Cup of My Blood
Directed By Lance Catania
Released: 2005
Starring: Daniel Patrick Sullivan, Janina Gavankar, Allie Smith, and Roger Anderson
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Studio: MTI Home Video

Jack (Daniel Patrick Sullivan) is a photographer who, ever since the disappearance of his wife, Tina (Allie Smith), has been in a deep depression. He used to express himself through his highly acclaimed art, Jack now works for pornographer, Sparky (Roger Anderson), taking lewd photos of women. At the scene of a car accident, Jack is handed a mysterious wooden box by a dying woman. She orders him to protect the box at all costs and not to let it fall into the wrong hands.

Jack begins having horrifying visions and feels as though he is losing his mind. When he meets the beautiful Iona (Janina Gavankar) and they begin a passionate affair, things only get worse. Jack quickly realizes that everyone he thought he knew is part of a religious conspiracy and the object inside the box may just be the key to the fate of the entire world. With the demons from his past and the demons of the present trying to tear him apart, Jack must choose which path to take if he is to keep sanity and his soul.

Lance Catania’s first feature film is a creepy and brooding one. The muted colors serve the downbeat and eerie mood. Filmed in Chicago, Cup of My Blood is instilled with an air of hopelessness and dread that never lets up. The melodic score provided by Robert McNaughton (Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, Ed Gein) is quite haunting. The computer-generated effects are mixed into the action very well and the editing keeps the film from becoming too contemplative.

Daniel Patrick Sullivan delivers a good performance as Jack, a damaged soul if there ever was one. Sullivan keeps the character in check and creates a sympathetic figure without going overboard. Janina Gavankar is very sexy as Iona and will hopefully be doing more horror films in the near future. The rest of the cast is good and fills Cup of My Blood with some bizarre characters and a ton of suspicious glances.

The film doesn’t break much new ground with the storyline but the film brings together elements that don’t typically appear in religion-themed horror. Obviously, the crux of the story is Jack’s quest for his faith which (if he chooses to accept it) will guide him on his reluctant spiritual quest. It sounds like a tired formula but Cup of My Blood saves itself with an original delivery. Another key factor of the film’s quality is that there are no easy answers since the ending is sufficiently open-ended, leaving just enough to the imagination without cheating the viewer.

Cup of My Blood is a satisfying and intelligent horror film. It is easy to get into and the plot never gets too heavy nor does it spend too much time discussing the implications of the religious aspects of the story. There is also plenty of sex and blood to please just about any horror fan. It will be interesting to see where director Lance Catania goes from here.

Check out the Cup Of My Blood website.