Book of Blood
Encyclopedia
Book of Blood is a 2008 British Mystery
-Drama
-horror film
directed by John Harrison
and stars Jonas Armstrong
, Sophie Ward
and Doug Bradley
.
) who has been stalking the young man. He eventually convinces the boy to join him in his truck, where he soon passes out. The boy awakens strapped to a table and Wyburd offers the boy a choice by killing him; offering him a slow death, or a quick and clean death by hearing the story of the Book of Blood: a series of scars and inscriptions carved from head to toe. Opting for a clean death, the boy reveals his story.
A young girl alone in her bedroom is violently hurled against the ceiling, raped and beaten in her bed while her parents stand outside screaming her name. Shortly before the authorities break in, an unseen force rips her face off and inscribes on the doorway "Do not mock us." Several months later, a paranormal professor Mary Florescu (Sophie Ward
) and her partner Reg Fuller (Paul Blair) investigate the house in order to unlock its mysteriously murderous past. Mary encounters Simon McNeal (Jonas Armstrong
) a seemingly clairvoyant young boy in her classroom to whom she develops an attraction, both physically and due to his mutual connection to the paranormal as she had had a similar encounter in the past. Simon reluctantly signs on to assist in uncovering the presence in the house, and the three of them move in. The first night, a series of strange encounters culminates in an attack on Simon as he is hurled across his bedroom. A series of writings on the closet walls light up, much to the shock of both Mary and Reg. Mary begins to develop intimate feelings for Simon after a particularly arousing dream, and focuses on his abilities unlocking the potential of paranormal studies in the house. Reg expresses his doubts and has Mary take the charred writing to a lab for an analysis.
Simon reciprocates Mary's feelings and the pair fall in love, in particular after a second incident which was more violent and prevalent than the first, Simon awakening with more scars across his body, and Mary has a violent encounter of her own where she is terrified by the spirits of a group of little girls. She tells Simon and Reg that when she was a child, she had seen a fountain which was dried up, but every night would become soaked and spraying with blood, fearing being called crazy, she never told anyone about these visions, when excavators decided to remove the fountain, they found the body of a little girl. Tracking down the girl's father, they found he had claimed six more victims before being caught, wracking Mary with guilt for not telling the authorities of what she had seen. One afternoon, Mary receives a phone call and abruptly departs, leaving Simon on the street. When he tracks her down at the house, she reveals that she discovered he had been lying, using gunpowder and sulfur to create the "paranormal" experiences. He confesses that the first time he did fake it, but the second time was real. After she refuses to believe him, he storms out. Reg comes in later and she shows him a transmitter sewn into the bottom of his mattress which was used to flicker the power of Reg's equipment during the experiences. Simon returns, determined to prove that he really had his powers back, as he had believed he had lost his clairvoyance when he was thirteen, after the death of his brother which he had predicted (the prediction which earned his reputation to Mary). This time determined to keep his powers, he goes up again to face the ghosts and again is attacked.
Mary runs up to the attic while Reg spots a terrifying ghost while on the second floor landing and falls over the railing, killing himself when he lands on the equipment below. Mary enters the attic bedroom and sees Simon writhing in agony as a long distant horizon displays itself over the scope of the room. The ghosts carve into Simon's flesh through a variety of means, nails, glass shards and finally Mary understands; she is the key to opening the way for the ghosts, her powers were what awakened them, not Simon's. She remembers what she had been warned earlier: "You didn't listen" and swears to all the ghosts that she will tell all of their stories. The ghosts heed her words and depart, allowing Simon to survive the ordeal.
Simon reveals to Wyburd that he was then on cursed to be the book on which the dead write while Mary wrote books and made millions off of the stories portrayed on him. As she seemed to age, he remained the same youthful appearance, only more and more scarred with new stories, new tales for her to write, portrayed to her as he stood on a cross before her desk. He admitted he couldn't take it anymore, so he ran hence the reason Wyburd was hired to remove his skin. Wyburd, having been unmoved from the depth of the story lives up to his end of the bargain and kills Simon quickly. After placing his skin neatly into a suitcase he seats himself to wait for his payment. While he waits, blood suddenly starts pouring from the case, slowly filling the building that Wyburd is trapped in, and he drowns. Afterward, Mary arrives, and seeing Wyburd on the ground she is not fazed as she moves to the suitcase and opens it, pulling out Simon's intact skin and smiling as she begins again to read the stories still being written upon the flesh.
's Books of Blood
, the film shoot occurred in Scotland, including Dundas Castle
through December 2007 and into early 2008. Following exposure at the 2008 European Film Market, and the completion of the FX shoot in London, the film is awaiting release. Book of Blood is set to have its North American premiere on the big screen during the Montreal
Fantasia film festival
on July 13, 2009. Book of Blood is the seventh story to be adapted from Barker's collection, following Rawhead Rex (filmed in 1986); The Forbidden (filmed in 1992 as Candyman
); The Last Illusion (filmed in 1995 as Lord of Illusions
); The Body Politic (filmed in 1997 within Quicksilver Highway
); and The Midnight Meat Train
. During his appearance at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
he noted this film will be followed by Dread, Pig Blood Blues, and then Madonna.
