Tag Archives: Bloodride

Elephant in the Room: Bloodride’s Final Destination

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And just like that, Bloodride brings us to its final stop – Episode 6, Elephant in the Room. If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting to find out the story behind the man in the elephant suit. As the opening credits roll, the camera once again pans over the doomed passengers. It finally settles on the man in the costume, holding an elephant mask in his laps, with blood trickling from its eyes.

Elephant in the Room Hosts the Most Awkward Office Party

As the episode opens, Elephant in the Room introduces us to William getting ready for an office costume party. However, his wife seems a bit concerned, warning him not to drink too much. She also ominously brings up some office tragedy, which William dismisses before leaving in his elephant costume. At the party, Elephant in the Room next introduces us to new staff members Paul and Kristin. Clearly smitten with one another, boss Steinar interrupts their ‘make cute’ banter with a speech about the company’s success. But things get awkward when Steinar brings up a co-worker named Martha who suffered some mysterious workplace accident.

But things get awkward when Steinar brings up a co-worker named Martha who suffered a mysterious workplace accident.

According to Paul, Martha was alone on the workplace balcony with William and another co-worker, Helene, when she fell off the balcony. The fall scarred her face and left Martha in a coma. Everything seems odd to Kristin. William’s increasingly inappropriate behaviour at the part, along with his sexually-charged interactions with Helene, raise more suspicions. And their co-workers’ refusal to talk about the accident just adds more mystery. Now the two new employees are determined to discover what really happened on that rooftop.

A Dark Spin on Workplace Violence

With their personal investigation in full swing, Kristin and Paul discover that someone was bullying Martha. They find photoshopped pictures sent to a shared office computer comparing Martha to Lord of the Rings’ Gollum. More evidence surfaces that the company buried office complaints. After searching through Helene’s laptop, they figure out that it was William and Helene sharing the photos. But when Paul and Kristin confront Helene with their accusations, she doesn’t deny it. Instead, Helene claims Martha was infatuated with William and fell from the balcony after tying to attack them.

Unfortunately, William isn’t the one in the elephant costume.

Everything comes to a head when Kristin and Paul spy William and Helene sneaking off together to the copy room. Kristin sees this as a chance to expose the workplace ‘bullies’ and locks them in the room. Unfortunately, William isn’t the one in the elephant costume. Another co-worker finds William’s bloody, lifeless body in the bathroom. In the copy room, a horribly scarred Martha reveals herself under the costume. She brutally attacks Helene, cutting off her hand with a paper cutter, as the partygoers watch helplessly. At the episode’s conclusion, a horrified Kristin quietly hides the office keys in her pocket, knowing she’s in part to blame.

Elephant in the Room Ends Bloodride on a High Note

Though it’s not the limited series’ best episode (that’s Ultimate Sacrifice), Elephant in the Room ends Bloodride on a high note. Some of the series’ subversive dark humour is missing. But Elephant in the Room makes up for it with a simple, tight mystery that works well in the short runtime. If this episode goes on much longer, the story probably doesn’t work. That is, the big reveal is pretty straightforward. Like the other episodes, there’s little in the way of any real substantive content. Still Elephant in the Room hooks you with its story-telling and endearing ‘newbie detectives’. And it’s final scene is probably the most genuinely unsettling image in the series.

The Old School: Bloodride Drops Its Most Disappointing Episode

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Welcomes to Bloodride’s fifth episode, The Old School. Thus far throughout its inaugural season, Bloodride has dipped its toes into multiple horror genres. As The Old School opens, our ‘bus driver’ adjusts the mirror. The camera slowly pans across the rows of passengers before stopping at a smiling young woman reading a book covered in blood.

The Old School ‘Re-Opens’ an Old Mystery

New teacher Sanna arrives at Asak school, which is re-opening 40 years after being shut down. Though she’s settling well into her new job, Sanna notices increasingly strange things around the school. First, she sees an old maintenance man, Jager, wandering the halls. But colleague, Trine, claims he no longer works at the school. Later she hears a child crying in the basement, but finds no one when she investigates. Back at the boarding house where she’s staying Sanna confides her fears to owner Agda, who doesn’t seem surprised that something’s not quite right at the school.

…souls sometimes get lost and need help to find the ‘other side’.

