In late 2015, director John Carpenter successfully plead his case to a French court about how Luc Besson’s 2012 Science Fiction Actioner Lock Out was, essentially, a copy of the Horror Master’s 1981 film, Escape From New York. Structurally, the only significant difference between the two flicks – so far as I care – was that Carpenter’s adventure was set on Long Island (in what was then a fictional tomorrow) while Besson’s transported the action into the Final Frontier. But both properties involved political leaders (to a degree), a secured penitentiary, a gritty anti-hero as the protagonist, and a race-against-time structure that pushed the captured footage from the start to the finish. Factually, there are even several more key similarities, but – for argument’s sake – I’ll leave it at that.
Now … the internet being what it is, I was among those who’d seen Lock Out and argued faithfully online that it was – or, at least, it should’ve been – an open-and-shut case for plagiarism. Yes, yes, and yes: I was dragged through the virtual mud by that contingent of viewers who worship from the trough of all things Luc Besson. However, those of us who held our ground were ultimately validated by the French court’s decision – that copying could be rather handily established betwixt these universes – and we were glad to have been vindicated. As one of Snake Plissken’s original and oldest fans, it’s a character I’d love to see a continuation of sorts with, but picking him up and redepositing him in a whole new world was never a good idea.
As can happen when your catalogue is as well renowned and highly regarded as is Carpenter’s, it kinda/sorta seems to me that another property that may’ve flown too close to the sun (for it’s own good) is 2023’s Blood And Snow. According to IMDB.com, Jesse Palangio directs this Horror/Fantasy with a script attributed to Rossa McPhillips and Simon Phillips. Unless I miss my guess (I’ve been wrong before plenty of times), I can’t help but wonder if the three of them got together and came up with this, perhaps hoping to – ahem – pay homage to Carpenter’s The Thing (1981). If so, then all well and good. But if not? Erm … I think someone might want to stream the 80’s benchmark, consider issuing a mea culpa, and talk to their lawyers.
That’s what I would do.
And I don’t give legal advice.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Two scientists uncover a meteorite impact site in the Arctic tundra, but it kills one scientist and infects the other. A nearby base takes in the lone survivor whilst trying to understand what happened. The lone survivor may not be the person they think she is.”
Now … the internet being what it is, I was among those who’d seen Lock Out and argued faithfully online that it was – or, at least, it should’ve been – an open-and-shut case for plagiarism. Yes, yes, and yes: I was dragged through the virtual mud by that contingent of viewers who worship from the trough of all things Luc Besson. However, those of us who held our ground were ultimately validated by the French court’s decision – that copying could be rather handily established betwixt these universes – and we were glad to have been vindicated. As one of Snake Plissken’s original and oldest fans, it’s a character I’d love to see a continuation of sorts with, but picking him up and redepositing him in a whole new world was never a good idea.
As can happen when your catalogue is as well renowned and highly regarded as is Carpenter’s, it kinda/sorta seems to me that another property that may’ve flown too close to the sun (for it’s own good) is 2023’s Blood And Snow. According to IMDB.com, Jesse Palangio directs this Horror/Fantasy with a script attributed to Rossa McPhillips and Simon Phillips. Unless I miss my guess (I’ve been wrong before plenty of times), I can’t help but wonder if the three of them got together and came up with this, perhaps hoping to – ahem – pay homage to Carpenter’s The Thing (1981). If so, then all well and good. But if not? Erm … I think someone might want to stream the 80’s benchmark, consider issuing a mea culpa, and talk to their lawyers.
That’s what I would do.
And I don’t give legal advice.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Two scientists uncover a meteorite impact site in the Arctic tundra, but it kills one scientist and infects the other. A nearby base takes in the lone survivor whilst trying to understand what happened. The lone survivor may not be the person they think she is.”
Having been around the Information Superhighway as long as I have, I can attest to being that lone hold-out who’s convinced that John Carpenter’s best work – by far – has been and will always be Escape From New York. It’s a singular vision – one with classic hard-boiled characters all wrapped up in a curious race against the clock to potentially save the U.S. from political disaster – and it truly put actor Kurt Russell as a Thespian to watch in the days ahead. He’d grown up on camera, largely in some wholesome schlock from the Walt Disney Company, but here he was in full adult fashion showing precisely how to show up, kick ass, and get the job done in deliciously gritty manner. His transition from kid star to the big leagues was complete, and he never looked back.
