Books of Blood

8/30/2022

Books of Blood is a horror anthology ostensibly based on an eponymous series of short story collections by Clive Barker. The movie is divided into several segments, but there are only two distinguishable stories, and only one of them has its origin in a Barker text. There’s about 30 minutes worth of a good movie here; visually evoking the best of Hellraiser and narratively full of rich irony and poetic justice. Even if Barker was not involved (and I assume he wasn’t), and even if the filmmakers take creative liberties, the strength of the source material shines through; it’s recognizably Clive Barker and it’s given a first rate treatment. The problem is that the rest of movie has nothing to do with the original Books of Blood, and doesn’t come close to the Barker’s level of sophis