Midlands Review of Blood Money
midlandsmovies • November 15, 2020
Blood Money
Directed by Liam Banks
2020
Superfreak Media
Blood Money is the latest short from Superfreak Media, the Nottingham-based powerhouse with a love for all that goes bump in the night.
Having just pulled off a daring and murderous bank robbery, Andi (Jessica Messenger) washes off her victims’ blood in a sleazy motel bathroom. After finding an ominous occult symbol under one of the wall tiles, along with the name Mammon, she’s attacked by a demonic presence and quickly discovers that there’s more than a grain of truth in the old adage ‘crime doesn’t pay’…
At just over 10 minutes, this film packs a punch. It gets in, makes with the scares and gets out, knowing not to overstay its welcome. Writer/Director Liam Banks makes the most of the limited setting, creating clever chills with the tub and mirrors and shower curtains to great effect so it never feels static. Once the demonic shit hits the fan, it’s a thrill-ride right to the bloody finish.
One thing that immediately struck me was the film’s visual aesthetic. Between the grimy yellow filter and the grainy footage, it felt like this film has leapt straight out of the late 70s or early 80s; it wouldn’t be at all out of place among the video nasties and grindhouse classics of those eras. The sudden jarring appearance of a smartphone, thoroughly cementing the setting as modern day, is disorienting but not enough to break immersion. If anything, it just adds to the Weirdness of it all.
Messenger doesn’t quite convince me as the type who’d rob a bank and kill the customers, but she does a damn fine job of being terrorised by the demon Mammon and really sells the terror that Andi feels as she reaps what she’s sown. Matthew Barker’s performance as Mammon was great, and the makeup effects by Monica Montalvo were mostly superb – Mammon is a very scary presence, and every minute he was on-screen (even if it’s just his slowly creeping hands) had me chilled.
Props also go to Jenn Day as a news reporter who bookends the film and provides it with its sinister final lines, and Cohen Day as an extremely creepy ghost child – a tiny role, but not one I’m likely to forget!
Blood Money is great fun. It’s a seedy, scuzzy little bucket of blood, lovingly served up for horror fans to guzzle down. If you’re still clinging to Halloween even as Christmas creeps ever closer, definitely check this one out!
Sam Kurd
Twitter @splend
The sound of a noisy hoover is the unlikely beginning of a new film from first-time filmmaker Nicholas Georghiou. A short about domestic help, the film explores a strange situation in a hotel room where all is not what it seems.
The inaugural Forward Film & Television Festival makes its debut and will be spotlighting bold new voices and positioning Birmingham as a major player in the screen industries.
Returning for its third and biggest year yet, the Mansfield Town Film Festival (MTFF) runs from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th July 2025 ay Mansfield Palace Theatre.
Naphat Boonyaprapa previously directed the excellent – if niche – documentary Red Black Green about local table tennis star Connor Green. Now, turning his attention to fiction, his latest short is a tender examination of loneliness and friendship.