(This review may contain spoilers).
While I did think this movie was a bit slow-moving at times, it was intriguing enough to keep me focused throughout. I liked the way the story was told, with flashbacks and a more unique way of showing the previous events/murders.
The movie started out by raising a lot of questions, especially when it came to certain relationships between the characters. One particular thing I found really interesting was the fact that Lizzie wavered between an almost calm demeanour and an almost manic personality at various points in the movie. By the end, that contrast in her character made a lot more sense than it did during the movie.
The glimpse of Lizzie’s childhood really made me ache for her and she and Kildare were probably the two characters I felt the strongest emotional connection to throughout the film. I did feel I got to know Lizzie better than Kildare, though. By the end, I had a clearer idea of what drove her…whereas I felt Kildare’s actions by the end of the movie, though perhaps understandable, didn’t really see that justice was done.
It was interesting to see how the past events were told using the different suspects, rather than just some vague shadowy figure as so many thriller-types use.
The use of the pantomime was more of a silly, nearly ridiculous relieving of tension rather than humorous. It was good to see Lizzie progress to the point that she was one of the more famous members of the troupe…but I found Uncle to be really creepy even the first time he appeared.
There was a lot of gore in this movie. Again, this film didn’t leave much to the imagination and even though I did figure out some of the ending, I felt that Kildare missed a lot of the evidence he was given. Then again, the movie did a good job of showing how the justice system worked, particularly towards women, in that time…so it did seem to be quite realistic in that respect.
Ink of Blood 