Blood Vessel (2020) 

Once and awhile, I will follow along with a prompt I find on social media for some fun. For the month of May, it’s the Horror Move ABC Challenge. I am trying to watch movies I haven’t seen before and for B, I had the word blood on the brain. I looked on Amazon Prime and found Blood Vessel. 

At the tail end of WW2, German U-Boats would open fire on any enemy vessel on the water, which included commercial and hospital ships. The movie opens with survivors in a life raft floating at sea. They come upon a German vessel and are able to shoot a line off of the massive craft to create a tow line. Once on board the ship, the group find no crew, only charred remains of soldiers and a little girl in a gas mask. Thankful to find shelter, food, and new clothing, their hope turns to despair as they realize all of the lifeboats have been sabotaged. The survivors must piece together the mystery of the dead, the girl, and a safe way home before its too late. 

Ten minutes into the movie, the female lead, Nurse Prescott, looked very familiar to me. I paused the movie and looked up the cast information and lo and behold, Nurse Prescott was played by Alyssa Sutherland. She plays Ellie in Evil Dead Rise! If you are looking for other movies featuring Alyssa in a starring role, now you found one. 

The mystery of the fate of the crew and how the survivors try to figure out what happened to them is very reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. It takes a bit longer to discover the answers in this one but once they are revealed, the action, suspense, and thrills never let up. Once Mya, the little girl, is reunited with her family, you wont cheer for this reunion. Your blood would run cold. 

I love good practical effects and makeup and Wicked of OZ Studios does a top-notch job with the creatures that hide behind locked doors and inside crates. There is an Easter Egg/homage to The Walking Dead toward the end of the movie you won’t want to miss.  

My favorite character in the movie is Teplov played by Alex Cooke. He’s a Russian soldier that no one really likes for obvious reasons. He’s resourceful and once the group finds out the very personal reasons why he joined the war effort, they lose the chips on their shoulders for him. He’s very likeable and funny. There is one member of the group that everyone absolutely hates, and you’ll find out why about halfway through the movie. This reveal was a shocker and you’ll be glad if/when they get their comeuppance. 

This movie may have been lost in the shuffle during the pandemic, but it’s found new life on Amazon Prime. This is a hidden gem that I was lucky enough to find thanks to the Horror Movie ABC Challenge. I’m hoping I come across a couple new favorites over the next 24 letters and days. I’m not sure how long this movie will be available for free on Amazon Prime, but I would strike while the iron is hot. If you would like to make this a double or triple feature, Blood Vessel would pair nicely with Overlord and Frankenstein’s Army.