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
-Drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
-horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by John Harrison
John Harrison (filmmaker)
John Harrison is a writer, director, producer and composer.Harrison was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BS in Theater Arts. For several years after that, he performed on the road with his band Homebrew before moving back to Pittsburgh to take a...
and stars Jonas Armstrong
Jonas Armstrong
Jonas Armstrong is an Irish-actor, raised in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, best known for his appearances on television in the United Kingdom, where he played the title role in the BBC One drama series Robin Hood.-Career:...
, Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
and Doug Bradley
Doug Bradley
Douglas William "Doug" Bradley is an English actor best known for his roles in the Hellraiser film series.- Early life :Bradley was born in Liverpool, England...
.
Plot
The film starts with a hooded, apparently disfigured individual eating at a diner, being watched by a stranger at the bar. Unknown to him, the man's name is Wyburd (Clive RussellClive Russell
Clive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,...
) who has been stalking the young man. He eventually convinces the boy to join him in his truck, where he soon passes out. The boy awakens strapped to a table and Wyburd offers the boy a choice by killing him; offering him a slow death, or a quick and clean death by hearing the story of the Book of Blood: a series of scars and inscriptions carved from head to toe. Opting for a clean death, the boy reveals his story.
A young girl alone in her bedroom is violently hurled against the ceiling, raped and beaten in her bed while her parents stand outside screaming her name. Shortly before the authorities break in, an unseen force rips her face off and inscribes on the doorway "Do not mock us." Several months later, a paranormal professor Mary Florescu (Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
) and her partner Reg Fuller (Paul Blair) investigate the house in order to unlock its mysteriously murderous past. Mary encounters Simon McNeal (Jonas Armstrong
Jonas Armstrong
Jonas Armstrong is an Irish-actor, raised in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, best known for his appearances on television in the United Kingdom, where he played the title role in the BBC One drama series Robin Hood.-Career:...
) a seemingly clairvoyant young boy in her classroom to whom she develops an attraction, both physically and due to his mutual connection to the paranormal as she had had a similar encounter in the past. Simon reluctantly signs on to assist in uncovering the presence in the house, and the three of them move in. The first night, a series of strange encounters culminates in an attack on Simon as he is hurled across his bedroom. A series of writings on the closet walls light up, much to the shock of both Mary and Reg. Mary begins to develop intimate feelings for Simon after a particularly arousing dream, and focuses on his abilities unlocking the potential of paranormal studies in the house. Reg expresses his doubts and has Mary take the charred writing to a lab for an analysis.
Simon reciprocates Mary's feelings and the pair fall in love, in particular after a second incident which was more violent and prevalent than the first, Simon awakening with more scars across his body, and Mary has a violent encounter of her own where she is terrified by the spirits of a group of little girls. She tells Simon and Reg that when she was a child, she had seen a fountain which was dried up, but every night would become soaked and spraying with blood, fearing being called crazy, she never told anyone about these visions, when excavators decided to remove the fountain, they found the body of a little girl. Tracking down the girl's father, they found he had claimed six more victims before being caught, wracking Mary with guilt for not telling the authorities of what she had seen. One afternoon, Mary receives a phone call and abruptly departs, leaving Simon on the street. When he tracks her down at the house, she reveals that she discovered he had been lying, using gunpowder and sulfur to create the "paranormal" experiences. He confesses that the first time he did fake it, but the second time was real. After she refuses to believe him, he storms out. Reg comes in later and she shows him a transmitter sewn into the bottom of his mattress which was used to flicker the power of Reg's equipment during the experiences. Simon returns, determined to prove that he really had his powers back, as he had believed he had lost his clairvoyance when he was thirteen, after the death of his brother which he had predicted (the prediction which earned his reputation to Mary). This time determined to keep his powers, he goes up again to face the ghosts and again is attacked.
Mary runs up to the attic while Reg spots a terrifying ghost while on the second floor landing and falls over the railing, killing himself when he lands on the equipment below. Mary enters the attic bedroom and sees Simon writhing in agony as a long distant horizon displays itself over the scope of the room. The ghosts carve into Simon's flesh through a variety of means, nails, glass shards and finally Mary understands; she is the key to opening the way for the ghosts, her powers were what awakened them, not Simon's. She remembers what she had been warned earlier: "You didn't listen" and swears to all the ghosts that she will tell all of their stories. The ghosts heed her words and depart, allowing Simon to survive the ordeal.
