Blood Relatives (1981)

Sadly Over-hyped

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

"Blood Relatives" begins as a police procedural, with interrogations, red herrings, police line-ups, etc., but gradually transforms into a psychological family drama, with long flashbacks that take up nearly the entire second half; the ultimate solution of the murder is guessable for fans of the genre, but it remains chilling to see unfold on the screen. Aude Landry (why did she have to quit acting so early? She shows huge potential here) and Lisa Langlois give very accomplished performances for their age, and Donald Sutherland is effectively introspective as the inspector who, much like Hercule Poirot, tries to understand the psychology of the crime in order to get to the truth. There are two strangely "off" turns by the usually dependable Donald Pleasence and Stephane Audran, but thankfully their parts are minor and don't really affect the quality of the film, which I consider one of Claude Chabrol's best and most underrated. *** out of 4.

This is an unusual foray in the English language for Chabrol (albeit set in Canada, where French is extensively spoken) but a most typical mystery for him (based on a novel by popular American pulp writer Ed McBain) and, in retrospect, an underrated (if unassuming) work.The director also managed to rope in a good cast, led by Donald Sutherland (a genuine Canadian, playing a character not too far removed from his star-making turn in KLUTE [1971]), as well as David Hemmings and Donald Pleasence (quietly impressive in the role of a paedophile) to act as red herrings. However, the best performances come from the two young female protagonists (who were ostensibly assaulted one night at the film's very start) and especially the sole survivor, whose version of events keeps changing throughout the film, as Sutherland – and the audience – gradually begins to put the pieces together with every new disclosed fact. On the other hand, Chabrol's own wife – Stephane Audran – is saddled with a thankless mother role.Though the ultimate revelation is hardly overwhelmingly original, the incestuous connotations are provocative enough to make the journey there a fairly powerful one. The copy I acquired (which seems to be slightly trimmed – running 91 minutes against the official 100) was full-frame and excessively soft, but certainly serviceable for such a rare item. Interestingly, the French edition of this title contains an alternate score by Chabrol regular Pierre Jansen to the one provided here by Howard Blake.

There are several great reasons to see "Blood Relatives"! First of all because Donald Sutherland is a magnificent actor and his project choices in the 70's practically all resulted in brilliant movies ("Klute", "Don't Look Now", "Day of the Locust", Invasion of the Body Snatchers"…), the supportive cast is also terrific, with Donald Pleasence and David Hemmings, and – most of all – controversial murder mysteries are always worth checking out, especially if they're directed by an acclaimed French filmmaker. "Blood Relatives" opens truly powerful and remains fascinating for almost a full hour. On a rainy Saturday night, a violent aggressor attacks two minor girls and one of them – the oldest one – doesn't survive. The girls turn out to be cousins and police inspector Carella (Sutherland) is charged with looking for the killer, starting with the usual line-up of notorious sex offenders and pedophiles. It's only with the discovery of the dead victim Muriel's personal diary that Carella realizes the culprit is very close to the family, as she hid a relationship with her first-degree cousin Andrew and an affair with her employer. The first half of "Blood Relatives" is great with a close follow-up of the police investigation and a specifically well-scripted red herring involving the respectable Donald Pleasence playing a repulsive monster. The story has you guessing along with Sutherland's character and you try to focus on every possible sub theme and/or underlying message. Regretfully, and nearly impossible to comprehend, the film pretty much turns into a campy teen-horror story with the arrival of Muriel's diary. The remaining playtime is filled with flashbacks and narrated scenes from the diary, padded with an incredible amount of uninteresting info about typical teenage girl stuff and overly detailed footage of Muriel's private love-life. The identity of Muriel's killer suddenly seems secondary to her puppy loves and Sutherland only occasionally comes on screen when he turns over the pages in the diary. Bummer! How can a film that starts so promising end up so tacky, dull and immature?

Donald Sutherland was one of the most interesting and intelligent actors of the 1970s with impressive roles in movie such as 'Klute', 'Steelyard Blues', 'The Day Of The Locust', 'Don't Look Now' and '1900'. But for some reason 'Blood Relatives' has disappeared into obscurity, despite being directed by acclaimed French New Wave figure Claude Chabrol, and featuring yet another fine Sutherland performance. Why this movie has been all but forgotten is difficult to explain. I really have no idea. But as I could EASILY list 100 other unfairly neglected movies off the top of my head it doesn't really surprise me. Anyway, this is a very well made mystery thriller which kept me fascinated throughout. Sutherland is great, the three young leads (who include Lisa Langlois later of trash classic 'Class Of 1984'!) are all very good, plus we get the wonderful David Hemmings ('Blowup'/'Barbarella'/'Profondo Rosso'), and a brilliant cameo from Donald Pleasence ('THX 1138'/'Halloween') as a creepy paedophile. 'Blood Relatives' is recommended to mystery buffs and Sutherland fans.