''Blood Ties'' is a 1991 American
horror thriller
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
directed by
Jim McBride
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim' ...
, written by
Richard Shapiro, and starring
Harley Venton
Harley Venton (born December 28, 1952) is an American actor, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Biography
After graduating from the University of North Dakota
and the University of Minnesota, Venton moved to New York City, where he ...
,
Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau (born 6 December 1938) is a Belgian actor best known for his roles in the films ''A View to a Kill'', '' The Rapture'' and ''Panic Room'', as well as the TV shows '' The Pretender'' and '' House''.
...
,
Jason London
Jason Paul London (born November 7, 1972) is an American actor, known for his roles as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993), as Jesse in '' The Rage: Carrie 2'' (1999) and as Rick Rambis in '' O ...
, and
Michelle Johnson. It is a story about a modern vampire family who hail from Carpathia. The family try to assimilate into American life in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, but their lives are upset when a sinister group of hunters kill a member of their extended kin and threaten to come after them. The film aired on the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network on May 27, 1991.
Background
It is hinted that the
Carpathian families are the people who inspired all the myths about
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
s. In the film, they are descended from
Lilith
Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...
(first wife of
Adam before
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
) and
Asmodeus
Asmodeus (; grc, Ἀσμοδαῖος, ''Asmodaios'') or Ashmedai (; he, אַשְמְדּאָי, ''ʾAšmədʾāy''; see below for other variations), is a ''prince of demons'' and hell."Asmodeus" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chi ...
(King of the Nine Hells) and have inherited healing abilities as well as above average human strength.
They consider the word "vampire" to be a
racist term against their kind and have strict rules against breeding with anyone outside their race.
The Carpathian families are divided into a council of Elders, the more timid family members and their vicious young blood who taken on the form of a biker gang called the
Shrikes
Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera.
The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...
.
Plot
The film opens in
Loving County,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, where a teenage boy named Cody Puckett awakens one ominous night to find his parents staked and burned by a heretic
vampire hunter
Vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a fictional occupation in history and fiction which specializes in finding vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures. A vampire hunter is usually described as having extensive knowledge of vampires a ...
group called the S.C.A.V., which stands for the Southern Coalition Against Vampirism. After shooting him with a crossbow, the vampire hunters allow Cody to escape, hoping he will lead them back to his extended family.
In
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, journalist Harry Martin receives the details of the Texas killings, before heading out to hear the verdict of a court-case he has been covering. Assistant D.A. Amy Lorne is cornered in an elevator by the members of the Shrikes, a biker gang named after the "unpleasant little birds who impale their prey on thorn bushes," one of whom the A.D.A. is currently prosecuting.
Harry appears to break up the incident. The gang leader, "
Butcherbird", warns Harry that "Uncle Eli" isn't happy with the articles he's been writing. Harry explains to a confused Amy that he and Butcherbird are "distant cousins". In court, an obviously fixed jury announces that it cannot reach a verdict. Disgusted, Amy storms out, and Harry goes after her. He asks her to attend a "family party" with him before leaving her to join Eli Chelarin, the powerful businessman who fixed Butcherbird's trial.
At Eli's office, Harry warns Eli that "it's starting again", and shows him the newspaper clipping of the Texas killings. Later that week, Cody reaches town and tries to find Eli. Instead he encounters the Shrikes. At Eli's birthday party, Amy is surprised to learn that Harry is connected to so much wealth and power. He reveals that his real name is Harlevon Martinescu, as part of his Carpathian heritage.
The party comes to an abrupt halt when Butcherbird enters with Cody. Harry excuses himself to Amy, joining a council in a private room. There, the male family members hear about the death of Cody's parents. Eli, Harry and the Council tell Cody that his parents were members of their family who decided to move away to Texas before Cody was born. When Cody has left the room, Harry tries to convince the others to leave the killings to the police, that the family "cannot go on in the old ways". Furious, Eli accuses Harry of betraying the family, speaking sneeringly of Amy and provoking him to a violent anger. Meanwhile, a nervous Amy is teased first by Celia, Eli's half-sister, then by Butcherbird.
