Blood Hook

Title: Blood Hook (1986)
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Starring: Mark Jacobs, Anne Colbert, Don Winters
Director: Jim Mallon
Duration: 85 mins

“Something’s very fishy…”

A group of friends and a dysfunctional family travel to the American north woods for an annual fishing tournament at a pristine lake. Peter van Cleese and his buddies stay at his late grandfather’s lakeside house and meet some interesting yokels, including a grumpy neighbor, a redneck conspiracy theorist, and a fat fisherman finding ways to cheat in the tournament. But there is someone else taking part in this contest. Someone who’s fishing for humans! One by one people are being killed by giant fishhooks flung at them from out of nowhere. Without the help of the cops, Peter must find out who the killer is and stop him before his girlfriend ends up as fish bait.

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed Blood Hook. I was expecting some unfunny Naked Gun-type humor set around cliché slasher conventions with no blood or nudity. What I got was an engaging whodunit horror that, even though it didn’t take itself too seriously, managed to be well constructed and chuckle-inducing. Funny moments include a character sitting in a boat, drunk, and singing a reggae song about catching fish as well as some choice puns here and there (“Nice pole, I like it!”). But the thing that makes this movie successful are the parts where it acts like a horror film instead of a comedy. The kills, while ridiculous, are remarkably bloody (including a scene where the reggae-singing character has a rope threaded through the bottom of his jaw). The film continues to increase in ghoulishness as it plays, a factor that does not disappoint the genre fans.

Although it takes a while for us to find out who the main character is supposed to be, the supporting cast is just what you’d imagine from a Troma movie: wily, kooky characters, but with enough charm to rub the viewer the right way. We are also subject to many cheesy monologues courtesy of these colorful crackers. They may not be up to par with Quint’s tale of the Indianapolis from Jaws, but they are campy entertainment nonetheless. Along with its eccentric lot of characters, Blood Hook features some creativity on the part of the script. The explanation behind the killer’s madness is very clever, yet in keeping with the tone of the film also ridiculous. And while I won’t spoil what it is, it has to do with a union between seemingly unrelated ingredients: boom boxes, insects, and shrapnel. Wanna take a guess?

Technically, this film is relatively average for an 80’s horror picture. The photography effectively captures the rural and scenic locations and succeeds at good lighting during night sequences. The score is your typical Tangerine Dream-wannabe synth music, however the sound department does its job exceptionally well. The acting isn’t terrible for a B-movie such as this, but saying that the acting “isn’t terrible” may be saying a lot for a B-movie. The direction and the off-beat script keep our attention with a fast pace and a bunch of subplots, which aren’t too interesting but they move things along.

Before spearheading the sci-fi cult series Mystery Science Theater 3000, Jim Mallon gave the world a sharp riff on the booming slasher craze with the sadly forgotten Blood Hook. A lost gem in the Troma catalogue, this fisherman’s tale is perfect for a casual screening of the indiscriminant genre geek. I know I’m “hooked.”