BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

Movie Review

Keep those tongues firmly in your cheeks, Horror Hounds and Gore-Gore Girls. A true cult classic is back in circulation to make sure you treat the water and all your fishing poles with respect OR ELSE!

Blood Hook, with a modest budget and even smaller cast, does what most B-movies in latter part of the 1980s failed to do: defy the odds and actually be amazingly BRILLIANT. That’s something to note especially when it comes crawling out from the trashed vaults of Troma, whose track record of horror comedies is, if I am being honest, spotty at best. Not everyone digs Troma.  

This horror comedy – about a mad and menacing fisherman who decides to hunt humans instead of fish – amps up the humor and the blood to provide an unexpected blast of a kooky horror film. It is characterized by a bizarre sense of reality as hyped-up contests are accepted and cheaters are punished and, as if it were Twin Peaks itself, uses this charged location of big and wide nature to bounce some of the sickest souls against.

The film begins with a great mood-enhancing synthesized score before going off the deep end as a grandfather, showing off for his grandson, Peter, how he can speed up the reels and chipmunktize the vocals on a song, winds up disappearing in the lake he was just fishing from. Uh oh. It is an event that haunts Peter some many years later as an adult, which is why, alongside some really good friends, he returns to the scene of the crime.

Little does he know that the true killer is armed with a good-sized hook and an even sturdier fishing rod with which to choke people out with before yanking them into the lake. And this killer has a really good arm.

Cast those lines far and wind, my friends. Blood Hook, filmed on location in Hayward, Wisconsin, is a damn good time at the side of the lake. Both funny and raw, the movie, written by Larry Edgerton and John Galligan, brings a new definition to the term muskie madness as children are left unattended in the woods and new scents are discovered in an effort to save the loon.

The film manages in its nearly two-hour running time to be quite effective at making its audience laugh AND cringe as fishermen test their fate by peeing off the side of their boats and children get tangled up and scratched by really large hooks.

Directed by Jim Mallon (who went on to work for Mystery Science Theater 3000), Blood Hook, full of crazy characters, clever lines, and a hilarious regard for On Golden Pond, is much better than you will be expecting. I promise. While paced awkwardly (hence its longer than preferred running time), the jokes are killer and the character acting – courtesy of Don Winters, Mark Jacobs, Lisa Todd, Patrick Danz, Sara Hauser, and Christopher Whiting – is good enough to make laughing at this sick treat more than just out of pity.

Nice pole. I like it! If you are anything like me, you’re going to love Vinegar Syndrome’s 2K restoration of Blood Hook. Gone fishing indeed!

Film Details

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 85 mins
Director: Jim Mallon
Writer: Larry Edgerton, John Galligan
Cast: Mark Jacobs, Lisa Jane Todd, Patrick Danz
Genre: Horror | Comedy
Tagline: Blood Sports of the Human Kind.
Memorable Movie Quote: "We're all like time bombs, waiting to go off."
Theatrical Distributor: Troma Entertainment
Official Site:
Release Date: April, 1987
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 1, 2018
Synopsis: 17 years ago, Peter’s grandfather went missing under mysterious circumstances. Now, Peter and his friends have returned to the placid Wisconsin town to check out his inherited lake house and to partake in the annual ‘Muskie Madness’ fishing competition. Soon after his arrival, Peter begins to sense that something isn’t quite right, but none of his friends, nor the local sheriff, will believe him. But as townsfolk and tourists begin to disappear, Peter becomes determined to solve the mystery, as well as that of his grandfather’s disappearance, and soon finds himself facing off against a fish hook wielding madman!

Blu-ray Review

Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray - May 1, 2018
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

This region free Blu-ray/DVD combo from Vinegar Syndrome has been newly scanned and restored in 2k from 16mm original camera negative. The results are quite good. Blues in the lake radiates and the green of the shore provides a nice contrast. Black levels are even and edges are very fine indeed. There is a nice sheen to much of the movie, making it a totally memorable experience. Present in an aspect of 1.66:1, Blood Hook sports a solid and expressive soundtrack in a mono DTS-HD track.

Commentary:

None

Special Features:

It should be noted that this special limited edition embossed slipcover (designed by Chris Garofalo) is limited to just 1,000 units. It is only available at VinegarSyndrome.com and, at the publishing of this review, already looks to be sold out. This release has a reversible cover, a limited edition slipcover designed by Chris Garofalo, and features English SDH subtitles. As far as supplemental items are concerned, the release features an interview with director Jim Mallon, an interview with acress Lisa Todd, an interview with FX artist Jim Suthers., an audio interview with Marsha Kahm, and a still gallery.

Hook, Line and Sinker

First Blood Hook

What’s in the Tacklebox?

Audio Interview with cinematographer / editor Marsha Kahm

Still Gallery

Original Theatrical Trailer