In the intense horror film BLISS (2019), Dezzy, a hard-partying artist, goes on a drug binge ending in a strange encounter that leaves her with a savage craving for blood. The film spirals into mad blood lust sharply portrayed with loud music, plenty of howling, neon color, strobing lights, and crazy camera moves, as if Gasper Noe made MANDY.
Like MANDY, the film is compelling with its visuals and gore, though it never achieves that film’s atmospheric, almost mythic moodiness. And as with Gasper Noe films like CLIMAX, it involves hot young people partying to extremes until things get out of control, while the camera yanks you into the madness with crazy moves like rotating 360.
That’s all interesting, but Dezzy is not a sympathetic character, harsh and selfish and starting the film nearly out of control, so when she does go out of control, it’s hard to feel invested. The creators don’t seem to care either, using her for violent setpieces that seem to wrap up but largely made me laugh in a so-bad-it’s-good way, a strange thing for me, as I usually react to bad films by saying they’re so bad they’re bad. It’s over the top and comes back down in a bucket, but it’s kind of fun, and I can picture many horror fans getting a kick out of it.
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