Bloodstorm review by Bobby Blakey
If you have never heard of David Kurzhal aka Viking Samurai on YouTube, then you are missing out if you are a martial arts fan. With over 140, 000 subscribers he has been bringing some great reviews, interviews and so much more to the martial arts film community for years. Now he is headlining his first action film Bloodstorm co-starring Krista Hedins, Michael Nesto, Michael Paré, and Richard Tyson. Could he bring the same passion and skill to this martial arts flick that he does to his page, or will it fail to survive the escape?
Bloodstorm follows a determined young policewoman, and a deadly inmate are caught in the middle of a violent prison break during a transfer to a remote prison island. Forced to rely on each other, they must fight through chaos to survive.
Understanding, heading into this film that is a lower budget independent film so try to keep that in mind when watching it. The film screams homage to Van Damme which comes as little surprise knowing that Kurzhal is a massive fan much like me. From this aspect the film is a success featuring some well-done choreography and Kurzhal showcasing some great martial arts skill and matching many of the kicking and fight styles of Van Damme.
The film’s story is simple and pretty much just setting things up to shove in as many fight sequences as possible and I was here for it. There are a lot of moments that don’t always make sense in why something is happening or why someone is acting that way, but it also doesn’t need to. We are here for the action and there is plenty of it. With a bit more fleshing out the story could have worked better and reminds me of the action films of the 80s and 90s, which is a good thing.
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I don’t like bashing people’s performances and plenty of them work, but it struggles here. The line delivery at times is clunky and kind of confusing, but I give everyone credit for giving it their best to bring something to life. I didn’t hate the film but the stuff between the fights makes it hard to get through at times as I still try to give it the respect any film does for the work put into it. There needed to be some work on the voice track as some you could tell were voiced over and didn’t always line up or make sense.
I love the elements with the fights and set up using some montage style storytelling but the music throughout the film was mind numbing and repetitive to the point where I was ready to check out. Had it not been for my fandom and respect in knowing the work and what Kurzhal was trying to accomplish I might have moved on but stuck with it and glad I did to see the potential for future projects. This film likely won’t work for any one other than his hardcore fans or those just loving martial arts action flicks but impressed with what they pulled off at this stage and hope this is a kick start to see more of the Viking Samurai kick ass on screen.
Decide for yourself and check out Bloodstorm streaming now on digital and DVD from One Tree Entertainment.