Author Clive Barker has been concocting creepy and unsettling tales of terror for decades, many of which feature immensely ambitious and disturbing concepts, all of which fans connect with through the human element. In the new film Books of Blood, based on Barker’s series of short stories, Yul Vazquez plays a “tough” who is tasked with carrying out jobs, no matter what means of intimidation is required. Despite such a character long being an archetype in films, one of the challenges presented to Vazquez was portraying a much more realistic version of a character that could have been exaggerated and cartoonish. Books of Blood is now streaming on Hulu.
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“I was just telling somebody earlier, I like seeing human beings on screen,” Vazquez shared with ComicBook.com. “Sometimes there’s no need to add anything extra. It’s all already there. This [movie] wasn’t about any of that stuff. This was about a guy who really doesn’t wanna do this anymore. He wants to go with his wife and live in Cabo or some place like that and just drink margaritas. He’s not in a horror movie, he’s a guy going through his life, man. Just doing his job. That’s his job.”
He added, “The coffee shop scene, I thought humor was important. And [director/writer] Brannon [Braga] wrote that scene later on. It’s really interesting. It’s my favorite scene in the film, actually. Or, at least, my favorite of Bennett’s scenes, because I think if you can have a little levity, if you’re gonna let the air out a little bit, you can make things scarier.”
Written by Brannon Braga and Adam Simon (Salem) and based on a short story by Barker with contributing original material, Books of Blood takes a journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time. The film stars Andy McQueen (Fahrenheit 451), Freda Foh Shen (Ad Astra), Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci’s Inquest), Anna Friel (Marcella), Britt Robertson (For the People), Rafi Gavron (A Star Is Born), and Yul Vazquez (Midnight, Texas).
Despite how much of the film is grounded in reality before startling audiences with otherworldly elements, Vazquez had to take part in some special effects, a process which he didn’t enjoy as much as bringing the film levity.
“I mean, I’ve done some of it, and, honestly it’s really uncomfortable,” the actor admitted of the makeup effects. “That’s the truth of it. It’s really uncomfortable. And that blood is really sticky and horrible.”
Books of Blood is now streaming on Hulu.
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