Blood-Red Ox: shirtless horror in Bolivia

Oct 27 2022.

Blood-Red Ox is a new horror movie with a fabulous title, two gorgeous leading men, a jungle setting, and a monster with bullhorns. It’s about two guys, Amir and Amat, who travel to Bolivia in hopes of visiting the rain forests, but when Amat starts having strange visions and loses his mind over the ghostly presence of a giant blood-red ox, Amir must save his boyfriend, and himself, before it's too late. Expect lots of nightmarish hallucinations. 

"Blood-Red Ox started as a personal exploration and homage to the psychological horror films of Polanski, Bergman and Argento in the '70s and '80s, with a contemporary twist,” said director Rodrigo Bellott. “This is a film is also inspired by my personal experience with a boyfriend with mental health issues, and in a way is my most personal film.”

There is much to recommend. The movie looks great, has a lot of tension, and the actors are shirtless most of the time, especially lead actor Mazin Akar, who is a real dreamboat. And yes, every single character in the movie has a name that starts with the letter ‘A’. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers like Repulsion or Images or Persona, then Blood-Red Ox is for you.