New Horror Releases: Aaron's Blood (2017) Reviewed


Aaron’s Blood is a horror film about a father’s devotion to his offspring. Aaron (James Martinez) is trying to care for his twelve year old son, Tate (Trevor Stovall), after the death of his wife a year earlier. After a series of events, Tate begins acting strangely and the film makes an awkward transition from drama to horror.

There is the kernel of an interesting idea here. A recently widowed man is struggling to care for his sick son. Just when he thinks the kid may be okay, strange things begin happening around them. Now, he needs to act quickly or he will lose his son forever. There is something scary in the relatability of that scenario, but Aaron’s Blood never figures out how to use it. Instead, there are plenty of plot-holes and silly dialogue.

Additionally, Aaron has a fear of losing Tate. We know he is extremely afraid of this because of two lengthy dream sequences where Aaron is in a panic, unable to find his son. This would be fine except that this anxiety never shows itself during Aaron’s conversations with or about Tate.


Dad. I don't like this movie. 
The film is short (about seventy-five minutes not including the end credits), so there isn’t time to actually develop the characters before the plot kicks in. The set-up, which features some potentially complex emotions, is blown through in about fifteen minutes. Potentially important developments are rushed past, taking any drama or mystery out of the story. Aaron is told that there is something he can do to save his son, but the audience only finds out what that is toward the end of the film. At first, I thought this was done to add suspense to the story. But what he does is not exactly a surprise, so I do not understand why it was done that way.

Aaron’s Blood has some interesting ideas in it that could have helped it differ from other horror films. However, the pacing and poor dialogue zap the film of any thrills. The end result is one that is not really worth the seventy-five minutes it takes to watch it.

Score

-Ben Pivoz