A group of Allies are floating in a raft after the hospital ship was sank by a U-Boat. They managed to make it unto a boat passing by, a Nazi vessel seemingly empty. Seems the Nazis were blundering Romanian treasures and picked up a Nosferatu looking thing. Out group must fight them off when not fighting amongst themselves.

This is a slightly different setting for vampires. The film also tosses in Russian folklore on shapeshifters.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

I had not even heard about this 2019 movie titled "Blood Vessel" prior to sitting down here late in 2020 to watch it. I happened to stumble upon the movie by random chance, and I was intrigued by the movie's cover. So of course I gave the movie a chance.

And I will say that "Blood Vessel" actually turned out to be a nice surprise of a movie. Sure, it was predictable, but that didn't really play much of a factor, because the overall storyline was good and provided wholesome entertainment.

The storyline is one that draws you in right from the very beginning as writers Justin Dix and Jordan Prosser actually managed to churn out something that had that old school classic horror feel to it, and at the same time managing to be something up to date.

Not only was the storyline interesting and entertaining, but the movie also had an interesting character gallery to play out the movie's storyline on the screen. And it definitely helped that they had great talents to portray these characters.

I was impressed with the special effects, especially the Strigoi creature effects, because they definitely looked nice. There was a very bestial aura to the way these shapeshifting creatures were brought to life on the screen.

While the events portrayed in the movie took place aboard a boat only, and the movie had a relatively small cast, then it was actually pulled off quite nicely. The setting worked quite well in favor of the movie, and you definitely feel right there alongside with the characters aboard the boat.

As it turned out, then I was actually more than surprised with "Blood Vessel"; I was genuinely entertained. This was a much welcomed addition to the horror genre. So thumbs up to director Justin Dix for his accomplishments here.

My rating of "Blood Vessel" is a six out of ten stars.

Somewhere in the North Atlantic, during the fading days of World War II, a life raft filled with the surviors of a destroyed hospital shop drift with no food or water until they come upon an abandoned German vessel, which seems to be salvation. If we've learned anything from movies like Death Ship, things are about to get much worse for all of them.

This Australian film, directed by Justin Dix (2012's Crawlspace) and co-written by Dix and Jordan Prosser, is filled with style and substance, taking a story that may seem familiar and elevating it to a bloody, suspenseful and surprising film that you should take notice of.

After finding a little girl named Mya - clutching a doll that would fit right into a giallo or modern horror movie - it only takes a few moments before the survivors discover the patriarch and matriarch of a family of vampires that have already taken out every German on board. Their goal may have been smuggling their coffins - priceless artifacts - out of the country before the Allies made their way through Germany - but now, everyone must pay the price.

The film does a great job of setting up the mood in the first half, as it was shot in a legitimate vessel of that era, the HMAS Castlemaine, a WWII Bathurst Class corvette ship that is now an Australian museum.

If you can be patient for the first part of the movie, you'll be rewarded with plenty of blood, bat-looking vampires who can psychically possess humans and a twist ending that perfectly fits this film.

Unlike the majority of modern horror that is either all high budget gloss or low cost poorly shot digital video dreck, Blood Vessel was made by a team that understands that mood, lighting and even the color palette of your film go just as far as throwing blood and guts all over the place.