OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

Anthologies are a tough breed of filmmaking, it’s very rare that one can manage to make every segment as captivating as the next and If It Bleeds narrowly misses the mark in that regard. The film is smartly written, campy, loads of fun, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have its faults. 

Four segments combine to make If It Bleeds and there’s an art to how long to stay on any particular short the feature contains - with one section taking a little longer than needed to get to its peak and another hitting its climax a little too quickly. However, that’s my one and only issue - its length. 

To put everything into perspective, one short stood out above the rest and that’s 100% because I adore murderous dolls. Chip is a brilliant mix of R.L. Stine’s Slappy and Mancini’s Chucky, with the whacky effects and comedically brutal kills making for quite the enjoyment. It’s a character I truly hope to see more of in the future, because it’s just too good for just one appearance. The other two segment concepts are fantastic as well, but admittedly the length plays a factor in the level of enthusiasm that comes out of them. 

Every performance within each individual segment showcases the high caliber of casting at hand, with plenty of surprise horror greats of recent memory along with a few classic players in the genre. Be on the lookout for numerous family faces and cameos throughout. Even though the segment may have been my least favorite, Doug Jones (The Shape of Water) provides my favorite eccentric character within the batch - be prepared to try to “Boop” someone.  

Matthew Hersh’s feature directorial debut is a gory delight and a solid take on an anthology feature, where there’s only a few that can call themselves “perfect” (Trick ‘r Treat, Creepshow), If It Bleeds nails nearly everything; it’s more-so a personal preference in regards to its run that makes it not be on their level, but fairly close.