Director: Jeff Barnaby
Writer: Jeff Barnaby (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Maija Tailfeaters, Forrest Goodluck, Kiowa Gordon, Olivia Scriven, Stonehorse Lone Goeman
Plot: The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gMaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.
Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Never Holds Back
Story: Blood Quantum starts as we meet the Mi’gmag community, the sheriff Traylor (Greyeyes) with his family, ex-wife Joss (Tailfeathers) with their teenage sons Joseph (Goodluck) and Lysol (Gordon) who find themselves getting into trouble too often. One day people start getting out of control, becoming ravenous biting people, only for the community to find themselves immune to the infection.
6 months later, the community find themselves one of the last still standing, fighting of the zombies that come their way, not willing to let anyone coming into the community without proper tests, trying to keep the community together in a world where they are in control.
Thoughts on Blood Quantum
Characters – Traylor is the local sheriff of the Mi’gmag community, he has respect from the local people, only his two sons often find themselves in trouble, once the infected start heading towards the community reserve, Traylor brings the people together to start a community, which is fair and honest to keep people safe, while being willing to do the difficult decisions. Joss is the ex-wife of Traylor, she is the local doctor, her skills will help the community stay together and be vital going forward in this world. Joseph is the child of the two, he gets in trouble to keep up with his half-brother, with his good-natured always causing more conflict between the brothers. Lysol is the half-brother of Joseph, he is always in trouble with the law, which is why Joseph finds himself getting into trouble more, he thrives in the zombie filled world getting to let his angry intentions out.
Performances – Michael Greyeyes leads the film with a great performance, which is echoed with the rest of the cast, they show us the struggles, the psychotic side to what they could become and how the good sides in their characters can come through strong.
Story – The story here follows a Mi’gmag reserve as they must come to grips with being immune to a zombie outbreak even if they get bitten, they come together to deal with the new problems of the world as we see how one family gets torn apart by the actions in this new world. When it comes to zombie based stories, we do need to find something to make it stand out, this does bring us something new, by having a full group of immune people in a community together dealing with the threats coming from the outside. Seeing how the family starts to come to clash brings the human element to the story. Where the story can become stronger than other zombies, is with nothing seems to be off limits and you will have shock value to what happens.
Horror – The horror in the film does focus on the fast moving zombies, we see a lot of blood splatter with a lot of shocking moments when it comes to seeing certain death moments.
Settings – The film is set in a reserve, which shows us just how together the family and people are.
Special Effects – The effects in the film focus on injuries and how ferocious they are.
Scene of the Movie – Home disturbance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The catalyst seems too safe, going against the creative ideas of the rest of the film.
Final Thoughts – This is a blood filled zombie fest that does bring enough originality to the genre and doesn’t hold back on anything it does.
Overall: Blood Splattering Fun.
