Film Report: Bloodlust (2014)

Bloodlust (2014)
aka: Bloodless
Country: UK
Writer/Director: Richard Johnstone
Stars: Patrick Wilde, Angela Zahra, Bill Fellows, Victoria Hopkins, Louis Murrall, Anna Scott, Lucas Hansen

Bloodlust is a UK horror film about a disparate group of couples who have all separately applied to take part in a medical drugs trial being held at a remote castle.  The coordinator in charge of the trial (Patrick Wilde) sets out very strict rules and forbids any contact with the outside world confiscating all means of mobile communication.  They are told they are free to leave whenever they want but only those who stay the distance will be paid the not inconsiderable fee on offer.  After a few days one couple find the regime too extreme and decide to leave but discover to their cost that leaving was not really an option after all as they are set upon by something predatory and hungry once they have said their goodbyes to the others and left the castle grounds.  Those that remain are soon fighting for their lives as they discover the true nature of the trial organisers and the real reason they have been lured here.

The nudity to mention in this film comes from Victoria Hopkins playing one of the main trial volunteers.  She is an Australian actress who works mostly in the UK on low-budget horror films such as this.  The nudity is brief and comes when she is reaching for a towel after coming out of the shower.

Victoria Hopkins in Bloodlust

Film Report: Demon Baby (2014)

Demon Baby (2014)
aka: Little Devil
aka: Wandering Rose
Country: UK
Director: Corrie Greenop / Writers: Corrie Greenop, Lee Phillips
Stars: Carina Birrell, David Wayman, Cameron Jack

Engaged couple Rose (Carina Birrell) and Theo (David Wayman) are taking a camping holiday in the Scottish highlands.  Theo is full of enthusiasm for exploring the great outdoors and eagerly looking forward to becoming a father following Rose's recent news that she had fallen pregnant.  Theo is loving and attentive but Rose is feeling despondent and remote having done something she knows will shatter him when he finds out.  In the meantime Rose keeps having nightmarish visions that she cannot control, and as Theo becomes increasingly concerned about her, she begins to question her own sanity.

Demon Baby is the film's American title and its DVD cover art is clearly trying to gear it as a horror film.  Whilst the film does at times steer you into thinking in terms of a supernatural explanation, it is not ultimately of that genre and so may lead the viewer to an ending they were not expecting.
For its UK release it has been renamed again as Little Devil - this again sounds as though it is being aimed at the horror market.
The original title of the film was Wandering Rose which is somewhat vague but not misleading.

The nudity in this film comes from Scottish actress Carina Birrell in a scene in which her character is taking a shower.

Carina Birrell in Demon Baby (Little Devil)

Carina Birrell has previously been seen topless in episode 5 of the second series in BBC3's lesbian relationship drama Lip Service in 2012.

Film Report: Dark Vision (2015)

Dark Vision (2015)
Country: UK
Director: Darren Flaxstone / Writers: Darren Flaxstone, Bernie Hodges
Stars: Bernie Hodges, Suzie Latham, Judith Haley, Alicia Ancel, Oliver Park, Simon Pearce

Charismatic TV medium and hypnotist Spencer Knights (Bernie Hodges) presents an internet- steamed paranormal reality show called Mind-Full which visits Britain's spookiest locations and uncovers their dark secrets with the help of an intrepid celebrity guest seeking to overcome deep-rooted fears by means of Spencer's mind control techniques.  In the latest instalment, Spencer and his guest, along with a small crew, are staying overnight in the catacombs beneath the notoriously haunted Baylock's Folly where children were kept safe from the Black Death in the 15th century only to suffer at the hands of a Satanist madman instead.  Multiple hidden cameras cover every move as they explore the vast network of tunnels beneath the towering edifice.  Spencer spins an atmospheric tale for his viewers ramping up the intrigue, scares and drama - but something unexpected is going on, terrifying things that weren't scripted are occurring and it appears the team have disturbed a stalking evil spirit from which some of them may well not escape alive ...

Dark Vision is an effective and atmospheric British horror tale that does something refreshingly different with its premise.  There is also an encompassing story (which does seem a bit redundant) in which Spencer Knights and his crew are meant to be in a competition in which several rival paranormal shows are vying to get the most ratings and this is what drives Knights to do a reckless thing which awakens the evil spirit.  But we never see anything of these rival shows and are only updated on the "leaderboard" via occasional progress update captions and a few mentions in the dialogue.  The main story is good enough to have worked just as well without the need for what seems to be a largely immaterial plot intricacy.

The nudity comes from British actress Alicia Ancel who plays the celebrity guest Marva Clewes, a former hot soap actress with a pathological fear of the dark.

She has a lovemaking scene with the broadcast engineer in his technical van in which she is seen topless a couple of times.

Alicia Ancel in Dark Vision

Film Report: The Maid (2014)

The Maid (2014)
Country: UK
Writer/Director: Paul Emmanuel
Stars: Claire Kahane, Ryan Cerenko, Keith Hill

Plot: Emotionally troubled and angry-with-world American teenager Jack (Ryan Cerenko) has come on an unwanted trip to England to visit his hated British father David (Keith Hill).  Jack shuns all efforts his father makes to build bridges and blames him for everything wrong about his life.  It is Jack's 18th birthday soon but he hates his birthday because it reminds him his mother died giving birth to him.  His father's second marriage failed and now living with an uncle in the States he feels like an orphan who has never had a proper family. David employs a 20-something French maid called Maria (Claire Kahane) who tries to understand the pain Jack is feeling.  Jack finds her fascinating and soon develops a massive crush on her making his stay bearable.  Maria has hidden sorrows of her own and eventually that helps her empathise with him and a soul-searching relationship develops between the two of them that enables them both to grow and perhaps forgive those they judge to have wronged them.

Claire Kahane plays her role as Maria with a convincing French accent, so-much-so that whilst watching I assumed that she was a real French actress working abroad.  But it turns out she is an English actress who has worked on a number of projects although this appears to be her first lead role in a feature film.  Ryan Cerenko is also a British actor so (presumably) he too was putting on the American accent he uses.

There are two topless scenes which both feature Claire Kahane.  In the first she opens her blouse and lowers her bra cups when she grants Jack's request to kiss her breasts; later on she is topless in a bedroom when she and Jack have a lovemaking scene.

Claire Kahane in The Maid