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BLOOD TRACKS
1986, Vista Home Video.
DIRECTOR: Tom Sjoberg PRODUCER: Mike Jackson
STARRING: Jeff Harding, Michael Fitzpatrick, Naomi Kaneda, Brad Powell,
Peter Merrill, Harriet Robinson, Tina Shaw, Frances Kelley,
Karina Lee, Helena Jacks. | |
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On a cold, winter night, a drunken man comes home to his tiny apartment to demand the household money
from his poor, downtrodden wife. She refuses to tell him where it is, since she needs it to
feed thier sons. The drunken lout curses and pushes past her, finds the money and
turns to leave. She tries to stop him by brandishing a knife in his
face; He wrestles it away from her and cuts her throat, though only superficially.
She gets to her feet and stabs her husband in the back as he is walking out the door.
A neighbor happens upon the scene and shouts "Murderer!" at her. Frightened, she
gathers up her five sons and flees into the icy night. Next, a voice informs us:
"For 40 years, the family hid out in the middle of nowhere. Now, intruders are on their way."(!)
Thus lays the groundwork for BLOOD TRACKS. Soon we learn the "intruders" are
a band and their entourage, who've brought along a gaggle of models to shoot a video in the
snow-covered hills. The band goes by the incredibly cheesy name of "Solid Gold", and
God only knows why any band would choose such a place to film a video, but that's about par for
the course for this movie. The band's "guide" and helicopter pilot is a clean-cut, hunky
type named John, who is a bit worried about avalanches. "Avalanches?" pipes up one
of the models, "isn't that a little dangerous?" "Well yeah, it could muss your hair a little."
John replies, somewhat dismissively. He's trying to appear bold, you see, since he's sweet
on Suzy, the model who asked about avalanches.
Anyway, scene cuts to a worker posting a "condemned" sign outside an abandoned power plant. He
then enters the plant, awakening our fugitive mother and her five sons, all grown now, who are taking
refuge inside the plant. They fear he is there to take them to the authorities, so Mom sends her
feral son (actually, for some reason ALL the sons except the eldest have become feral to some degree) to
dispatch the intruder, which he does in a particularly bloody manner.
Meanwhile, the band and entourage are making their way into the hills, when the manager spots a
building which he enthuses is "gorgeous -- just what we want!" Wouldn't you know it,
it's the abandoned power plant which houses our fugitive family! I sense trouble ahead!
And not just with the attitude-laden models, either!
They set up to shoot with the power plant in the background. The band and models
change into their metal best (and for the models, skimpiest) clothes and tease their hair to truly
frightening heights. The band then lip-synch to "Blood Tracks" while the models wriggle and pose
to the music. However, the racket eventually causes an avalanche, which makes everyone retire to a nearby cabin to do some serious "partying." They proceed to break out the booze and
start pairing off, unaware that their noise has also roused the family, who see the band and their entourage
as intruders who pose a threat to their refuge.
Eventually, one of the party members decides to go up to the power plant, and of course he doesn't return.
So naturally, people start following one another to the plant, searching for their lost mates, most
of them only to meet a grisly fate at the hands of the feral sons and their elaborate booby traps. But
there is a bright spot in this for anyone who particularly disliked pomp-rock band EUROPE: The viewer
gets to see their guitar player, Kee Marcello's, head chopped off and rolling across the floor! What fun!
Meantime, a couple of the feral sons have sneaked down to the cabin, where they proceed to dispatch
band members and models alike.
Of course, the band members, et al, attempt to fight back, and manage to take out the Mom and some of the sons until
eventually we're left with only Suzy the model, John the pilot and Lee, the non-mongrel son. John and Suzy
manage to chop off Lee's arm and narrowly escape via helicopter. Lee, however, manages to staunch his
wound by searing it with a hot shovel, and he survives to remain a threat in the sequel (which thankfully, was never
made)!
This movie really could have, should have been awesome! It's all there -- cheesy plot, gratitious
nudity, bad acting, silly big-haired rockers. But the movie is poorly shot, so dark at times that it's very
hard to see the slaughter scenes, and is cut so badly that when you CAN see, they don't show the carnage.
Also, the villans aren't quite "villanous" enough; You're more sorry for them than afraid of them.
Still, the video shoot scenes and the contrived "rock and roll debauchery" make this worth the
average metal fan's time.
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A model gets naked in a car, then is buried
by an avalanche and must be dragged out, still naked. The models at the party walk around topless for
the rockers' amusement. (Questionably) for the ladies, you get a shot of one of the band member's bare
butt as he steps up to the toilet. |
SCENES THAT MAKE ME GO "HMMM...,":
| 1. |
The worker posts a "Condemned -- Do Not Enter" sign
outside the power plant, then what does he do? Why, he enters! Of course!
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| 2. |
The family has been hiding
out for 40 years, and four of the sons have turned feral and can't speak, while the eldest has
retained his sanity and can speak english. I understand the "crazy" part, by why
can't the other four boys speak?
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| 3. |
Why-why-why of WHY does everyone
insist on "splitting up" when going into a strange, spooky place? I'd be sticking to
my companions like velcro!
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DID YOU KNOW...,:
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BLOOD TRACKS
is supposed to be set in Colorado, but it was actually shot in Sweden.
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| - |
"Solid Gold", the band in
BLOOD TRACKS was actually portrayed by real-life Swedish glam rockers EASY ACTION.
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EASY ACTION's
guitarist, Kee Marcello, went on to play for 80's supergroup EUROPE.
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EASY ACTION's
singer, Zinny Zan, later fronted SHOTGUN MESSIAH, whose line-up included current
MARILYN MANSON bassist Tim Skold.
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