Punishing, Unrated Thriller Turns Desert Road Into Burial Ground

By Robert Scucci
| Published 10 seconds ago

The problem with horror thriller logic is that if you’re actually living in one of these movies, you don’t notice any of the obvious warning signs until it’s far too late. This is exactly what happens to Bobbi Torres (Britni Camacho) in 2024’s Blood Star, an intense ride through the punishing New Mexico desert, where she encounters the patently evil Sheriff Bilstein (John Schwab). Had she known she was living in a thriller where she’s about to be hunted for sport, she would have gotten the hell out of dodge before things got too dicey.

Fortunately, Bobbi is a fighter who knows how to handle herself, even when nobody believes her story, or worse, they believe it but simply don’t care.

Punishing Asphalt, And A Bone-Spitting Sheriff

The basic plot to Blood Star is shockingly simple, but its raw energy carries the premise to its grisly end, one violent encounter at a time. Bobbi, traveling through New Mexico after breaking up with her abusive boyfriend, Rhett, stops for gas and meets the Sheriff who’s dead-set on ruining her life, with plans to end it outright once he’s finished playing his sadistic games with her.

Their first encounter is friendly enough, with Sheriff Bilstein offering Bobbi a soda at the gas station, which she politely declines. Given how menacing the sheriff is right off the rip, nobody in their right mind should accept a free beverage from him. He immediately comes off like the type of guy who takes a mental note of your head dimensions in case he wants to mount it on his wall later. The shots of him munching on fried chicken in his cruiser, which doesn’t appear to have a working air conditioner, are enough to make your skin crawl. Watching the sheriff chomp away at his lunch makes for some of the most disturbing closeups the movie has to offer, and that’s saying a lot.

Clearly abusing his power, the Sheriff sets up an elaborate game of cat and mouse, letting Bobbi drive off only to apprehend her later. He shoots out her tail light so he has an excuse to pull her over, and later shoots out her tire so she’s stranded in the desert with no way to escape the punishing New Mexico heat.

Along the way, Bobbi has run-ins with locals who are fully aware of how much of a jerk the Sheriff is, but they don’t know the true extent of his wrath. They assume he likes to abuse his power and flirt with young women, which is still unacceptable behavior, but not the kind of thing the average gas station attendant or diner employee is going to call out, especially if it means risking their job or getting arrested.

A Solid Road Thriller, But With One Minor Issue

The dynamic between Sheriff Bilstein and Bobbi in Blood Star feels authentic. We have a psychopath who clearly wants to make his subject suffer, which is made evident through his willingness to slowly saunter through his surroundings, letting her wonder when he’s going to strike next. Bobbi is a total badass because she knows she’s being screwed with in a way that gives her zero room for error, but she’s still rightfully scared out of her mind.

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way about Blood Star, however, is every other ancillary character. They’re complicit, but not malicious, meaning they know the Sheriff is up to no good but aren’t willing to do anything about it. They accept the power dynamic without question, most likely out of self-preservation. While that works well enough as a plot mechanism, it also makes me wonder what could have been.

I was 100 percent certain I was about to get the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style trope where everybody is in on it, but they’re not. Part of me is relieved the movie doesn’t take that generic route, but Blood Star could have had some fun with the motif by putting a fresh spin on it. Instead, every single side character feels one-dimensional, and they don’t really add anything to Bobbi’s main conflict beyond reinforcing the idea that you’ll see a man’s true colors if you slap a badge on him and give him some power.

Still, Blood Star remains a fun, tight road thriller that’s totally worth your time for the back and forth between Bobbi and Sheriff Bilstein alone. The sun-blazed scenery and hazy backdrop only add to its charm, making it a near-perfect thriller.

Blood Star is currently streaming for free on Tubi.