James Walker (writer/filmmaker) - Blooded Critical Response

Blooded Critical Response

The film's topic has provoked reactions from parties on both side of the hunting debate in the UK. In promoting the film, its makers originally asserted that it was a re-creation of an actual event that occurred after the enactment of the 2005 hunting ban in England, maintaining that the film, rather than trying to make any political points, only investigates "the nature of extremism" in any form, and "encourages debate". The Evening Standard wrote that the film "caused outrage after graphic scenes showing activists attacking five deer-stalkers were posted on the internet, in a viral publicity campaign." The Independent noted the film's controversial stance, and that as the film's asserted protagonists were a group of extreme animal activists, it generated "much chatter on the interweb" after clips appeared on Youtube. They wrote however, "it all has the whiff of a clever publicity stunt". This is a stance echoed in many other online reviews with suggestions that it is a mockumentary that leaves the viewer with "no doubt that it is fabricated". The List classed it as an example of a "fantastic piece of filmmaking that shows what is achievable if you get creative within your budget".