Grindhouse:
A term used to describe a movie that sacrifices the traditional film-making concepts such as good acting, character development, production values, creative directing and an understandable plot outline in favor for sex, gore, nudity, violence and other shocking themes.
The term originates from the word used to describe theatres that were known to screen such movies.
The term has now been repopularized through Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez movie using that particular name. – Urban Dictionary
SyFy’s new, ballsy TV series has recently concluded its first season, and what a season it was. Blood Drive is a balls to the walls, intense, high-octane journey through the savage wasteland that is America after the appearance of The Scar. It boasts a colourful collection of crazy and comical characters, campy dialogue, and crude conventions.
“Beep, Boop.”
I’ve started innumerable television series over the years and have sadly completed watching very few titles. It’s simply a matter of life, love, work, and family — with only the absolute best or the most entertaining finding their way onto my viewing schedule. Blood Drive was just unmissable for me; a guilty pleasure that entertained episode after episode. Each week we got a new, crazy story and zany characters that were massacred in the most macabre of ways. Our protagonists and antagonists were likeable loveable, but not necessarily relatable…this is grindhouse after all; everything is supposed to be a bit over the top.
I wish my O-face was that perdy
The plot is as stereotypical as you can get: Good guy cop forced to team up with femme fatale in a life-or-death car race where the cars are fueled by human blood. Gore, sex, guns, swords, robots, mutants, cannibals, evil corporations…everything gimmicky you can imagine is masterfully blended into this mashup of vehicular manslaughter and mayhem. Was the series flawless? No, of course not. There were gaping plot holes that you really couldn’t ignore…but did anyway because fuck it, it’s grindhouse! The acting was sometimes cringy, the writing comical, and the special effects laughably fun — and that’s pretty much the gist of the series: fun.
Here’s a little rundown of the characters provided by SyFy’s promotional materials:
MARAMA CORLETT Portrays Aki
Aki is a model of pleasure and pain. As a synthetic creation of Heart Industries, she has learned to murder with calm, binary efficiency. Don’t look upon Aki with moral judgement, though — she’s not bad. She’s just programmed that way.
ALAN RITCHSON Portrays Arthur Bailey
With good looks, a can-do attitude and actual morals, Arthur Bailey might be the last good officer on a corrupt L.A police force. In a city whose currency is bribery and brutality, Arthur sticks out like a virgin in a whorehouse. When he’s thrown into the Blood Drive and forced to partner with Grace — who will kill (literally) to win – Arthur will need to embrace the brutal, warrior lurking deep inside. And hopefully he’ll get Grace to stop calling him Ken doll.
THOMAS DOMINIQUE Portrays Christopher Carpenter
With Arthur as his partner, Christopher “Chris” was able to avoid the underbelly of the L.A. police force. But when his partner gets pulled into the Blood Drive, Christopher’s investigation for his missing partner will lead him on the most deranged, bat-sh*t crazy case of his life. Will one of L.A.’s last upstanding cops finally turn to the dark side?
CHRISTINA OCHOA Portrays Grace d’Argento
Beauty AND beast. Grace could be sucking a lollipop and looking sweet as cherry-pie one moment and feeding you into her blood engine the next. Driven to save her sister, Grace enters the Blood Drive for the big cash prize that will change both their lives. But after grinding up bad men for a few months, her once sweet heart is now buried in the chest of a stone-cold killer.
COLIN CUNNINGHAM Portrays Julian Slink
The twisted vaudevillian ringleader and frontman for the Blood Drive, Julian Slink is an enema of mischief and sin. Like any good showman, Slink lives for the spotlight, and he would do anything for the sake of entertainment, especially if it means killing off the competition. He also loves a good show-tune.
Aki fulfilled all of your sexy android dreams, the way she banged those hips as she walked had me in stitches for most of the season; Arthur (Barbie) was a great male lead reminiscent of those 90s and 00s stars like Michael C. Hall, Sebastian Spence, and Christopher Lambert; Thomas Dominique nailed his role as the supportive partner and alternative man-candy; Christina Ochana pretty much kept us in a state of near-permanent erection throughout the series — all deserve a heartfelt round of applause…and then there’s Slink. Colin Cunninham’s portrayal of Julian Slink is the single best thing about this entire series. He completely dominates every scene he’s in and provides episode after episode of manic, crazy carnage and magnificent mania — standing ovation.
I love you Slink.
Blood Drive is a grindhouse masterpiece; It’s literally everything that this bizarre genre is supposed to be. I’d have liked a little more sex and nudity, but this is a SyFy production after all and we can’t always have everything exactly the way we want it. If you are looking for serious cinema or cohesive plot, this is probably not the show for you, but if you wanna kick back with a beer in one hand and your balls in the other and enjoy a bit of melodramatic madness, Blood Drive is your next favourite show. Seriously…watch it.
Pic for attention.