Strange things continue happening when Sanna returns to work. Following one of her classes, she hears a child’s voice again before seeing a piece of chalk scrawl “help us” on the board. Later that evening, Agda tells her that souls sometimes get lost and need help to find the ‘other side’. The next day, Trine, reveals that four children from the school disappeared years ago. When Sanna finds an old class school photo, the school’s director tells her the story of four siblings whose mother died, leaving them alone. Before she goes home, she finally sees the siblings’ shadows who warn her that a ‘bad man’ took them away.

The Old School Telegraphs Its ‘Twist’

Now obsessed with the four missing siblings, Sanna finds their old home in the woods. But while she’s searching the abandoned cabin, Jager frightens her away, warning Sanna that the family was dangerous. Back at the boarding house, Sanna and Agda continue investigating the siblings’ disappearance, certain Jager was the ‘bad man’. As they’re looking at the old class photo again, Sanna finds an old paper hidden in the frame. Written on the paper is an incantation meant the assist the spirits of the dead find their way to the other side.

Not everything is as it appears.

Later that evening, Sanna and Agda return to the school’s basement where they find the children’s buried remains. As they begin the incantation, the children’s spirits appear and thank them. Suddenly,, Jager appears and begs Sanna to stop. He claims that the siblings were actually the ‘Devil’s children’ and sources of immense evil. As Sanna turns around, the siblings’ faces have horrifically contorted, their mouths filled with sharp teeth. The episode abruptly ends with Sanna’s final screams.

The Old School Recycles Familiar Horror Tropes

With its fifth entry, The Old School, Bloodride delivers its first genuinely bad episode. In addition to its cookie-cutter plot, this is the first story that feels like its relying solely on cheap jumps and contrived set-ups. Missing from this episode is the dark humour that’s worked so well in earlier episodes. And the trim runtime feels like a detriment to the series for the first time. There’s no time here to build any mythology and develop real atmosphere. Simply put, The Old School feels insubstantive and disposable.

Lab Rats: Bloodride ‘Cages’ This episode’s passengers

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Hop on board for Bloodride’s fourth episode, Lab Rats. Once again we start things off on a stormy night as our silent host, the ‘Bus Driver’, adjusts his rearview mirror. As we pan along the rows of hopeless passengers, the camera lingers of five people dressed only their undergarments. Admittedly, I’ve been most curious about these passengers and, finally, Bloodride will tell us their story.

Lab Rats Invites You to Dinner

Atop a metropolitan tower, pharmaceutical giant Edmund Brathen gathers his wife and team for a celebration. They’ve developed an industry-changing prototype, and Edmund is in good spirits. However, as the celebratory dinner gets underway, tensions among the group reveal themselves. Edmund’s longtime collaborator, Philip harbours some professional jealousy over colleague Abdi’s breakthrough contributions. And Edmund’s wife, Iselin, suspects her husband has gotten cozy with young assistant, Oda.

In a cruel twist of irony, Edmund informs them that the combination to get out is the same as his personal safe.

But the festivities come to an abrupt halt when Edmund discovers the prototype is missing from his personal safe. When his personal security guard informs him that no one else has come or gone from the building, Edmund believes one of his guests is the thief. Desperate to retrieve the prototype, Edmund has his security officer search and strip his guest, including his wife. Too bad the search comes up empty. Edmund and his security officer lead his wife and guests at gunpoint to his research lab. Once inside the lab, Edmund locks his guest inside a glass chamber. In a cruel twist of irony, Edmund informs them that the combination to get out is the same as his personal safe. In other words, only the thief can open the door.

Still Just a Rat in a Cage

Trapped together and watched by an increasingly paranoid Edmund, simmering tensions amongst the group boil over. Jealous Philip quickly points a finger at Abdi. As the two bicker over whose contribution was the true breakthrough, Philip snaps and beats Abdi unconscious. Meanwhile, Iselin and Oda take turns pointing fingers at each other. No one will admit to stealing the prototype. With no other options, Edmund leaks a poisonous gas into the chamber. Finally, Oda gives herself up when she frantically enters the combination and frees the guests.

At this point, it’s fair enough to say that Bloodride isn’t Black Mirror.

