The Horror Show
Queen of Blood (2014)
Directed by Chris Alexander
When Autonomy Pictures agreed to finance Chris Alexander’s first film, the Fangoria Editor launched his cinematic career with Blood for Irina. The 2012 film followed the dying Irina; while she stalks the streets near a run-down motel by the sea looking for blood. The film was rife with lush visuals and bolstered by an electrifying film score; often reminding one of French film maker Jean Rollin with a very Euro-centric feel.
Now two years have passed and once again Autonomy has backed Chris for a second time; allowing him the chance to revisit the Irina saga once more. Only now a new locale is established in the ‘old west’ and Irina is refitted for a more virginal appearance (at least in the beginning) while she attempts some sort of balance in the new setting.
We open with Irina emerging from the water deep in the woods. She’s naked and bloodied and leaving a crimson trail as she climbs out and crawls on all fours towards land. It is here she is found by a stranger and taken to his cabin to get cleaned up; hair trimmed and combed – plus getting outfitted with a white dress. You almost get the sense that she is getting sized up to become his bride to be, but Irina quickly turns savage, killing the man and virtually sucking the life force from him.
I suppose at this point Irina’s true journey is about to begin; whereby she is seen walking in the woods and looking like the Lady of Shalott from a J.W. Waterhouse painting. At this juncture in the film, much of Irina’s motivations start to unravel as she’s seen dispatching a bevy of victims and absorbing their blood to survive. She’s viewed as a force of nature and even crosses path with an obsessive Preacher (played by Skinny Puppy’s Ogre) in a role that was definitely suited for him.
Honestly though I’ve only just skimmed the surface of what Queen of Blood is truly about. Irina is unrelenting in this narrative, often seemingly skirting with elements of time and place and imbuing the film with a temporal distortion that some might find a bit wacky. I think the scenes where she absorbs an unborn fetus from a pregnant woman and cultivates it as her own child is quite fantastical, especially when it appears that the baby is brought into the present day. I guess a conundrum of sorts for some but truly adding to the fever-dream quality designed into the fabric of the film itself.
We definitely have Chris Alexander to thank for this epic journey and I found myself conjuring up classic painters like Thomas Eakins and J.W. Waterhouse – which seemingly felt like backdrops to how the director envisioned the old west. An even greater stroke of genius was his casting of Ogre as the Preacher and I must say his dramatic death scene will go down as one for the ages. It must have gone on for a good five minutes before his last breath is dispelled from him (despite a bit of overacting); but I rather liked it.
Queen of Blood was filmed in Oakville and in other parts of rural Ontario, and I bring this up because the locations helped to give the film that pastoral feel, but with an underlying rustic edge. I have to hand it to the director for having this incredible knack for finding unique shooting locations to help set-up his expansive universe in which Irina thrives in, and if you liked the setting in the previous film – this one should equally tickle your fancy. They say location, location and location is everything and in this case that sentiment does apply here.
Ultimately, Chris Alexander’s sophomore effort is a winner as far as I am concerned. His passion as a published writer, composer and journalist comes through crystal clear in Queen of Blood and this is something I really like with his films. He’s definitely an all or nothing creative type who knows what he likes and knows what he wants to see on the screen, so if you haven’t already watched Queen of Blood – I suggest that you do right away.
Kenneth Gallant, HMS
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