Blood Machines
SHUDDERSeth Ickerman's Blood Machines is a vibrant and vivid exploration of science fiction in an illustrious visual bravado reminiscent of 1980s direct-to-video cinema.
With a running time of a slim fifty minutes, Ickerman's film from the get-go has a great deal of momentum to gain regarding world-building, character growth and general exposition. How Ickerman gets around this is through visual storytelling. With that is given the ability to not necessarily understate the characters present but to fully explore the setting and aesthetic – what is essentially a character in its own right.
The visual effects, keeping in mind the film's modest budget, are nothing short of amazing. The sheer colour volume and life, not only in vibrancy but in the distinction of production design, are incredibly impressive to see in its magnitude on screen. This leads to the viewer often finding themselves lost in the colossal scope and acid trip aesthetic more times than they'll dare remember.
That's not to say the characters on screen are underwhelming or underwritten, but they are more or less understated in terms of audience engagement. The visuals take precedent tenfold, but that being said, the performances that are present are not crafted in verbal depth but, again, are curated in a visual bravado that does the talking for them.
The only issue with a constant usage of visual world-building is the aforementioned loss of character immersion and, inadvertently, the convoluted story it builds. Bar a written introduction, Blood Machines is slightly shaky in the narrative department while never overly explicit in what is happening. While the viewer isn’t given a direction of background or depth, it all ultimately feels like a brilliant art show without a cohesive storytelling at its heart. Nonetheless, that brilliant art show is thankfully a visual marvel and undeniably demands attention.