Years ago, Oda’s father worked for Edmund. But after Edmund conned his employees out of their investments, Oda’s father committed suicide. Out for revenge, Oda planned to steal and sell the prototype to Edmund’s rival. Though Edmund gets his prototype back, Iselin turns the tables, forcing Edmund into the same glass chamber at gunpoint. In a cruel twist of fate, Iselin tells her husband that she’s changed the combination – to her birthday. Unfortunately, the greedy and self-absorbed Edmund can’t remembers his own wife’s birthday and collapses to the chamber floor with foam brewing at his mouth.

Lab Rats Delivers a Fun, Suspenseful Whodunnit

Though Lab Rats teased cheap ‘Torture Porn’ thrill early on, the episode delivered a pleasant surprise. What Bloodride gave us instead was a bit of a whodunnit mystery that generated some of the best suspense in the series to date. No, it wasn’t a perfect episode. With only 30 minutes with which to work, Lab Rats’ mystery is pretty basic stuff. But that’s probably not a bad thing considering the occasionally heavy-handed plotting on display. Nonetheless, there was just enough guessing and tightly paced tension to make this an enjoyable episode. At this point, it’s fair enough to say that Bloodride isn’t Black Mirror. Still, the Norwegian anthology series is delivering consistently good episodes thus far.

Bad Writer Pens A Darkly Fun episode for bloodride

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Hop on board for Bloodride’s third episode, Bad Writer. If the last episode, Three Sick Brothers, felt derivative, Bad Writer promises some more of the twisty, dark humour that previously worked for it. As the opening credits and ominous music kicks things off, we pan across the rows of lost passengers again. This time the camera stops on a smiling, blonde-haired girl, leaning over a blood-covered laptop.

Bad Writer Introduces Us to the ‘Loveliest Girl in the World’

On a sunny morning, the demure Olivia wakes to her perfect life. Tucked in bed with her boyfriend, Marcus, Olivia is beautiful, rich, and spoiled. When Marcus’ mother texts him to invite the two to dinner, Olivia worries aloud that his mother doesn’t like her. Of course, Marcus assures her that’s not true, telling Olivia she’s ‘the loveliest girl in the world’. On the way out the door to her new writing class, Bad Writer introduces us to Olivia’s overly kind and generous roommates – just another part of Olivia’s perfect life.

…Olivia is beautiful, rich, and spoiled.

At her writing class, Olivia almost immediately attracts the attention and praise of her instructor. She also meets a shy, middle-aged man, Alex, who seems quite taken by Olivia. And he’s also just a little protective of his own amateur writing. But then things take a turn. When Olivia returns home, she stumbles upon her roommates gossiping about her, which strangely detours into a plot to lure her to the woods and murder her. After a tense exchange, Olivia escapes outside by throwing boiling water on the girls. But even dimwitted Marcus is on the plot, and Olivia stabs him in the face with car keys. She’s rescued by a passing car driven by … Alex from writing class.

‘Sometimes You Have to Throw Dirt on Your Characters’

Though Alex takes Olivia to the police station, her roommates track her down, forcing her to dart out the back. As she stumbles in a panic, Olivia discovers that she mistakenly grabbed writing sheets from Alex’s car. What Olivia reads shocks her – she’s just a character in Alex’s story. Everything bad that has happened to her is part of his story. He’s taken their writer instructor’s advice – who also happens to be Alex’s wife – literally. Alex is ‘throwing dirt’ on his character. Out of desperation, Olivia writes her own fate for Alex, turning his MacBook into a monster that severed his fingers.

…she’s just an amateur writer who really hate her daughter-in-law.

Eventually, the aspiring writers call a truce. They meet at a restaurant and plan to write happy endings for one another. And that’s when Bad Writer throws its twist at us. Neither Olivia nor Alex are writing their fates. Olivia’s boyfriend, Marcus, shows up, impaling her with a sword. So who has been writing this story? Why it’s none other than Alex’s wife, the writing instructor, who’s also Marcus’ mother. But there’s still one more twist. The scene cuts to a backyard barbecue with a more frumpy Marcus’ mother hunched over a typewriter. She’s not a famous writer after all. No, she’s just an amateur writer who really hates her daughter-in-law, Olivia. When Marcus and Olivia arrive for dinner, she stabs Olivia believing she can just ‘delete’ it from her story. As the episode fades to black, she desperate clicks at the keyboard while crying, ‘it won’t delete’.

