Blood Brothers (previously The Divine Tragedies) is the first feature film from Duel Visions, the company headed by Jon and James Kondelik and Written/Directed by Jose Prendes. The film stars Graham Denman and Jon Kondelik as half brothers that play cruel games to prove their high intellect over the populace. The boys kill a local waitress and are hunted by a detective with psychic abilities. The film is full of appearances from horror icons: Hannah Levien (The Horseman), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Lynn Lowry (The Crazies), Ruben Pla (Insidious), Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs), and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator).
Blood Brothers is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case from 1924. The two half-brothers planned and executed a murder to prove that they could get away with it due to their superior intellect, and their story is beautifully re-imagined here. The brothers are brooding and dark yet sensitive and sort of frail. Sometimes it even feels like a play. You feel like you are there inside the breaking moments; you can see the darkness and guilt clearly with almost dreamlike surreal imagery. The creative moments of the film are both beautiful and haunting; it’s paranoia, terror and gore. The film takes a very artistic approach that makes it feel personal. The tension in the strained relationships builds as the film flows back and forth constantly changing like a nightmare… or a David Lynch film. Then there is Ken Foree, who plays the psychic detective…
Blood Brothers is a fun trip into the breaking of a psyche. The writer/director’s vision is clear and soaked in blood. Blood Brothers will have its theatrical/VOD release Dec. 2nd and will be distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment. A DVD release for the film is slated for February 14, 2017. It’s won a Best Actor at RIP Horror Film Festival and has been a festival favorite!
