Online movie review
Directed by Hugh Hancock
Starring the voices of Russell Loten, Sian Bevan
URL www.bloodspell.com

In a world where people carry magic in their blood, the Blooded live in hiding from those who wish to ‘cleanse’ them. When a monk named Jared unleashes his blood magic, he is forced to go on the run from the Church of the Angels…

This ambitious low-budget fantasy is animated using the technique of machinima (or ‘machine cinema’) – a form of puppetry in a 3D virtual space. It’s a technique that allows its filmmakers to spin an epic tale while avoiding the feebleness that cheap live action fantasy inevitably suffers from (see Hawk the Slayer, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom or The Beastmaster sequels).

Bloodspell takes its influences from all the right places (Tolkien, RPGs, Fritz Leiber), but crucially it also has a sense of humour, with some particularly droll voicework (watch out for the geeky-sounding squid-faced doorkeeper!).

The plot is fast moving and only occasionally confusing, and is finished off with a toe-tapping punk and goth soundtrack. The machinima technique also allows for some impressive fight scenes, including a battle with a knife-legged giant spider and a dazzling showdown with mechanical creatures on a game board.

Charles Stross, author of sci-fi novels including the recent Halting State, makes a guest voice appearance. James Skipp

VERDICT: 7/10
It’s rough around the edges, but Bloodspell is an impressive achievement.