It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Awesome Movie

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"Les Liens De Sang" got chilly reviews in Chabrol's native France and the movie has sunk into oblivion.Made at a time when Chabrol was really good again (it was made between "Alice Ou La Dernière Fugue" and "Violette Nozière" ),after a period of barren inspiration (1974 /1975),you can enjoy this movie provided that you forget all that you know about Claude Chabrol.It's a pleasantly-anonymous thriller which could have been made by any director at all.Which does not mean it's bad.But if you know the fifty+ Chabrol movies ,you cannot hail it as his masterpiece.What you can say,though,is that it's neatly superior to his recent movies (the last ten years were full of mediocrities).Donald Sutherland and Pierre Mallet are very convincing.Aude Landry's playing,on the other hand ,displays nothing disturbing,nothing irrational in her behavior ,which makes the ending,although praised for its "unexpected twist" ,a bit artificial.Remember the characters in such works as "Le Boucher" "La Rupture" "Que la bete Meure" or even "Les Biches" Of Chabrol's world,only Stephane Audran remains:but her part is underwritten ,and she is probably dubbed for I cannot recognize her voice,so it's not worth talking about it.The social background ( the director's trademark)has completely disappeared here.As Chabrol works in a foreign country,he is incapable to depict the Canadian society whereas his métier was the ruthless portrait of French bourgeoisie.That said,you can enjoy the film:it is a good thriller if you do not think it over too much.Donald Sutherland portrays an endearing human cop.

Evocatively directed and slickly photographed psychological mystery thriller with an exceptional lead performance by a sombre Donald Sutherland, and potent support roles from Donald Pleasence and David Hemming. The material decides to keep it all glum, and moves from the investigation period into the back-story of the victim. The seldom, and quite sullen nature of investigation pulled me in, but when it flashback to the victim's side showing her final days weren't as compelling, and became somewhat stodgy and stock-like. While the script is strongly detailed and to a certain degree complex in stringing us along, however the final and surprising revelation should have been more bone-jarring and it's not helped out by its sloppy execution. Howard Blake's music score has an emotional sting to its cues that simply linger, and director Claude Chabrol's capable handling (well for most part) has a strong stylistic and tight manner, which gets the best out of moody locations and flexible cast. The young faces Lisa Langlois and Aude Landry do an incredibly good job as well.

There are several great reasons to see "Blood Relatives"! First of all because Donald Sutherland is a magnificent actor and his project choices in the 70's practically all resulted in brilliant movies ("Klute", "Don't Look Now", "Day of the Locust", Invasion of the Body Snatchers"…), the supportive cast is also terrific, with Donald Pleasence and David Hemmings, and – most of all – controversial murder mysteries are always worth checking out, especially if they're directed by an acclaimed French filmmaker. "Blood Relatives" opens truly powerful and remains fascinating for almost a full hour. On a rainy Saturday night, a violent aggressor attacks two minor girls and one of them – the oldest one – doesn't survive. The girls turn out to be cousins and police inspector Carella (Sutherland) is charged with looking for the killer, starting with the usual line-up of notorious sex offenders and pedophiles. It's only with the discovery of the dead victim Muriel's personal diary that Carella realizes the culprit is very close to the family, as she hid a relationship with her first-degree cousin Andrew and an affair with her employer. The first half of "Blood Relatives" is great with a close follow-up of the police investigation and a specifically well-scripted red herring involving the respectable Donald Pleasence playing a repulsive monster. The story has you guessing along with Sutherland's character and you try to focus on every possible sub theme and/or underlying message. Regretfully, and nearly impossible to comprehend, the film pretty much turns into a campy teen-horror story with the arrival of Muriel's diary. The remaining playtime is filled with flashbacks and narrated scenes from the diary, padded with an incredible amount of uninteresting info about typical teenage girl stuff and overly detailed footage of Muriel's private love-life. The identity of Muriel's killer suddenly seems secondary to her puppy loves and Sutherland only occasionally comes on screen when he turns over the pages in the diary. Bummer! How can a film that starts so promising end up so tacky, dull and immature?

A relatively interesting little mystery murder, the film is okay viewing despite some sections being dull and not lively. It is, however, surprisingly acted mundanely despite some great names in the cast, but the film does have enough going for it as it is. The music score used in the English version (the dubbed French version has a completely different soundtrack) is great, bouncy in bits and almost always adding to the action. Chabrol also sets up some great shots, and there are a few chilling moments to be had along the way. It is overall nothing too special of its type, but of its type, it is certainly a solid entry.