Things begin to go quickly awry when two scientists in the Arctic tundra discover the site of a meteorite impact. The meteorite is far from benign though. Something from the stars has hitched a ride and kills the male scientist, leaving the female scientist Marie (Anne-Carolyne Binette) infected. A nearby research base rescues Marie and takes her back to question her on what happened, not realizing that she carries within her their imminent doom.

As everyone who has watched Blood and Snow has almost certainly noted, it bears a great deal of similarity with John Carpenter’s The Thing. Bringing forth this kind of comparison can be both a good and bad thing to a small indie film. On the negative side people won’t be able to help themselves in comparing the two side by side, taking what it ostensibly a very small budget film with an estimate $900k budget from a director on his feature film debut and putting it alongside one of the greatest horror films ever made, with a sizable $15 million budget in 1982, coming from a director who was following up heavy hitters like Escape from New York, The Fog and friggin’ Halloween. So yea, intentionally drawing comparisons to The Thing is probably not in Blood and Snow‘s best interest. On the other hand, if you can keep all of the above within context, you can start to appreciate things about the film that are executed surprisingly well. While the acting does feel fairly amateurish at times and the script feels derivative with an abrupt and unsatisfying ending, Blood and Snow is shockingly well-photographed, showcasing some frankly quite good cinematography for such a low budget film. I have to imagine this is due to director Jesse Palangio’s history working as a cinematographer on quite a few short films, giving him experience in the kind of visual styling he wants in his own film. Additionally, I just can’t help falling at least a little for any horror film that takes place in an isolated, snowy location. Just by the very nature of the setting it immediately generates a feeling of unease and paranoia. Blood and Snow does take advantage of the location well at times, with that aforementioned great cinematography showcasing the cold climate well.

MVD and Cleopatra have given Blood and Snow a very nice, clean transfer with no evidence of distortion or flaws in the image. At times, the visuals look a little oversaturated but that could have been an intentional touch by the director. The audio is similarly clear and presented well with no issues. On extras, we aren’t really given much, just a trailer and a slideshow. I would have really liked to have gotten a director commentary discussing how he was able to get this film to look so good on such a low budget.

Blood and Snow is a flawed film that can’t help but draw unflattering comparisons to John Carpenter’s The Thing. But if you look a little closer and can forgive its flaws, Blood and Snow does have some interesting ideas and offers moments of genuine tension with very nice cinematography for the budget.