“Blood Shed” ✮✮✮✮✮

In 1968, filmmaker George A. Romero used his zombie masterpiece “Night of the Living Dead,” to not only scare a whole generation of moviegoers, but to also make social commentary on the civil unrest happening nationwide. Very few horror filmmakers attempt and even fewer successfully pull off that combination of subtext and terror. Fortunately, directors Patrick Hasson and Juan Carlos Siazarbitoria pull this off in their horror opus, “Blood Shed.”

“Blood Shed” is the story of a supernatural monster, whose thirst for blood is matched only by her desire to protect her lair. Things get messy when a group of homeless people relocate into the storage facility where the monster secretly lives. The monster soon begins killing off these unwanted intruders which forces the remaining characters to not only fight for survival but to also face the poor life choices that led them to living on the streets in the first place.

Hasson, who in addition to co-directing, also wrote the film’s thought-provoking screenplay, uses the monster as a metaphor for how society eats up and chews up homeless people on a daily basis instead of the helping them get back on their feet. I felt the use of a shape-shifting antagonist led to some subtle social commentary about how in the age of social media how well do you truly know anyone? I particularly enjoyed the setting of a storage facility as symbolism for where we stick things that we no longer have use for. In addition to the artistic reasons using the storage facility setting, I’m sure Hasson is also trying to capitalize on America’s love for storage facilities as proven by the success of A&E’s “Storage Wars,” where actor Richard Grieco was once found living in a storage unit.

What attracted me to “Blood Shed” is what I’m sure will attract most Redbox customers: the presence of actress Bai Ling, or as I like to refer to her. “the Chinese Kate Winslet.” Bai Ling has never acted a false moment on screen in her entire career and her performance as Lucy in “Blood Shed” is no different.

Overall, “Blood Shed” is not for everyone. It’s a thinking man’s horror film. But if you want to be frightened as well as intellectually stimulated, I recommend you head to the nearest Redbox and rent it immediately.