Blood Machines: Film Review (TADFF)

Space hunters Vascan (Anders Heinrichsen) and Lago (Christian Erickson) are tracking down a damaged ship. Before they destroy it, they’re confronted by a group of priestesses that tell them the ship is actually a living thing. They then witness the ghost of a young woman (Joëlle Berckmans) pull herself out of the machine—as if the ship had a soul. She tries to flee, and the men follow her through space to a mystical spaceship graveyard.

An epic space opera, BLOOD MACHINES is a mind-bending, neon-drenched, audio/visual journey, scored by synth-wave musician Carpenter Brut. It feels like there is no screen big enough or bright enough to capture the level of artistry and depth the filmmakers have poured into every detail of every shot. It’s stunning, period. 

Influenced by sci-fi comic books from the ‘80s, Heavy Metal magazine, and the work of Frank Frazzeta, BLOOD MACHINES is a sequel to the music video TURBO KILLER, Seth Ickerman (pseudonym of French directors Raphaël Hernandez and Savitri Joly-Gonfard) and Brut’s first project together. The film expands on the techno-futuristic world they started building in the video and uses it to deliver a message that transcends time and space: show empathy and it might be shown in return.