Bliss

Bliss is one of those movies where I’d more than happily welcome the opportunity to turn off the dialogue track and leave only the foley sound effects and soundtrack. The thing is that from the beginning to the end of the movie you have to listen to all sorts of complaints and constant sparing from extremely unlikeable main "heroine" (Dora Madison), which very quickly grates and starts to annoy the crap out of you. Furthermore, apart from her night-time escapades, you won't find much going on here. For me, this is a purely visual gorefest, whose strong color stylization in combination with the grotesque violence and copious amounts of blood can satisfy the eyes of a horror movie fan, however, you better switch off your brain as quickly as you can. (20.02.2020)

Like all heavy-metal horror movies that are taken seriously, this wonderfully shot and stylishly engaging spectacle is also very ridiculous. Fortunately, unlike The Devil’s Candy in many respects, ridicule can be a part of an intense viewing experience in every aspect. The self-regarding myth of the troubled artist and her epic vision is interwoven with the hyper-stimulating antithesis of Only Lovers Left Alive and a dully superficial variation on Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction, which as a whole is alternately annoying and likable. But just when you get over the unbearableness of the main character and the ethos of the entire work connected with it, Bliss can be a fun ride even if you are not part of the obvious target audience, which the film will take as confirmation of its own exceptionalism and status of being misunderstood. Black Panther would say “evacuate all logic, engage all senses and next time get this man a proper screenplay,” because director Joe Begos is obviously an outstanding filmmaker who should finally stop copying his favorite models, though he does that staggeringly well. (05.01.2020)

Joe Begos hasn't disappointed me so far and after Almost Human and The Mind's Eye he serves up, Bliss, his most brutal work, which many viewers won't accept, but I liked it. The story revolves around a painter who likes to do drugs (big time!) while painting, but once her friend gets her sick, she gets a bigger taste for blood and literally makes Los Angeles her buffet. A hallucinogenic, dreamy, erotic vampire movie full of drugs, nudity, flashing lights and hectoliters of blood. Intense as fuck horror that must be uncomfortable for normal individuals to watch, but I enjoyed the film. The highlight then is a half-naked Dora in a thong dancing covered in blood in front of her painting. For a fringe audience only. 75% (08.10.2019)

I must admit that, considering what he was trying to do, Joe Begos did a good job. But this film isn’t for me. It lost me at the beginning, and by the time things were improving in the second half into a fairly intensive carnage, I was already numb. Following with interest this sort of drugged-up cow (the main heroine) is something I’m unable to do. Gaspar Noé, mentioned by other users, at least is able to give interesting shapes to his drugged-up girls, and I have a lot of fun with his films, but Begos’s new film is simply awful. A style that I find disgusting and doesn’t tell me anything. (04.10.2019)