Stranger With My Face Short Film Review: BLOOD SISTERS (2017)

Welcome witches and warlocks,

Today I will be reviewing the horror/comedy short BLOOD SISTERS by directors Caitlin Koller and Lachlan Smith. To best describe the story, I will turn to the media package:

“Amateur witchcraft conjures up bloody consequences.”

While the beginning might be a dark ritual, it is clear that this is going to be a lighter take on the arcane by the two leading ladies’ conversations. As they talk about their “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” marathon and just wanting to drink the night away, we can tell that they are merely dabbling in the occult. Even as their incantations do not go as planned, they manage to keep the same level of banter right up until the final frame.

The repercussions of their ritual are not the more typical something evil is summoned or an obvious curse, instead they have to grapple with the idea that all their communication with the outside world seems to have suddenly disappeared. While this might not seem like a big deal, it also turns out the cuts they made on their hands to perform the incantation are bleeding at an alarming rate. This allows for some amusing gross out tactics as the girls try to find ways to stop themselves from bleeding out.

Our actresses are incredibly adept at switching between the nastier moments to the scenes that stress their friendship. Throughout, their chemistry worked to make them seem like a believable duo; whether they were arguing over who had to cauterize their wound first or were bemoaning the fact that their weekend had been ruined by this curse. Honestly, I so enjoyed watching them play off of one another that I would gladly sit through another short or even a feature film just to watch these two navigate more paranormal weirdness.

All in all, this is a funny, bloody good time with a solid duo as our leads. These two ladies manage to handle the contrasting tones presented and keep the characters feeling somewhat grounded. Fans of witchcraft gone wrong flicks like THE CRAFT (1996) or bloody dark comedies like EVIL DEAD II (1987) will feel right at home in this short.