Books of Blood (2020) (USA)

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Another attempt made at Clive Barker’s seminal bit of horrific fiction makes the intelligent choice of anthologizing as opposed to focusing on one piece and then bizarrely decides to only adapt one of his original bits of nightmare fuel. Two criminals get a lead on a rare book worth millions, spookily called The Book of Blood. They head out to an ominous patch of America to track it down and break out of the small time. But we’ll get back to that later, the actual opening segment, Jenna, finds a young girl with a past trauma and a neurological condition where sounds are amplified, going off her meds and running away from home. She stays in a pleasant house run by an overly caring couple with a few secrets. Another boarder catches her eye, there’s a bit of a roach problem, a sinister tall man stalks her, and just as she begins to feel comfortable in her new environment things take a turn down a dark road. Well crafted, solidly acted, suitably disturbing and the simmering reveal of rot behind the walls work together to weave a nice macabre opening which unfortunately goes on just a little too long and robs the other bits of time. Next up is Miles, adapted from Barker’s wraparound segment for the collection. It focuses on Professor Mary Florensky, a researcher who specializes in debunking supernatural phenomena and publicly exposes them as frauds. Following the death of Miles (her 7-year old) from leukemia, a young man named Simon comes into her life. He claims to be a speaker for the dead and that her son sent him to her. After an impressive display in a controlled environment, she begins to listen to the medium and develops some romantic feelings. Revelations of a con job upends everything after investors are brought in but an actual link to the world beyond brings about a truly nasty climax to the whole affair. We finally come back to opening act criminals in Bennett. The two search through the supposed haunted neighborhood of Ravenmoore and, sure as shit, an evil force is stalking them. It has a refreshingly solid narrative which may have been lost in the original proposed streaming series origins and leaves you wanting more.