But Russell followed up this quest with another one alongside Carpenter: 1982’s The Thing cast the actor in the guise of R.J. MacReady, a grizzled American helicopter pilot serving out a rotation at some God-forsaken research outpost located in Antarctica. Lo and behold, he finds himself and his fellow mission specialists slowly being hunted by an alien menace that has infiltrated their base and possesses some wicked shape-shifting abilities that keep everyone – including the audience – guessing as to who the villain’s identity could be. In classic Agatha Christie style, the men are hunted down one-by-one, and the survivors hope to not only run out the clock but save mankind by seeing such a deadly creature dead and buried.
Well …
I’m not going to belabor the issue here, but a whole heckuva lot of 2023’s Blood And Snow follows the exact same dramatic thread. You’ve got an unseen alien menace. You’ve got a remote, snowy facility. While the crew may not have to worry about the central nasty parasite jumping from host to host, the script even tinkers heavily with the suggestion that such a development is possible (it even happens in the final reel, and – yes – it’s damn near exactly how it transpires in The Thing … what a dog-eat-dog world!). The stark interiors, the slowly shifting camerawork, the heightened sense of increasing claustrophobia, the tense exchanges between men whose nerves have been frayed … it’s almost as if Blood was intended to be a double take on that spell Carpenter wove so well so many decades ago.
Dismissing this as Blood’s greatest obstacle to establishing an audience all of its own, the film isn’t put together all that bad. Director Palangio makes some curious choices here and there (I don’t understand what he was trying to say with so many slowly focusing dissolves), and yet overall he makes pretty solid use of some limited production facilities and a fairly underwhelming cast. Sadly, there isn’t a great deal of explanation going into the specifics that might’ve helped flesh this world out in such a way as to make it feel authentic the way I would’ve preferred – characters are a bit bland, and there’s even a ‘cook’ who never quite cooks but instead sits and plays video games on end. A bit more substance might’ve eliminated some of the aforementioned parallels I’m sure many, many, many genre fans will notice; but – at the end of the day – I can only work with what’s been provided.
Lastly, scribes McPhillips and Phillips truly did the cast a disservice by trying to craft so many pivotal scenes.
But Russell followed up this quest with another one alongside Carpenter: 1982’s The Thing cast the actor in the guise of R.J. MacReady, a grizzled American helicopter pilot serving out a rotation at some God-forsaken research outpost located in Antarctica. Lo and behold, he finds himself and his fellow mission specialists slowly being hunted by an alien menace that has infiltrated their base and possesses some wicked shape-shifting abilities that keep everyone – including the audience – guessing as to who the villain’s identity could be. In classic Agatha Christie style, the men are hunted down one-by-one, and the survivors hope to not only run out the clock but save mankind by seeing such a deadly creature dead and buried.
Well …
I’m not going to belabor the issue here, but a whole heckuva lot of 2023’s Blood And Snow follows the exact same dramatic thread. You’ve got an unseen alien menace. You’ve got a remote, snowy facility. While the crew may not have to worry about the central nasty parasite jumping from host to host, the script even tinkers heavily with the suggestion that such a development is possible (it even happens in the final reel, and – yes – it’s damn near exactly how it transpires in The Thing … what a dog-eat-dog world!). The stark interiors, the slowly shifting camerawork, the heightened sense of increasing claustrophobia, the tense exchanges between men whose nerves have been frayed … it’s almost as if Blood was intended to be a double take on that spell Carpenter wove so well so many decades ago.
Dismissing this as Blood’s greatest obstacle to establishing an audience all of its own, the film isn’t put together all that bad. Director Palangio makes some curious choices here and there (I don’t understand what he was trying to say with so many slowly focusing dissolves), and yet overall he makes pretty solid use of some limited production facilities and a fairly underwhelming cast. Sadly, there isn’t a great deal of explanation going into the specifics that might’ve helped flesh this world out in such a way as to make it feel authentic the way I would’ve preferred – characters are a bit bland, and there’s even a ‘cook’ who never quite cooks but instead sits and plays video games on end. A bit more substance might’ve eliminated some of the aforementioned parallels I’m sure many, many, many genre fans will notice; but – at the end of the day – I can only work with what’s been provided.
