A Blind Bargain review by Bobby Blakey
Crispin Glover is most notably known for his role as George McFly in Back to the Future and Willard, but he has had an extensive career taking on every genre you can think of. His latest film A Blind Bargain, which is a reimaging of the Lon Chaney 1922 horror classic. The film co-stars Jake Horowitz, Lucy Loken, Annalisa Cochrane, Amy Wright, Sean Whalen, Jed Rowen and Rob Mayes as “Vincent” from The Ghastly Love of Johnny X director Paul Bunnell. Could this film captrue the essence of chaney’s film or will it be a failed experiment?
A Blind Bargain follows a desperate young man who strikes a dark deal with an unhinged doctor, unknowingly offering up his mother as a subject for the twisted experiments of a morally ambiguous physician seeking to reverse the aging process. However, he soon realizes that he failed to read the fine print and that every bargain has a price. Things at the Gruder Institute are far more sinister than he ever imagined in this evocative psychological thriller—a stylized throwback to 1970.
The long-lost silent horror classic which originally showcased legendary chameleon Lon Chaney in a remarkable dual role that became one of his most talked-about performances. Deemed too amoral and unsettling for its time, the film faced heavy censorship, with its premiere delayed by extensive rewrites and cuts—yet it ultimately emerged as both a critical triumph and a box-office success. Today, it stands as one of the most coveted lost works of Chaney’s career—a holy grail title for film preservationists and Chaney historians—with only a few theatrical lobby cards and photos known to survive as evidence of its existence.
While I have not seen the original film, I love Lon Chaney’s work as well as Glover so getting to see something that is crossing both worlds had me intrigued. Knowing little about the story I went in blind in hopes of letting it unfold fresh and new and
see how it plays out. From the beginning you can see that it is a lower budget film, but not in a bad way. They have leaned into the 70s aesthetic to make it look and feel like it was made during this time. It was shot on Kodak film with a plan to have it projected on 35mm for a classic tone.
Much like films of the 70s, it is often overacted or a bit cheesy in execution, but that makes it work all the better. As expected, Glover goes all in with an often over the top performance that offers up subtle moments that make him all the more intriguing, which is perfect for the character. The rest of the cast are decent with some of the performances kind of off, but I think it is on purpose to capture more of the period of filmmaking.
The story is simple but keeps it twisting and turning to keep you intrigue to where it is going, but it’s also all over the place. This causes some issues as it struggles to find its own journey that often gets lost in the multiple arcs happening as opposed to leaning into the strange work at the hospital. It’s done well enough that you could easily believe it was made in the 70s and uses varied technology and film styles to make it work.
There are plenty of strange visuals and psychedelic moments, but I was surprised that it wasn’t stranger or more violent given the idea. The original offered up a half man half ape creature played by Chaney so was hoping for something similar, but it goes into a different direction. Have no fear it still leans into the body horror element in the final moments of the film, but sadly its only in about the last ten minutes of the film. The way it is shot and the direction they went works, but I was hoping for more. The ending is pretty anti-climactic after all the build-up and kind of makes you feel like what was the point of it all, but that's also in line with a lot these types of films during that time period.
In the end the film is impressive in the overall tone and capturing the horror style of the 70s and I enjoyed it. It’s an acquired taste and won’t work for everyone but getting to see Glover chew up every scene in this type of film was enough for me to enjoy it in all its classic horror style.
Decide for yourself and check out A Blind Bargain available now in select theaters from Vitagraph Films.