BloodSpell: episodes 1-6 (2006) written and directed by Hugh Hancock (Strange Company)

BloodSpell is a new feature length epic fantasy mechinima production by Hugh Hancock of the Strange Company. For those not in the know, which included me up to a month or so ago when I heard Hancock being interviewed on the Radio, mechinima is a new-ish form of animation which uses graphics engines from modern high-powered computer games to produce animated short films. Neat idea, huh? So what makes BloodSpell special? Well for a start: length – BloodSpell is planned to run for a total of 90 plus minutes, not like the standard short film mechinima productions. Secondly: scale – BloodSpell intends to imitate a
Hollywood blockbuster, with thousands virtual extras, impressive virtual sets and lots of large-scale virtual action, which is very impressive for a movie with absolutely no budget whatsoever! Also BloodSpell is a Creative Commons distribution, which basically means it is free to download, share, edit or remix to your or indeed anyone else’s heart’s content – very generous indeed. So far six 6-7 minute episodes or story chunks of BloodSpell have been, with new episodes scheduled for released every two weeks, which will be compiled into the finished feature upon completion. The Strange Company are obviously aware of the visual limitations of mechinima compared to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings or Shrek but promote their products originality and punk attitude over production values: a fine principle indeed. 

BloodSpell is pseudo-medieval fantasy world where the monks of the Church of the Angels hunt down the heretic ‘Blooded’ who have the ability to unleash magical powers when they spill their own blood. However not all is quite as it seems as Jered (Thom Tuck): a novice monk who exhibits the gift of the ‘Blooded’ when trying to save Carrie (Charmaine Gilbert), a ‘Blooded’ witch, realises that the ‘Blooded’ are human too. Saving Carrie and other captured ‘Blooded’ from being sacrificed by the  hands of the Master (Paul A.J. Hamilton) and the black monks to the sinister Angel, Jared finds himself on the run from his fellow monks and has to seek refuge in the ‘Blooded’ slums. While not startling original, at least BloodSpell escapes the usual Tolkien-esque clichés such as elves and orcs that clutter up much of modern fantasy. Obvious parallels can be made between the suppression of ‘witches’ by the medieval church and the suppression of the ‘Blooded’ by the Church of the Angels. However it is still too early to tell exactly who the good guys and the bad guys are, as, intelligently, neither side, in these early episodes, is painted entirely good or evil. Indeed there are still many unanswered questions, which is not surprising really as so far the Strange Company has only released approximately half an hour or so of this feature length production. Hopefully as the story continues to unfold BloodSpell will continue to fly in the face of traditional fantasy preconception and expanded its fairly basic premise. Some of the creatures are more inspired, including: some purple half spider-half women that sport Jordan-like pendulous breasts, a family of Gollum-like creature which feed on the blood of the ‘Blooded,’ the spectral Angel with a shimmering voice, and a monocle wearing squid-faced wizard-creature who utters the inspiring line “Well, in that case sir I would tear the flesh from your body and render your bones down to serve as my soup.” 

While BloodSpell has many worthy qualities, not least D.I.Y. punk ethos and the fact it is free, it also has many glaring faults, which are unfortunately impossible to ignore. The most obvious and least important is the cinematic limitations of mechinima as a medium. While this needs not be a big problem in a less ambitious project, it is hard to be all that impressed by BloodSpell’s extended action and ‘money-shot’ scenes, as one would in its live-action or animated equivalents, and, in accordance with the genre, there are a quite a few big fight scenes here, which are frankly a little boring. Another minor problem is the quality of the voice acting which, with only one exception: Caroline Dunford who plays Arianne, are fairly amateurish (and that is being kind). However these problems are fairly minor, especially as BloodSpell is free, and are probably to be expected on a project with no real budget. Unfortunately BloodSpell’s problems do not end there. I have a real issue with many of the stylistic touches that Strange Company has made, especially the hideously intrusive below par skate-punk and emo rock dirges which litter almost every episode. Actually there is one superb track: ‘Dance While the Sky Crashes Down’ by Jason Webley, a kind of Tom Waits inspired drunken gypsy waltz, which is insanely enjoyable! But other than that the rest of the tunes makes the Shrek soundtrack (which BloodSpell is presumably trying to imitate for some reason) sound like Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly score – they really are fucking terrible! Another major problem is the continuous attempts to inject humour into every other scene. Most of these gags are fairly piss poor and the voice actor’s execution is generally not up to the job of comic acting. To be honest it feels like these nervy jokes are driven by the writer’s insecurity with taking the role of a fantasy storyteller seriously, which is a pity: as BloodSpell has real potential. I guess Hugh Hancock and the co-creators consider this just an irrelevant part of BloodSpell’s ‘punk attitude,’ but naff innuendo and sub-Monty Python silliness do not give a film a punk edge. Does Shrek have a punk attitude? Like it or loath it – its hardly breaking the mould, is it? Surely modern fantasists like China Miéville have more punk attitude? However the real issue is that BloodSpell’s story, setting and character development (as they stand by the end of episode six), which (ironically) have all the depth of a soulless fantasy computer game of the type which the graphic engine that drives BloodSpell’s animation is based upon. Now maybe this association seems more apparent due to BloodSpell’s jerky computer game movement and clunky graphics, but there is no denying that BloodSpell seems to lack the needed substance of a great modern fantasy.  

I really wanted to like BloodSpell more than I do. It is difficult to criticise it for its philosophy, but unfortunately, at this stage, it lacks the necessary depth I would expect of a quality fantasy. The visual limitations of mechinima, the boring fight scenes and the dodgy acting are entirely understandable, but the intrusive music, naff jokes and uninspiring story are harder to excuse. Admittedly these are early days and with a few interesting plot developments BloodSpell could rightly be considered a cult classic. Certainly I will continue to watch it and wish Strange Company luck with this ambitious project.  

If you wish to try BloodSpell then the first six episodes can be found to download here.