''Bleeders'' (also known as ''Hemoglobin'') is a 1997 Canadian

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Peter Svatek and based upon H. P. Lovecraft's story "

The Lurking Fear "The Lurking Fear" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November 1922, it was first published in the January through April 1923 issues of ''Home Brew''. Plot I. The Shadow on the Chimney In 1921, an unnamed ...

". It premiered at the Fantastisk Film Festival Lund in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on July 31, 1997, and was released

direct to video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

the following year. It is the last original script written by

Dan O'Bannon Daniel Thomas O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American film screenwriter, film director, director and visual effects supervisor, usually in the science fiction and Horror fiction, horror genres. O'Bannon wrote the scr ...

produced during his lifetime.

Plot

John and Kathleen Strauss are a

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

couple attempting to uncover the secret to John's rare blood disease. They encounter Dr. Marlowe, who is intrigued by the case. They are unaware that the

Grand Manan Island Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and all of its adjacent islands, except White Head Island. It is governed as a village and is part of t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

which they are about to set foot upon is home to the Van Dam family, mutant-like creatures who have become deformed and bloodthirsty from centuries of

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

. Their mutation began with their relative Eva Van Dam, who had a

incestuous Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

relationship with her twin brother. Also, they are fully functioning

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

s, capable of reproducing with themselves. They need to survive on (dead or alive) human flesh. John discovers that he is a Van Dam, born normal looking and taking part in normal society, but his rare blood disease can only be suppressed with human flesh and sex with his siblings.

Cast

Roy Dupuis Roy Michael Joseph Dupuis (; born April 21, 1963) is a Canadian actor best known in America for his role as counterterrorism operative Michael Samuelle in the television series '' La Femme Nikita''. In Canada, specifically Quebec, he's known for ...

as John Strauss / Van Dam * Gillian Ferrabee as Eva Van Dam / John's Twin Sister *

Kristin Lehman Kristin Lehman (born May 3, 1972) is a Canadian actress and dancer known for her roles in the television series '' Poltergeist: The Legacy'', ''Judging Amy'', and '' The Killing''. From 2013 to 2016, she starred as Detective Angie Flynn in the ...

as Kathleen Strauss *

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

as Dr. Marlowe *

Janine Theriault Janine Theriault (born 1975) is a Canadian actress known for her work in the films '' Bleeders'' (1997), ''Owning Mahowny'' (2003), and '' Relax, I'm from the Future'' (2022), as well as the TV series ''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–2002), ''MVP ...

as Alice Gordon

Reception

HorrorNews.net panned the film overall, criticizing it for its "abundance of clichés" and commenting that they would "be damned if there was anything in this picture worth seeing again". ''Moria'' gave the film two stars and stated that "one can see that a number of sequences have been designed on paper in a way that could have had some shock impact had they been directed by someone with half an ounce of talent".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleeders (Film) 1997 films Canadian monster movies English-language Canadian films 1990s English-language films Films based on works by H. P. Lovecraft Films based on short fiction Films with screenplays by Dan O'Bannon Incest in film 1997 horror films Films with screenplays by Ronald Shusett Films directed by Peter Svatek 1990s Canadian films