Freaks that like flesh! It’s two very different kinds of horror films as I take on Blood Vessel and Uncle Peckerhead.
BLOOD VESSEL (2019)
This feels to me like a serious version of the horror comedy Subferatu. It takes place during World War II, when a group stranded on a life raft boards an abandoned German ship.
Aside from Subferatu, it quickly begins feeling like a cross between Ghost Ship and Death Ship. Things move along very slowly until they finally find a little girl stowed away about 30 minutes in. The setting and atmosphere satisfy, but the film returns to being very slow.
Finally, an ornate coffin is found. A dude breaks it open and unleashes monstrous vampires reminiscent of Salem’s Lot, Subspecies, and The Night Flier.
The vamps are creepy cool and there are plenty of hack n slash battles, but personally I didn’t find this one all that enthralling.
UNCLE PECKERHEAD (2020)
Rock band comedy horror movies have become trendy in the past few years, and while Uncle Peckerhead isn’t the cream of the crop, there’s plenty to like here, such as the very first super gory shot. Yay!
The film follows a punk trio—2 girls and a guy—that finally lands a tour gig. Problem is, their van gets repossessed. So out of sheer desperation, they agree to let an older guy with a van be their roadie. And that man is Uncle Peckerhead.
But Uncle Peckerhead has a problem—at night he turns into what looks like a cannibalistic version of Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses and chows down on anyone he can sink his teeth into.
Desperate to become successful, the band agrees to give him injections that control his monstrous side so that they can continue with their tour. That turns out to be a big mistake, even if Uncle Peckerhead does limit his meals to those that wrong the band.
The cast is quite likable, and there are plenty of funny moments, as well as oodles of blood and guts. Plus, the bearish guy in the band is cute, funny, and gay, scoring Uncle Peckerhead a spot on the does the gay guy die? list. With a title like this, it better.
However, the film does have pacing issues and also falls into a repetitive pattern—band shenanigans, Uncle Peckerhead eats someone, they drive to a new place to do it all again. Still, it’s worth a watch if you’re a fan of band focused horror flicks.
