It sometimes seems difficult to believe that studios hesitated to finance or support movies like Star Wars or The Matrix because executives found them incomprehensible. Science-fiction at one point no doubt seemed like an incomprehensible genre, being by its nature unrealistic. However, audiences nowadays tend to understand and appreciate the ins and outs of the genre. Few things can leave us confused.
But then you watch Blood Machines and realize we've only scratched the surface of how weird sci-fi can be. And how glorious it can be to have no idea what's going on.
Blood Machines takes place in some sci-fi future. There is a complex war going on between humanity and AI that you never really understand. We follow a crew of two, Vascan and Lago, as they set down on a planet to retrieve the wreckage of a ship they shot down called the Mima. However, they find the wreckage being overrun with a strange group of scavengers who perform a ritual that conjures the ship's soul -- or at least what appears to be its soul.
Soon enough, a naked woman springs from the ship and soars through space, leaving our "heroes," the ship's onboard AI Tracy, and a kidnapped scavenger named Corey, as they chase through space to find what happens to the spirits of dead ships once they crash. Or something. When boiled down, the film, which is only 50 minutes, doesn't seem all that complex. In reality, Blood Machines is not complex at all from a story standpoint. Director-writer-editor Seth Ickerman did not create something you watch for its characters or narrative or themes about society. There are no deeper ideas at work here. This film simply uses visuals to relay a raw experience unlike any other.
The film is arguably the best-looking science fiction film to have come out in years. Every frame in this film could very well serve as a metal album cover. Of particular note is the initial chase through space after the Mima's ghost and the transcendent final minutes of the film.
It no doubt owes a lot to the 2018 film Mandy in that it, like the revenge-horror film, over-saturates every frame with color to create a surreal feast for the eyes. The over-saturated colors and lighting helps to hide any potential flaws in the computer-generated spaceships or bio-mechanical practical effects. Because of this, the film looks twenty times more expensive than it probably was.
Of note is Carpenter Brut's music, reminiscent of 80s electronic metal and modern vaporwave. This combined with the visuals allows Blood Machines to feel more like an extended 80s music video that you might've seen on MTV late at night.
If all this sounds like something you're interested in, you will love Blood Machines. However, many people go into science fiction with certain expectations. These are the wrong expectations to go into Blood Machines with. Do not watch this film expecting to be immersed in a world or compelling characters or even compelling action. The film doesn't have any of that. We see hints of the relationship between Vascan and Lago, as well as hints of Tracy's personality. We have no perspective on why Corey does anything she does in the film, nor do we understand how the rituals she performs work or, really, anything about her or her understanding of machine souls and ghosts.
The only character we gain a real sense of in the whole film is Vascan, who is like Han Solo meets Star-Lord if all the charm and charisma was replaced with the creepy misogyny of an incel. He is a frankly loathsome character, but he is also easily the most developed and clearly-written character in the film.
This is a film where the writing and direction deliberately make it hard for you to understand exactly what is happening, especially in the bewildering final minutes. What is left for audiences to hold onto is not plot or conflict, but rather sheer experience and expression. It is truly like a music video. You don't need to understand what's happening to appreciate every second of it, so long as you walk away feeling chills in the wake of this arresting triumph in low-budget science fiction.
Blood Machines is an acid trip. Take Star Wars and baptize it in the blood of Mandy, then hand whatever is left to a retro-'80s nostalgic, and you have this low-budget trip of a movie you need to see.