Harry rescues her and takes her home where, despite his obvious attraction to her, he rejects her advances and leaves. Later that night, Harry receives an unexpected visit from Celia, who seduces him, inviting him to bite her throat as they couple. Meanwhile, Cody is then taken in by Celia and is later tempted to become involved with the Shrikes as they ride out into the night with their clan's girls.
Later the next morning, an argument between Butch and Cody over the pendant which had belonged to Cody's grandmother leads to Butch enlightening Cody about their shared family heritage as vampiric creatures. A shocked Cody refuses to believe it and attacks Butch out of rage leading to a wolf-like fight, much to the excitement of the other Shrikes and their women.
Harry appears to break up the brawl and Cody realizes that during the fight, he had bitten Butch on the neck. He eventually realizes that everything Butch said about their family was true.
Harry later tells Cody about his parents and their family. He also reveals that their family had been at war with the heretic vampire hunters for generations. Cody begins to crave revenge for his family and chooses life with the Shrikes over Harry's pleas for him to choose a more peaceful life. Harry then returns to try to pursue a relationship with Amy, but knows his family does not approve of her as she is not one of them.
Staying in Eli's house, Cody tries to familiarize with the vampire community and how to identify vampires. Zapping different TV channels, he asks Celia whether
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, appearing in a real TV scene, is a vampire and Celia responds "Maybe".
The vampire hunters soon show up in Long Beach and kidnap Celia to lure the Carpathians into a final showdown. As tradition demands, their battle takes place at the hour of the jackal (3:00 am) on a beach where Eli has a new hotel under construction. At first, the fight goes in the favor of the hunters, but the Shrikes eventually show up to help turn the tide.
When the hunters are defeated, the Council vote to have them killed, even against Harry's pleas to simply turn them over to the Texas authorities for the murder of Cody's parents. When the family attacks and bites the remaining hunters, Cody wishes to join in, but is dissuaded by Harry.
The Shrikes then take the corpses of the hunters and throw them into the sea as Harry and Cody walk off. As they leave, Cody keeps looking back and wondering if his decision to leave with Harry was the right one.
Cast
*
Harley Venton
Harley Venton (born December 28, 1952) is an American actor, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Biography
After graduating from the University of North Dakota
and the University of Minnesota, Venton moved to New York City, where he ...
as Harry Martin/Harlevon Martinescu
*
Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau (born 6 December 1938) is a Belgian actor best known for his roles in the films ''A View to a Kill'', '' The Rapture'' and ''Panic Room'', as well as the TV shows '' The Pretender'' and '' House''.
...
as Eli Chelarin
*
Kim Johnston Ulrich
Kim Johnston Ulrich (born Kim Charisse Johnston) is an American actress.
Born Kim Charisse Johnston, she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George P. Johnston. She graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in fashion merchandising from Modesto ...
as Amy Lawrence
*
Michelle Johnson as Celia
* Salvator Xuereb as Butcherbird Vlad
*
Jason London
Jason Paul London (born November 7, 1972) is an American actor, known for his roles as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993), as Jesse in '' The Rage: Carrie 2'' (1999) and as Rick Rambis in '' O ...
as Cody Puckett
*
Bo Hopkins
William Mauldin "Bo" Hopkins (February 2, 1938 – May 28, 2022) Issucover/ref> was an American actor. He was known for playing supporting roles in a number of major studio films between 1969 and 1979, and appeared in many television shows and ...
as Chief Hunter
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood Ties (1991 film)
1991 television films
1991 films
1991 horror films
1991 thriller films
1990s American films
1990s English-language films
1990s horror thriller films
American horror television films
American horror thriller films
American thriller television films
American vampire films
Films about journalists
Films directed by Jim McBride
Films scored by Brad Fiedel
Films set in Long Beach, California
Films set in Texas
Fox network original films
Vampires in television