Don't listen to the negative reviews

As Good As It Gets

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This one of those movies that you read the description and say, "Hm. Maybe this'll be good." And then you watch it and it's amazing! I'm sure that the one-star people are all "Duuuuude. This movie about serial killers is just weeeeeeeird." Guys? Serial killing is weird to begin with. The plot is simple. Girl gets off seeing her best friend raped and killed by a famous serial killer. She tracks him down to become his apprentice and they move in together. Could that happen in real life? No. That's why it's a GODDAMN MOVIE. The premise is a set up for some great jokes, interesting situations and a logical view about how two serial killers can (or can't) live together. The script is tight. The leads are great. Most of the supporting cast, with some notable exceptions, give wonderful performances. It reportedly cost $10k to make so, yes, the production values are severely lacking but, you know what, for 10k they did a helluva a job. Here's the analogy for the idiots who don't like this: My mom LOVES the movie Ghost. That movie is crap. *I* love the movie Truly Madly Deeply, which is basically the same ghost/love story but it towers over Ghost. Thinking she'd love it, I showed it to her. She thought it was "weird" because the ghosts watched old movies in the living room.Don't be an idiot. Find this movie and watch it. It's so much fun!

BLOODLETTING is a very cheap and uneventful indie horror flick from 1997. That means it was shot on video and feels very dated, more so than Hollywood fare from the same era. The plot is about a maladjusted young woman who tracks down a notorious serial killer and becomes his apprentice, but don't go in expecting lots of gore and frightening incident; this cheapie is all about the chit chat and little else. The film tries for quickfire dialogue a la Quentin Tarantino but the writer isn't adept enough to carry it off and although the acting isn't the worst, it's not enough to make this remotely good.

A veritable smorgasbord of b-movie cameo's. You wouldn't believe what this guy pulled in for this one. Mike Gingold (Fangoria Magazine editor), Ariauna Albright the main star (WITCHHOUSE 2, URBAN LEGEND, CURSE OF THE PUPPET MASTER, and so on), James L Edwards (THER DEAD NEXT DOOR, OZONE, POLYMORPH), Sasha Graham (RAGE OF THE WEREWOLF, PSYCHO SISTERS), Tina Krause (NIKOS THE IMPALER, WITCHHOUSE 3, and so on) plus many many more directors, writers and industry people in general. I can see why also just for the fact that this is not just another typical horror film. More of a NATURAL BORN KILLERS of love and massive murder.Ariauna and James are the leads in this exploitive little serial fest. She wants to learn the tricks of the killing trade from James and away she goes and tracks him down. "Teach me everything you know" cries Ariauna and slickly he explains the do's and don'ts of not getting caught, how blood sprays, and other finer points. A few sprees of bloodshed and she catches on. A little more than he hoped for. She gets into it on a psychotic level (like this movie isn't already eh!) and begins a careless ride of splattering proportions. He can't control her new love for the shedding and a few twists arise amongst the ultra exploitive fest. A baby is blown away with a shotgun, an excessively light bloody ass of James is nicely shot, and tons of spraying becomes immensely entertaining. A few slow spots and sometimes just plain boring dialogue conjures up a few zzzzzz's or 2 but overall, a very entertaining flick.Well lite, flashy camera shots (I like the short better which started this off entitled I'VE KILLED BEFORE) and pretty descent acting. I wouldn't say like the quote on the box insists, "This is NATURAL BORN KILLERS done right" is accurate, but for this micro shoestring budget I was immensely enthralled with the drama styled action horror thriller.The coolest things about Tempe Video's releases are the extras involved are usually massive, commentary, first short film which lead to this full length also with a commentary from Sub Rosa Studios Ron Bonk, deleted scene's , making of featurette with the whole cast, and trailers. For an enthusiast to tread new grounds in the indie scene, this is a must. No stupid monsters, bad acting, shitty editing, just great killer fun.

------- WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD -------Bloodletting is one of the better low budget horror flicks to come out in the 90's involving the serial killer theme. The main characters are Butch and Serena. The basic plot involves a demented tale of murder and mayhem with many twists and shocks.Bloodletting was not an easy film to make. It's shooting time was only 3 or 4 days with a very meager budget. There was high tension on the set throughout filming and several friendships were tarnished for years. It's amazing that the final cut turned out to be a decent little movie, although it's not without mistakesA newly released official DVD of "Bloodletting" is packed with many bonus features. Although the picture and sound are nothing to rave about, it looks as good as it will ever look on DVD, especially considering it wasn't shot on 35mm film. It is presented in Full Frame, which is it's original aspect ratio. The new sound remix is leagues better than the old vhs edition. Now for the actual special features:It includes the short film "I've Killed Before" which was shot before Bloodletting and also starred Ariauna Albright & James L. Edwards. This is basically a shortened version of Bloodletting with some minor differences in the story and names. Shot on video, it had a poor production that made the final product suffer...however it is still entertaining, if only to compare with the later Bloodletting.A new and interesting "Making Of" feature sheds some light on the problems that plagued the production. Some deleted scenes are also worth it to buy this DVD. Trailers for Bloodletting and many other Tempe movies are also included. A still gallery is also very nice, with production photos and artwork of the various old vhs editions. A large section of Text Reviews from various sources are also included.The DVD does include an inner insert with notes from Tempe's J.R. Bookwalter. Perhaps the nicest feature is the DVD-ROM feature. If you place this in the DVD drive on your computer you can access the FULL SOUNDTRACK for Bloodletting (previously for sale on CD) in high-quality MP3 format!Not everyone will enjoy Bloodletting as much as some. Several scenes could be quite offensive to certain people. Especially the baby killing scene and the grotesque scene paying homage to Wes Craven's classic "Last House On The Left". But, if you're a fan of low-budget horror then you really need to check it out......