In the opening minutes of the indie drama The Bloodhound, a man covered from head to toe crawls out of a river, drags himself through the woods to a modernist mansion, crawls into a closet, and closes the door. This remote mansion is the home of J.P. Luret (Joe Adler) and his sister Vivian (Annalise Basso) and they haven't left it in two years.
The world comes to them, or rather to J.P. (Vivian shuts herself up in her room), whether it's private concerts, doctor house calls, food delivery, or a visit from childhood friend Francis (Liam Aiken), who responds to vague messages from J.P.
The pale, pretentious J.P., played by Alder with a touch of affected theatrically, is a mix of lonely neediness and a vaguely threatening need to dominate. He recalls the decadent, rich sadists of Gothic horror fiction reimagined as an American shut-in living off inherited wealth, playing games with his guests that threaten to tip into something more dangerous. Francis has no better prospects than to relive the childhood friendship; Liam Akin plays him as a dubious everyman and curious visitor, snooping behind closed doors and mooning over the absent Vivian, who only appears at night as if in a dream, warning Francis to leave.
Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, the feature debut of filmmaker Patrick Picard seems to be heading into horror movie territory but ends up something of a psychological drama by way of an American Gothic thriller built on mood and style. It's handsomely staged and shot and the performances are quite good, filling every scene with suggestions and clues of something lingering behind it all.
Unfortunately, Picard's script is all suggestion and enigma, something that works fine for a short film but stretches thin over a feature. The creepy crawling man of the first scene remains an enigma; we never discover if it is real, imagined, or simply a metaphor. The games of dominance and control played by J.P. build to a potentially horrific climax but ultimately have no lasting dramatic impact. Picard displays genuine talent and a fine sense of craft; his mastery of mood, tone, performance, and visual design is evident.
The Bloodhound makes for a fine showcase for an emerging filmmaker but it lacks a story strong enough to turn the unease and isolation and menace into a gripping film.
Not rated. Features adult language and but no violence, nudity, or sexuality. Includes commentary by filmmaker Patrick Picard and editor David Scorca and the 45-minute documentary On the Trail of The Bloodhound: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Chiller. Optional purchase.