Lastly, scribes McPhillips and Phillips truly did the cast a disservice by trying to craft so many pivotal scenes.
The opening introduction of the two men audiences spend most of the theatrical time with goes on far too long, so much so that I wondered if I’d somehow struggled into some art-house take on Driving Miss Daisy (1989). When you try to give each and every character his and her own special sequence, there’s no amount of spacing them out accordingly that’ll fix the obvious fact that you wanted everyone to have his own ‘arc’ (of a sort). Instead of evolving organically, all of Blood begins to quickly feel artificial … like they’re actors playing a scene instead of being blue-collar working stiffs trying to get out alive. Just because a secondary player might be negligible doesn’t mean that backstories be inserted for everyone: sometimes, there’s nobility and grace in just bein’ a bloke who shows up, does his job, and still falls to the Grim Reaper. Sometimes, it’s how these men are played that ultimately matters most.
Blood And Snow (2023) was produced by Dystopian Films, FilmCore, HorrorHound Films, and RGVisions Multimedia. DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being handled by the fine folks at Cleopatra. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I was a bit underwhelmed more so with the sound mix on this production as opposed to the visuals. The imagery – except for a few sequences that employ some rather obvious post-production trickery for special effects – is a bit dour, but that matches the themes of the story. But the sound – for whatever reason – was a bit muddled and low in a few places. In fact, I had to keep adjusting it in the first half – turned it up, then had to turn it down, etc. – and I’m not sure if it’s owed to a defective disc or simply a bad sound mix. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There’s a promotional slideshow and the theatrical trailer to consider, but that’s all she wrote.
Alas ... only Mildly Recommended.
Wowza. Look, I’m already on record in plenty of places stating that I’m not the biggest fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982); and maybe – just maybe – that’s why I didn’t find much to love about Jesse Palangio’s Blood And Snow (2023). While it lacks all of the proper spit and polish of what’s definitely signature Carpenter style, this retread could very well be pulled from shelves some day owed to it lifting and repackaging so much of that inspiration in what could be a reasonably easy case of plagiarism with the right judge. What pains me most is that I say this as a huge, huge, huge supporter of indie cinema; but – at some point – you’ve got to inject something new into the equation if you want to avoid a lawsuit. This one damn near matches even the original’s running time, and I’d be a bit embarrassed to have my name on something that appears an inferior copy.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Cleopatra provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Blood And Snow (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Blood And Snow (2023) was produced by Dystopian Films, FilmCore, HorrorHound Films, and RGVisions Multimedia. DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being handled by the fine folks at Cleopatra. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I was a bit underwhelmed more so with the sound mix on this production as opposed to the visuals. The imagery – except for a few sequences that employ some rather obvious post-production trickery for special effects – is a bit dour, but that matches the themes of the story. But the sound – for whatever reason – was a bit muddled and low in a few places. In fact, I had to keep adjusting it in the first half – turned it up, then had to turn it down, etc. – and I’m not sure if it’s owed to a defective disc or simply a bad sound mix. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There’s a promotional slideshow and the theatrical trailer to consider, but that’s all she wrote.
Alas ... only Mildly Recommended.
Wowza. Look, I’m already on record in plenty of places stating that I’m not the biggest fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982); and maybe – just maybe – that’s why I didn’t find much to love about Jesse Palangio’s Blood And Snow (2023). While it lacks all of the proper spit and polish of what’s definitely signature Carpenter style, this retread could very well be pulled from shelves some day owed to it lifting and repackaging so much of that inspiration in what could be a reasonably easy case of plagiarism with the right judge. What pains me most is that I say this as a huge, huge, huge supporter of indie cinema; but – at some point – you’ve got to inject something new into the equation if you want to avoid a lawsuit. This one damn near matches even the original’s running time, and I’d be a bit embarrassed to have my name on something that appears an inferior copy.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Cleopatra provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Blood And Snow (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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