!

In the end – this game of chess can destroy them all!