Bad Writer Puts Bloodride Back on Course

Following a lukewarm episode, Bloodride gets back to business with Bad Writer. The episode is brimming the dark, morbid sense of humour that made the first episode work so well. There’s both a genuine sense of surprise when things take a turn as well as some suspense about where things are going. Neither twist feels forced. Dagny Baxter Johnson is perfect as the annoyingly privileged, ‘Olivia’. And the episode’s story doesn’t overstay its runtime.

Three Sick Brothers: Bloodride Trades in Familiar Trope with its Second Episode

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Welcome back for Bloodride’s second episode, Three Sick Brothers. Once again our host, the silent bus driver, adjusts his mirror and the camera pans along the rows of doomed passengers. This time the camera finally rests on a young man with blood dripping from his ear. And with that, Three Sick Brothers promises to deliver some domestic scares.

WARNING – EPISODE SPOILERS BELOW

Three Sick Brothers Take a Family Road Trip

After three years institutionalized in a psychiatric facility, Erik has come home to live with his mother. But when she leaves him alone, Erik’s brothers, Otto and George, convince him to join them on a trip to their old family cabin. Along the way, the brothers pick up a hitchhiker, Monika, at a gas station. Though the brothers’ cabin reunion is initially light-hearted, things become increasingly tense. George and Otto reminisce about their cruel father who insisted on the boys sharpening knives whenever they arrived at the cabin. When Monika teases that Otto is ‘crazy’ while dancing and drinking, the brothers’ tempers flare briefly.

Though the brothers’ cabin reunion is initially light-hearted, things become increasingly tense.

Later Erik explains that he spent time in a psychiatric ward. Monika questions Erik about this relationship with his father. Despite Erik remaining tight-lipped, George subtly hints that their father deserved to live and Erik was the only one who did anything about it. Now fearing for her safety, Monika tries to leave the cabin but George and Otto force her into a chair. Erik tries to save her, but Otto clubs him over the head with a bottle. With Erik helplessly watching, his brothers repeatedly stab Monika.

A Boy Needs His Mother

Meanwhile, Erik’s mothers returns home and is distressed to find him gone with pictures of their old family cabin out. When she stops at the same gas station on her way to to the cabin, she’s even more upset when the clerk tells her Erik was with his ‘brothers’. At the cabin, Erik’s mother finds him covered in blood and in a panic. She assures Erik that he never killed his father – he left them years ago. And in the episode’s biggest twist, Mom tells Erik that he doesn’t have any brothers; he has made them up as part of his psychotic illness. There’s also no Monika tied to a chair. Erik stole a sign from the gas station and tied it to the chair. Everything that happened was in his head.

…she’s even more upset when the clerk tells her that Erik was with his ‘brothers’.

Worried for Erik’s health, Mom plans to drive him home, but has to stop at a gas station. As Erik waits in the car, he sees his ‘brothers’ again, pointing to a young woman filling up. They hold up a gas pump and lighter, egging their brother on. A smiling Erik obliges and the last thing we see is a giant ball of flame – a woman’s screams ends the episode.

Three Sick Brothers a Derivative and Predictable Episode

After a promising start, Bloodride’s second episode, Three Sick Brothers, slides into derivative, predictable storytelling. In spite of some early uncomfortable tension, most viewers will figure out the ‘twist’ pretty quickly. And the tension is pretty minimal. Aside from some early moments that tease what may be coming, Three Sick Brothers feels pretty complacent, particularly for a 30 minute episode. Also absent in the second episode is the dark humour that worked so well in Ultimate Sacrifice. Ultimately, Decent performances and some clever foreshadowing can’t compensate for a tired horror trope. And this episode’s ending feels more tacked on than shocking.

Ultimate Sacrifice – Bloodride’s First Episode Invites You To Take a Ride

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Norway is known for its fjords and mountains, the Northern lights, skiing, and black metal. Though Norwegians haven’t produced a lot of horror movies, the country has given us a few underrated gems. There’s the Cold Prey and Dead Snow series, Trollhunter, and death metal thriller, Lords of Chaos. Now Netflix is marking Friday the 13th with a new Norwegian horror anthology series – Bloodride. It’s a quickie season at just six episodes that clock in around 30 minutes. Like a cross between The Twilight Zone and an old Amicus Productions’ movie, Bloodride promises twisted morality tales. So let’s take a deep dive into the first episode, Ultimate Sacrifice.

