Now on DVD and Blu-ray In The Blood has come to your home theater. It’s one of the best films in a long while that’s filled with realistic kick-ass martial arts. The story’s not of the ordinary and the fine acting makes it a very good film for action movie lovers. This knock down drag out roller coaster ride hardly ever stops.
The story follows Ava who as a teen gets schooled by her outlaw father (Stephen Lang) to defend herself and trust no one. 12 years later we find Ava (Gina Carano) walking down the aisle for her marriage to Derek Grant (Cam Gigandet), the son of a wealthy family, who she met in rehab for drugs and alcohol. They take off on their honeymoon to an island off the coast of Puerto Rico where the Grant family owns a winter retreat.
At a local restaurant they meet Manny (Ismael Cruz Cordova), a local tour guide who talks them into joining him a popular night club. There, Ava gets accosted and she levels the floor with the low life clientele. Seeing her fighting ability for the first time, Derek is impressed.
The next morning Manny shows up at the house and offers to take them to a place where they can Zip-line for miles. While there, Derek falls from a line and breaks his leg. The ambulance comes and takes him away. Eva gets to the hospital only to find out that they don’t know who she’s looking for. Concerned that he has been kidnapped, she goes to the police where Inspector Ramón Garza (Luis Guzman) tells her that she must be mistaken by the whole event.
Distraught and conflicted, Ava goes on a hunt for her husband after picking up the trail at the Zip-line. Director John Stockwell (Turistas) opens his film with action and it’s non-stop from there on out only pausing for character development and background. Much like his film Turistas he keeps the film a mystery with a lot of suspense and some cool twists. He uses Gina Carano fighting ability as witnessed in her mixed martial arts Strikeforce bout against Cris Cyborg in 2009. She’s a tough cookie in the ring and she shows it in the film. Stockwell looks like he had a good time working with Carla as he created many scenes to show her stuff.
Carla puts on a great show as Ava, the young woman who learned how to street fight at an early age. She commands attention each time she has to pound out one or more of the antagonists and looking very realistic. The stunt coordinator Ben Bray had the perfect storm with Carla, even though he uses Bernadette Couture (RoboCop, Kick-Ass 2) as a safety measure in some of the dicey scenes so she would be able to complete the film. But, it’s not just her fighting skills that grace the screen; Carla’s a very good actress and handles her lines like a pro.
In the Blood has a very good ‘making of’ bonus feature that shows interviews by the cast and puts the viewer right on the set. Up close action scenes are depicted showing how they got some very risky shots. Each of the major cast talks about their characters and how they connected to the storyline.
In the Blood has been rated R for strong violence and language. The film holds nothing back during the fight scenes that get very brutal. Although the film is mainly in English, there are a few scenes where Spanish is used to create realism. If you’ve had any High School Spanish or know a few words you should get by just fine. The film has been released in both DVD and Blu-ray and comes in a convenient combo pack.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Gina Carano, Cam Gigandet, Luis Guzman, Amaury Nolasco, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Treat Williams, Stephen Lang and Danny Trejo
Director: John Stockwell
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and language
Genre: Action, Drama
Running Time: 1 hr 48 min
Video Release Date: June 3, 2014
Original Film Release Date: April 18, 2014
Language: English (some Spanish)
Format: Blu-ray/DVD
Audio: Blu-ray-Dolby TrueHD 5.1 DVD- Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, 16×9 Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: Combo Pack has 2 Discs
Distributed by: Anchor Bay
