We’re living in an age where crowdfunding campaigns can give filmmakers an opportunity that they might have not gotten in an earlier era. Sure, crowdfunding can be a mixed bag affair but, when handled correctly, it can lead to an unbridled creative vision getting a chance to show the world what they can do. From cult classics getting a long-awaited sequel to even friends of friends being able to make the Stephen King adaptation they’ve envisioned, it’s easy to see why the vastness of crowdfunding can breed skepticism as well as excitement. However, in my opinion, nothing’s more fulfilling as a viewer than watching a campaign come to life, develop through bumps in the road, and create a final product that exceeds expectations. I don’t think anything captures that better than Seth Ickerman’s Blood Machines.
In 2016, the French duo Raphaël Hernandez and Savitri Joly-Gonfard (both working under the collaborative pseudonym Seth Ickerman) were given the task of directing the music video for Carpenter Brut’s “Turbo Killer.” This resulted in a creative, gorgeous video that currently sits at over nine million views. The world Ickerman made was vivid, bizarre, and captivating enough for the duo to want to work with Brut again. This time, however, they wanted to make a sequel. With an idea in place, they turned to Kickstarter with their plans to create a short film that expands on the visuals and ideas expressed through “Turbo Killer.”
Blood Machines became a bigger project than previously pitched. Last year, the duo announced the film would become feature length, adding over twenty more minutes to the initial goal of a thirty-minute short film. This meant more time and money would be needed on special effects, leading to a second Kickstarter campaign. They made more than double of what they were asking, leading to a total crowdfunding budget of over three hundred thousand euros (a little over three hundred and thirty thousand dollars) that was initially supposed to only be seventy-five thousand euros. Plus, the duo revealed that a streaming service has picked up the film for distribution. With all that information, four years and two Kickstarter campaigns later, the horror streaming service Shudder released Blood Machines as a Shudder original, finally showing off what Ickerman envisioned all those years ago.
Blood Machines is a sci-fi horror film that follows scavengers Vascan (Anders Heinrichsen) and Lago (Christian Erickson) on a mission to deal with the Mima, a crashed spaceship with a defective A.I. onboard. As they arrive, they encounter a group of priestesses who believe the Mima is “alive.” As Vascan proceeds to attack the Mima, the priestesses intercept the duo and use their ship to help with a ceremony. Once the ceremony is complete, a female woman sprouts out of the Mima and rockets into space, insinuating that it’s the ship’s “soul.” Baffled yet curious, Vascan detains one of the priestesses (Elisa Lasowski) and decides to go after the ghost to finish the mission. Lago agrees, locking onto the target as the trio go farther into space to discover the possible origins of this phenomenon.
If the synopsis is any indication, Blood Machines is a bizarre tale that takes classic sci-fi ideas (man’s relationship with machines, machines gaining sentience, etc.) and gives them that Ickerman vision that feels like an amalgamation of Blade Runner, Alien, Heavy Metal, Event Horizon, and even a pinch of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. It lacks captivating characters and engrossing, intelligent dialogue but it seems to be the point, throwing paper thin characters into a situation that only omnipresent viewers could vaguely comprehend. Plus, it does a great job of using other elements to push interesting and bonkers ideas as well as using the costume design to express the individuality of the film’s characters. For example, Vascan and Lago are pretty standard sci-fi characters (Vascan is a cynical bounty hunter type and Lago feels very reminiscent of Brett from “Alien”) but their wardrobe does a great job of having that come across without even listening to the dialogue, especially if you’re a fan of sci-fi. It wears its influences on its sleeve but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything unique to Blood Machines.
In fact, the visuals in Blood Machines are unique to the point where they are, in my mind, the selling point for the film. The duo are known for creating gorgeous visuals on very slim budgets. Blood Machines is absolutely no exception, presenting a spectrum that at times feels like the iconic shots of 2001: A Space Odyssey but drenched in neon. There’s even a moment that feels like the Millennium Falcon jumping into hyperspace but turned to eleven, blasting color in your face to the point where it’d be a crime to watch it on a phone/small screen. With a bit over a quarter of a million dollars to work with, Ickerman has brought to life a sci-fi film that not only puts some blockbuster films to shame but completely embodies the phrase “cosmic space opera.” From the grimy, green interior of the protagonists’ ship to the final shot that feels like a painting in motion, the visuals of Blood Machines give the film the life and personality every sci-fi film needs to be memorable and impactful.
While the visuals are incredible on their own, what gives them even more weight is the score by Carpenter Brut. In case you’re unaware of him, Carpenter Brut (the stage name of Franck Hueso) is a French synthwave artist who has been growing in popularity since his first EP in the early 2010’s. His music is heavily influenced by metal and 80’s horror, resulting in a soundscape that would feel right at home with slasher films or anything with John Carpenter’s name on it. His contribution to Blood Machines feels just as crucial to the film as Daft Punk’s score was to TRON: Legacy, giving the incredible effects a weight and depth to them that feels like the perfect marriage between audio and visual. It’s certainly not Brut’s best album but there are moments, such as when the organ introduces itself in the “Blood Machines Theme,” where the music collides with the visuals so perfectly that the viewer can’t help but be immensely impressed.
Sadly though, as much as I’m in love with what Blood Machines does, not every aspect is impeccable or awesome. Like I said earlier, the characters are one-dimensional and the dialogue is lacking. In addition, the performances are overall good but actors such as Heinrichsen have an occasional moment where a line is said oddly or a joke falls flat. Also, while I enjoy the callbacks to the “Turbo Killer” music video, not every one of them feels like it works with what Blood Machines is attempting to do. The implementation of the gas mask, for example, was an element from “Turbo Killer” that didn’t feel necessary nor did it feel like there was an interpretation that fully makes sense as to why it returned. My only other issue with the film is the way it’s presented on Shudder which splits each act into its own separate “episode,” resulting in a questionable decision that ultimately hurts the pacing of the final product.
Overall, Blood Machines is more than I could’ve ever asked from a crowdfunding effort. It’s a feast for the eyes and ears that is colorful, unique, and bizarre in the best way. I’d recommend watching the “Turbo Killer” music video in preparation because it gives you a near-perfect idea of what Blood Machines offers. While the flaws do keep the film from being one of my favorite sci-fi films, the fact that my second viewing only made me appreciate it more makes me excited for what Seth Ickerman has in store for the future. In the end, Blood Machines is a terrific time that’ll certainly give anyone looking for a weird, niche film a fix that’ll be hard to shake.