[Warning: Episode Spoilers Below]

Ultimate Sacrifice Takes Us To The Countryside

Like any anthology series, Bloodride starts with its wraparound segment. Tales from the Crypt had five strangers touring a mausoleum before the mysterious Crypt Keeper revealed their futures. And Bloodride begins with a creepy bus driver inspecting an empty bus. But when he adjust his rearview mirror, we see rows of passengers. As the camera pans over the lost-looking souls, it lingers on a woman whose hands are covered in blood – the subject of Ultimate Sacrifice. Things then cut to a sunny day where a man briskly walks to a job interview with a CEO named Hartmann.

Molly, our blood-soaked bus passenger, is clearly unhappy.

Cue to five years earlier and the Hartmann family – Leon, his daughter Katja, wife Molly, and family dog, Bolt – arrive at their new country home in the small village of Horgan. Molly, our blood-soaked bus passenger, is clearly unhappy. After a terse argument with Leon, we learn that Molly put the family in financial straits, thus necessitating the lifestyle ‘downgrade’. But nosy neighbours, the Kloppens, interrupt the domestic. Though they seem kind and offer to help fix up the house, Molly is creeped out, particularly with Mrs Kloppen’s black cat.

Never Trust Someone Who Hates Animals

On the next day, the Kloppen’s show up with what looks like all of Horgan. As Molly just pouts and watches, she’s again struck by the strangely close relationship all her neighbours share with their pets. Horgan’s residents also seem pretty spendthrift – they laugh it off when Leon seems surprised they’re barbecuing Kobe beef. Later during her morning run, Molly’s suspicions about the town’s residents are confirmed. She spies Mrs Kloppen and another neighbour stabbing her black cat to death on a flat rock in the woods. Deciding that Molly is now one of them, Mrs Kloppen tells her that Horgan was built over the remains of an old Viking village. Centuries ago the Vikings sacrificed animals, and the occasional loved one, for good luck. But she warns Molly that the sacrifices come at a cost.

No love, no sacrifice, and no good luck.

Hearing everything but the warning, Molly sees a way out of Horgan. First, she catches and kills a rat on the rock. After winning a measly amount on a scratch ticket, Mrs Kloppen stresses that the reward is tied to the stakes – there must be a bond to the sacrifice. Next, Molly kills family dog, Bolt, and almost nets a big lottery win. Almost. As it turns out, Molly wasn’t a big fan of Bolt. Never trust someone who doesn’t like animals. No love, no sacrifice, and no good luck.

Ultimate Sacrifice Packs a Twist That Subverts Expectations

Now truly understanding the nature of sacrifice, a crazed Molly leads husband Leon out to the rock. In Ultimate Sacrifice’s climatic finale, the scene cuts back and forth between the sacrificial rock and our job interviewee five years down the road. Molly stabs poor Leon, but daughter Katja interrupts. Back at the job interview, an assistant suggests that the interviewee not ask the CEO how she earned her first million. Flashback to the rock and, as mother and daughter struggle, it looks like Molly will strangle Katja to death.

However, not all is as it appears. Surprise, surprise … when the CEO’s chair spins at our present-day job interview, it’s not Molly sitting in it. No, it’s daughter, Katja. During their struggle five years earlier, Katja smashes her mother’s skull with a rock. Still Ultimate Sacrifice has one last twist. As CEO Katja Hartmann strokes a cat sitting in her lap, we learn that she suffered not one, but, two tragedies. The death of her mother, and her father’s mysterious disappearance.

Ultimate Sacrifice Promises a Fun Ride for Bloodride Series

Though it’s just one episode, Ultimate Sacrifice does more than enough to earn a binge-watch for Bloodride. No, Bloodride doesn’t do anything new with the anthology premise. As mentioned above, this Norwegian chiller takes the best of Twilight Zone and old British anthology horror movies. But it’s a good mix. Like those classics, Bloodride is focused on morality storytelling with a darkly twisted sense of humour. And it’s that morbid humour that drives the episodes along with a healthy dose of suspense.