{"id":34389,"date":"2021-01-11T00:02:55","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T05:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=34389"},"modified":"2021-01-11T04:30:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T09:30:40","slug":"death-blood-4-revenge-of-the-killer-nano-robotic-blood-virus-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/11\/death-blood-4-revenge-of-the-killer-nano-robotic-blood-virus-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Death Blood 4: Revenge of the Killer Nano-Robotic Blood Virus (2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Chris De Pretis\u2019 indie horror scifi film has its heart in the right place, but at the end of the day, I can\u2019t say he re-invents the wheel here. I was never quite sure if \u201cDeath Blood 4\u201d was intended as a meta-horror movie or not, as it puts up this gimmick of it being a sequel to three movies that never quite existed. It goes about this \u201cGrindhouse\u201d novelty until the introduction of the actual narrative where it\u2019s played fairly straight faced and with a stern tone bereft of any notable satirical content.<\/p>\n

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De Pretis sets up a clever exposition device, staging this film as the fourth film in a fictitious franchise. This allows him to give us a run down of the basic concept (through mock movie trailers) and then jump in to the narrative, rather than kill the momentum. In the aforementioned three films, Babysitter Sara Shane must stop a nano-robotic blood virus known as the \u201cDeath Blood\u201d from infecting ordinary citizens and transforming them into zombie-like killers. However, for the fourth film, Sara is in outer space, as implied by \u201cDeath Blood 3: Death Blood in Space.\u201d In this fourth installment of the imaginary film series, the Death Blood has returned yet again.<\/p>\n

After taking possession of the body of a pizza parlor owner, the Death Blood falls under the control of evil local police chief, Beefe. Now Sara\u2019s daughter Cindi Shane must stop Beefe and Death Blood from\u2026 uh\u2026 doing something heinous (I was never sure what they were planning). Along with the help of her comic book clerk roommate (who happens to be an engineering genius), a pizza guy, an alien, and even a talking television, she\u2019s the only hope. \u201cDeath Blood 4\u201d has glimmers here and there of wit and clever devices while also embracing its bizarre nature. There\u2019s never really a clear explanation as to why there\u2019s a talking TV or a killer yeti featured so prominently in the movie, but I like De Pretis implementing his resources.<\/p>\n

The movie is noticeably lo-fi and low budget, but De Pretis finds interesting ways to work around the hurdles with some good prop work, and solid performances. That said, \u201cDeath Blood 4\u201d feels a bit flabby and could have stood to lose about ten minutes altogether. I was also never quite sure what the motivations behind Beefe and Death Blood were, exactly. World domination? World destruction? Did Beefe want an army of zombies? In either case, \u201cDeath Blood 4\u201d is cleverly crafted, and I liked the gimmicky prologue, I just wish the movie were more coherent, engaging, and stuck to the satire angle through the very end.<\/p>\n