Guest Review: Bloody Wednesday

Mike S returns with a review of one of his "Top 10 Most Under Rated Horror Movies" as noted in Sunday's entry. His choice for the No. 1 spot was the 1985, psychological horror, "Bloody Wendesday", where a man with emotional problems begins to experience strange things in the abandoned building he lives in... taking his first steps to a blood bath.

"I found "Bloody Wednesday" bloody entertaining. Feelings of isolation, attacks by gang members, a ghostly bell hop, a murder that did not happen, and the creepiest use of a teddy bear in cinema history. The mood is set nicely with the music, use of shadows, and erratic camera angles. The characters themselves were, if not engaging, at least were interesting. Some of the actors were a little cheesy, but was appropriate for a movie from the 1980's.

As the movie progresses, you're made to wonder what parts of the main character's experiences are real... and which are just imaginary. I really enjoyed that aspect of the film, and wish more movies did that, instead of wrapping things up nicely as "real" or "not real".

There isn't a lot bloodshed (at least not until the climatic scene at the end), but you know it's coming... and that the red stuff will flow in copious amounts. In a time when horror movies seem to be about how much blood and guts you can stuff in the audience's face, it was nice to watch a film that slowly built up to the big splash.

And, I have to say, other than the scene with the toy clown in the first "Poltergeist" movie, "Bloody Wednesday" has THE creepiest use of a stuffed toy in movie history. The scene where the main character is using the teddy bear to sit in judgement of some thugs that have attacked him is unnerving and warped... especially since the cute animal seems to delight in pronouncing the thugs, "Guilty".

This is definately one of my favorite films, and in my opinion one of the best under rated horror films I've watched. I give it a Good Rating."

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