Blood Drive Series Premiere Review: Ultraviolent, Ultrasexy & Ultrafun

SyFy's newest offering "Blood Drive" airs Wednesdays at 10 PM ET. The show has 13 episodes total and pays homage to the Grindhouse genre (exploitation films heavy on violence, gore and abuse). Grindhouse theaters (and midnight viewings) existed back in the day but have since been replaced first by VHS, then DVDs and now by streaming services such as NetFlix and Amazon. Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" and Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" are two recent examples of the genre.

The premise of "Blood Drive" is pretty simple. In the dystopian future/past (it's 1999) there is a global gasoline storage. Since petro is so expensive some instead take to running their cars on human blood. The preferred method of gassing up involves holding an unwilling victim upside and dropping him/her into the chomping teeth of the engine. Too funny.

A yearly cross country car race is MCed by a steampunk-looking-dentally-challenged Julia Slink and possibly sponsored by an evil corporation named Heart Industries. The winner gets some cash (sorry I dont remember how much). Bad girl Grace D'Argento (Christina Ochoa) needs the money to help her sick sister. How noble. To keep contestants from bailing, each person is implanted with a remote controlled device in their neck. If they break the rules, arent entertaining enough or lose a leg of the journey, it's bye-bye brain.

Two police officers happen upon the beginnings of the race. They see the carnage unfold as numbers of victims are "feed" to the cars. Chris Carson runs for help. Arthur Bailey (Alan Ritchson) crashes the party. He eventually ends up in Grace's car. Arthur is the sexiest guy on the show and Grace is the sexiest girl so it's inevitable. A side plot has Chris discovering a horrific scene in a warehouse. I wont give away the rest since it's a fun reveal. I also wont give away how Grace and Arthur manage to survive day one. It's one of several moments during the premier that caused me to laugh out loud. I can't wait for Day #2.

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). "Blood Drive" might be compared to Roger Corman's 1975 film "Death Race 2000" or it's 2017 sequel "Death Race 2050". Both movies slant more towards humor (with ample gore thrown in for good measure). Contestants earn points as they kill adults, children or seniors along their route. "Blood Drive" on the other hand is heavier on the gore (although it does have humorous elements).

If you like car chases, horror, and heavy metal music, "Blood Drive" is the show for you. Sure the premise is whack-a-doodle. Who cares? We're not here for a plot. We're here for gratuitous violence and sexy people. "Blood Drive" boldly delivers on both.