Trailer Tuesday: In the Blood

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American couple vacations in a foreign land. Wife vanishes unexpectedly. Thwarted by unhelpful officials, husband must solve the mystery of her disappearance, which normally involves threatening, beatings and underworld dealings...

Yeah, we've seen this story unfold a dozen times on the big screen, typically in B-grade action thrillers. We see it again in In the Blood, except with a twist. A gender twist. This time it's the husband who goes missing and the wife who must find him. Good thing then she's played then by MMA star-turned-actress Gina Carano.


In In the Blood, newlyweds Ava and Derek (Cam Gigandet) are vacationing in the Caribbean. When Derek suffers a zipline accident and never arrives at the hospital, Ava suspects the involvement of a local crime lord (Danny Trejo) after a violent run-in at a nightclub the prior evening. She sets out for revenge, and increasingly finds this island paradise is anything but.

There are a lot of recognisable faces in the cast of this one, including Luis Guzman, Treat Williams and Stephen Lang. For the record, the director of Crazy/Beautiful, Blue Crush and Into the Blue is at the helm.

So yeah, In the Blood is definitely a "second string" release. However, if we're honest the only reason to watch this R-rated film - which has been described as competent but derivative - is really to see Carano convincingly kicking ass. Of her film work I've only watched Haywire to date, and I had mixed feelings then, but despite her limitations as an actress, she does know how to deliver gratifying brutality.


With its B-grade roots, In the Blood is not receiving a big screen release. It's apparently available via iTunes right now though (since 4 April), with a DVD and Blu-ray release scheduled for on 3 June in North America. South Africans may or may not get to see In the Blood at cinemas, although if it does happen, I suspect it will be months from now.


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