[yasr_overall_rating]
A famous model, trapped inside an upside-down car, reaches a mysterious man on her damaged cell phone. However, roadside assistance is the last thing on the stranger’s mind.
Upside-down is the new right-side up. At least, it will be during the one hour and thirty minute suspense-fest that is Harris Demel’s “Blood Rush,” aka “Flipped.” Tension knows no bounds as we are taken on a ride (pun intended) packed with emotion and surprise. So crane your neck to the left a little (or a lot) as we explore Demel’s world of the topsy-turvy.
In the middle of nowhere alongside a winding dirt road, model Nicole “Nicki” Diamond (Stella Maeve) awakens to what I would assume to be a massive headache and the slow realization that she and her new fiancé, artist Scotty Dee (Evan Taubenfeld), were in some sort of accident. Scotty is unresponsive; the car she was driving, along with Scotty and herself, happens to be upside down, or flipped. Range of motion extremely limited and hysteria setting in, Nicki must use little what resources she has to contact the outside world, get help and get home.
Maeve gives a great performance. Her panic is real, her pain is intense. You are left uncomfortable while watching her discomfort and her distress. Her ability to put you in the driver’s seat with her is wonderful.
A busted dial pad leads Nicki to Casey (Michael Madsen). He answers her call when she dials his number at random. Casey recognizes Nicki’s celebrity and agrees to help when she begs him to call the cops. A game of wit ensues as Casey plays with and preys on Nicki’s weaknesses and downfalls, past and present. His personal hostage, Casey’s determination to reveal all the bad that Nicki dismisses as minute and disguises as only misunderstanding forces her to discover things about herself and about her life that she has hidden for a long time.
Maeve and Madsen perform well together. Though they do not really see each other face to face, they develop a nonsensical and crazy relationship that sort of makes sense, given the context of the film. One actor complimenting the other, we are drawn in as Casey pulls out the worst in Nicki and vice versa. The attacking and victimization of character is two-sided, evenly matched and works very well.
The concept of “Blood Rush” is familiar in that our antagonist controls the lives (to the best of his ability) and actions of the protagonists temporarily by way of telephone, his arsenal consisting mostly of a deep, scary voice, and a menacing laugh. This was once the concept of Joel Schumacher’s “Phone Booth,” that was akin to Karl Skoaland’s “Liberty Stands Still,” released the previous year. All three movies work to pull out the secrets, inhibitions and lies that the main characters try to hide or try to bury deep within their subconscious. Though three different films, each share this similar concept. What separates “Blood Rush” from these other two films is, well, for one, “Phone Booth” and “Liberty Stands Still” both had gun-wielding maniacs calling the shots. But what also separates “Blood Rush’ from the other two films is that the only setting is a totaled car, the characters have to deal with the human threat of Casey, Nicki’s only contact that could leave her for dead any moment, the elemental threats (strong wind, rain, animals, etc.), AND our main characters are upside-down the entire time. Amazing.
Harris Demel’s “Blood Rush” provides excellent vision of what being trapped as an emotional hostage while pinned upside down in car wreckage should be. I do not think I could have imagined it any better myself.
Available now on VOD
