You could have easily called this Evil Dead Barn. From the opening frames, it is clear Gabriel Bernini and Alexandra Jade are tipping their blood-soaked caps to Sam Raimi. The frantic energy, the cabin in the woods setup, the possession chaos, it is all there. But Blood Barn is a better title than that joke suggests. It prepares you for what the second half becomes. Once this thing kicks in, it earns its name.
Set in the summer of 1985, the film follows Josie, played by Lena Redford, who invites six fellow camp counselors to her family’s secluded barn for one last blowout before college. What should be a night of swimming, drinking, and messy teenage bonding turns into a supernatural reckoning tied to Josie’s buried family history. A malevolent force starts picking them off one by one, and possession becomes the party game nobody signed up for.
We do not waste time getting there. The group arrives, tensions simmer, drinks flow, and something feels off almost immediately. There is a definite Friday the 13th flavor with the camp counselor angle and the looming sense of debauchery gone wrong. At the same time, the film’s grindhouse aesthetic and shot on video texture give it that dusty mom and pop video store energy. It feels like something you would rent in 1983 based on the cover art alone.
The opening is clever and very Evil Dead coded, but it still has its own flavor. The editing and color grading lean hard into the throwback vibe. At times it almost plays like a stage production or an after school special that took a hard left into splatter territory. That odd tone carries into the performances. The acting often feels intentionally exaggerated, like some of the cast thinks they are in a straight horror film while others are fully committed to screwball comedy. The unevenness is part of the charm and part of the problem.
Chloe Cherry, as Rachel, is the only face many viewers will immediately recognize. She has a spaced out, almost perpetually stoned presence that fits the absurdity of the movie. She is interesting to watch, even when the material does not fully land. The rest of the ensemble clearly seems to be having a blast, and that energy is infectious.
Labeled as a horror comedy, Blood Barn lands more in self aware satire territory. It is not particularly scary, and it is not wall to wall funny either. The first 40 minutes are ridiculous in a so bad it is good kind of way. There are long stretches of characters screaming each other’s names as they are slowly taken over or killed. For a movie that clocks in at 75 minutes, you do feel the runtime. The pacing can drag, and the film never fully commits to its absurdity until much later.
But when it does commit, it works.
The back half goes off the rails in the best possible way. The practical effects are as fun as they are impressive, especially considering the scrappy, guerilla style production. Blood and gore are plentiful. The finale is downright weird and experimental, and it almost feels like the filmmakers finally stop holding back. That is where the movie wins. The practical creature work and the unhinged energy of the climax are the big takeaways here.
Jonathan Rado’s score deserves a shout out too. The 80s inspired lo fi themes help sell the mood, and there is even a track that sounds like it wandered in from an AC/DC rehearsal. It adds to the texture and reinforces the time capsule feel.
There is also an intriguing thread about generational trauma and Josie’s reluctance to confront her family’s past, hinted at through old home movies and fragmented memories. The idea is strong. A little more depth there would have elevated the emotional stakes and made the bloodshed hit harder.
Blood Barn is not polished. It is rough around the edges. It stretches its dollar and shows it. But that is also the point. Bernini, making his feature debut, clearly loves this era of DIY horror and tape trading cult cinema. The film was shot at the legendary Long View Farm in Massachusetts, a location with its own haunted history, and that authenticity bleeds through the grime.
This is stupid fun. Just stupid throwback fun.
Die hard Evil Dead fans will get a kick out of it. If you are impatient waiting for the next cabin in the woods splatterfest to drop, this might tide you over. Do not go in expecting a perfectly written studio horror comedy. Go in ready for a weird, gory, 80s fueled indie that knows exactly what it is.
Blood Barn hits Screambox February 17th. It is more quirky than terrifying, more feral than refined, but once it gets going, it is a bloody good time.
Jessie Hobson