Simon reveals to Wyburd that he was then on cursed to be the book on which the dead write while Mary wrote books and made millions off of the stories portrayed on him. As she seemed to age, he remained the same youthful appearance, only more and more scarred with new stories, new tales for her to write, portrayed to her as he stood on a cross before her desk. He admitted he couldn't take it anymore, so he ran hence the reason Wyburd was hired to remove his skin. Wyburd, having been unmoved from the depth of the story lives up to his end of the bargain and kills Simon quickly. After placing his skin neatly into a suitcase he seats himself to wait for his payment. While he waits, blood suddenly starts pouring from the case, slowly filling the building that Wyburd is trapped in, and he drowns. Afterward, Mary arrives, and seeing Wyburd on the ground she is not fazed as she moves to the suitcase and opens it, pulling out Simon's intact skin and smiling as she begins again to read the stories still being written upon the flesh.
Cast
- Jonas ArmstrongJonas ArmstrongJonas Armstrong is an Irish-actor, raised in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, best known for his appearances on television in the United Kingdom, where he played the title role in the BBC One drama series Robin Hood.-Career:...
as Simon McNeal - Sophie WardSophie WardSophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
as Mary Florescu - Clive RussellClive RussellClive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,...
as Wyburd - Paul Blair as Reg Fuller
- Romana Abercromby as Janie
- Simon BamfordSimon BamfordSimon John Bamford in Bedford, England is an English film, television and stage actor. He is well known for playing the Butterball Cenobite in Hellraiser in 1987 and in its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II in 1988.-Career:...
as Derek - James Watson as Jimmy
- Doug BradleyDoug BradleyDouglas William "Doug" Bradley is an English actor best known for his roles in the Hellraiser film series.- Early life :Bradley was born in Liverpool, England...
as Tollington - Gowan Calder as Janie's Mother
- Graham Colquhoun as Simon's Father
- Marcus McLeod as Janie's Father
- James McAnerney as Doctor Nigel Blake
- Joy McBrinn as Waitress
- Charlie McFadden as Joanne
- Jack North as Simon (age 11)
- Andrew Scott-Ramsay as Male Student
- Siobhan Reilly as Cashier
- Jill Riddiford as Woman
- Isla Stewart as Simon's Mother
- Greig Taylor as Stevie McNeal
- Emma Trevorrow as Child #1
- Hannah Bottone as Child #2
- Kirsty McEachran as Child #3
- Louise McCourt as Child #4
- Hannah O'Malley as Child #5
- Adele Swordy as Child #6
- Sophie Franklin as Child #7
- Martin Brettle as Ghost
- Javed KhanJaved KhanJaved Khan is an Indian actor who has acted in minor roles in more than 150 films.He is best known for his role in movie Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Andaz Apna Apna as Anand Akela, and TV series Mirza Ghalib & Nukkad.-Films:...
as World War I and 80s Ghost - Rhys Maitland-Jones as Contemporary Dead Guy
- Simon Green as Terrifying Ghost
Production
Adapted and directed by John Harrison from one of Clive BarkerClive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
's Books of Blood
Books of Blood
Books of Blood are a series of horror fiction collections written by the British author Clive Barker.There are six books in total, each simply subtitled Volume 1 through to Volume 6, and were subsequently re-published in two omnibus editions containing three volumes each. Each volume contains four...
, the film shoot occurred in Scotland, including Dundas Castle
Dundas Castle
Dundas Castle is a 15th century castle, with substantial 19th century additions by William Burn, near South Queensferry, to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the home of the Dundas family, and remains in private hands.-History:...
through December 2007 and into early 2008. Following exposure at the 2008 European Film Market, and the completion of the FX shoot in London, the film is awaiting release. Book of Blood is set to have its North American premiere on the big screen during the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Fantasia film festival
Fantasia Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996...
on July 13, 2009. Book of Blood is the seventh story to be adapted from Barker's collection, following Rawhead Rex (filmed in 1986); The Forbidden (filmed in 1992 as Candyman
Candyman (film)
Candyman is a 1992 horror film starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Xander Berkeley. It was directed by Bernard Rose and is based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker, though the film's scenario is switched from England to Chicago. The film was scored by Philip Glass. The film was...
); The Last Illusion (filmed in 1995 as Lord of Illusions
Lord of Illusions
Lord of Illusions is a 1995 American horror film, written and directed by the British author, filmmaker and artist Clive Barker. The film is based on his earlier short story, The Last Illusion , and it presents Barker's signature character Harry D'Amour onscreen for the first time. It stars Scott...
); The Body Politic (filmed in 1997 within Quicksilver Highway
Quicksilver Highway
Quicksilver Highway is a 1997 horror film directed by Mick Garris. It is based on Clive Barker's short story The Body Politic and Stephen King's short story Chattery Teeth...
); and The Midnight Meat Train
The Midnight Meat Train
The Midnight Meat Train is a 2008 horror film based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name, which can be found in Volume One of Barker's collection Books of Blood...
. During his appearance at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors
Weekend of Horrors is a tri-annual traveling convention which focuses on horror films. Formerly produced and operated by Fangoria Magazine with its name and likeness owned by Creation Entertainment, the convention is now produced solely by Creation.The convention also deals in areas of the horror...
he noted this film will be followed by Dread, Pig Blood Blues, and then Madonna.