''Blood Creek'' (previously known as ''Creek'' and ''Town Creek'') is a 2009 American supernatural horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designe ...

and written by David Kajganich. It stars

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". '' Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is an Australian actor. He is best known as Lincoln Burrows in ''Prison Break'' (2005� ...

and Henry Cavill as brothers on a mission of revenge who become trapped in a harrowing

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

experiment dating back to the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. The film had a limited theatrical release on September 18, 2009.

Plot

In 1936, a German professor, Richard Wirth, is hosted by the Wollners, a family of German immigrants in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The Wollners believe him to be a visiting scholar, but Wirth turns out to be a Nazi occultist who seeks a Viking

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

buried on their property. When Wirth reveals he wants to use it for evil, he is interrupted by the family, who trap him in their basement and bind him through a ritual that requires frequent human sacrifices. Linked to Wirth, the family survive through the decades, operating as both captors and servants to Wirth, who they keep weakened. In 2007, 25-year-old

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

Evan Marshall is surprised when his older brother Victor suddenly appears after having disappeared during a camping trip in rural West Virginia. Victor explains that he has escaped his captors, and they quickly prepare to return for vengeance. The brothers head to the farm and confront the Wollners. They, in turn, warn the siblings about Wirth. They do not listen until Wirth gets out of the cellar and begins his terror. Wirth reveals that the reason Victor was able to escape was because Wirth knew that Victor would come back to the farm for revenge and would eventually free him from the Wollners, so he let Victor go on purpose. The brothers manage to poison and decapitate Wirth, but as a result the Wollners rapidly turn old and die. Before the youngest dies, she tells Evan that SS leader

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

has sent eight more Nazi agents to different farms. Evan finds a map that was under the farm and discovers that others like Wirth are at other farms. While Victor returns home to his family, Evan heads out to the other farms to stop the Nazis.

Cast

* Henry Cavill as Evan Marshall *

as Victor Alan Marshall * Emma Booth as Liese Wollner * Michael Fassbender as Richard Wirth * Rainer Winkelvoss as Otto Wollner * Laszlo Matray as Karl Wollner * Joy McBrinn as Mrs. Wollner * Shea Whigham as Luke *

Lynn Collins Viola Lynn Collins (born May 16, 1977) is an American actress. She has made television appearances in '' True Blood'' (2008), '' Manhunt: Unabomber'' (2017) and '' The Walking Dead'' (2021–2022), and is recognized for her roles in films such ...

as Barb Wentworth Miller, Purcell's ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'' co-star, makes an uncredited appearance as a German soldier.

Production

The script was purchased by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

in 2003, after David Kajganich's adaptation of '' The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum'' didn't pan out. Peter Care was hired to direct, and was expected to rework the script with Kajganich. After Warner Bros. put the project in turnaround,

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

bought the rights from them, and hired

to direct. Filming was scheduled in March 2007; production was filmed on locations in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and MediaPro Studios).

Reception

''Blood Creek'' received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds a 50% rating based on 6 reviews; the average rating is 4.7/10.

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

rated the film 3/5 stars and called it "an enjoyable, marginally original, and fast-paced tale, with a franchise-ready villain and some truly entertaining setpieces." Justin Julian of

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

rated it 2/5 stars, and, while he praised the villain, stated that the film needed "two or three rewrites ... to tighten the script."

Home media

The DVD was released on January 19, 2010 and features audio commentary from

References

External links

* * {{Joel Schumacher 2009 films 2009 horror films 2000s supernatural horror films American supernatural horror films 2000s English-language films Films about brothers Films directed by Joel Schumacher Films set in 1936 Films set in 2007 Films set on farms Films set in West Virginia Films shot in Romania Films with screenplays by David Kajganich Nazi zombie films Gold Circle Films films Films scored by David Buckley 2000s American films English-language horror films