by Martin Unsworth

Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) can’t make her planned babysitting gig as she has to study, so she asks her boyfriend, wrestler Tom (Shawn Roberts), to step in for her. Despite not looking like your average sitter, the parents (Tara Spencer-Nairn and Michael Therriault) let Tom look after young Grace (Maya Misaljevic). She’s likely to spend all night in her room playing games and only come out for pizza and a cookie, right? Well, Grace isn’t the problem here, as the house is about to come under siege by a group of cultists. Can musclebound Tom save the day?

What starts as a standard slasher – the opening scene has a giallo feel – soon develops into something much stranger. Shawn Roberts plays the likeable lead, and while we could have expected a Kindergarten Cop-style romp, there’s none of that dynamic despite how buff he is. Here for Blood lives up to its title when it comes to gore, with plenty of claret spilt throughout and some fun decapitations and throat slices. There’s a very light edge to proceedings, though, and it definitely falls into the horror-comedy bracket. A disembodied skull (voiced by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider) will have you cracking up.

Daniel Turres’ direction is strong and ambitious, with almost everything landing like a suplex, and he keeps things interesting by taking some fun twists. In one of the most surprising elements, child actor Maya Misaljevic isn’t an annoying superbrat, serving her purpose perfectly – and even getting some funny lines of her own. While by no means perfect, it’s an entertaining, splatter-filled romp that slams above its weight.

Here for Blood screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 25th.