Psychedelic Amazon Thriller ‘Bloodwood’ to Star ‘Last House on the Left’s Garret Dillahunt
Garret Dillahunt (The Last House on the Left, Army of the Dead), Michelle Hurd (Star Trek: Picard, Gladiator), and Henry Ian Cusick (Lost, The 100) are set to lead the upcoming psychedelic thriller Bloodwood, reports Variety.
Bloodwood follows Jake (Dillahunt), a man running from his past who journeys deep into the Amazon to hunt Vargas (Cusick), a trafficker responsible for the death of his wife. What begins as a calculated mission becomes a spiraling odyssey upriver alongside Ryan (Hurd), a guarded wildlife veterinarian with a past of her own. As the jungle fractures memory, time, and perception, Jake is pulled into a hallucinatory confrontation with the choices that led him here — and the woman he left behind.
Rounding out the cast are Johnny Sanchez (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), Hada Vanessa Hutchinson (The Black Demon), and Joseph Jaquinto (NCIS).
The film marks the feature directorial debut of Robert Menzies, who also wrote the original screenplay based on his novel.
Bloodwood is supported by the Ayahuasca Foundation and Camino Verde, and was developed with guidance informed by Shipibo traditions of the Amazon rainforest, with an emphasis on cultural respect and authenticity.
Menzies previously produced the directorial debuts of Osgood Perkins with The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Jon Watts with Clown.
“I’m excited to make my own directorial debut with Bloodwood,” said Menzies. “As I wrote it, I envisioned a modern Heart of Darkness — a descent driven by a propulsive revenge story but ultimately rooted in spiritual reckoning. It asks a question older than sin: when a man goes into the wilderness hunting a monster, which one is supposed to come back?”
The film is produced by Menzies (Fatman, House at the End of the Street), Anjul Nigam (Crown Vic, Growing Up Smith), Jordan Gianneschi and Jacob Rice for J2 Productions, Carmelo Chimera (Unarmed) in association with Act One Media, and Lisanne Marks Canty (Maserati: The Brothers) for Harrington Legacy Media.
Executive producers include James Norrie, Syed Ali Saeed, Johnny Sanchez, Brian Landever, and Joseph Jaquinto.
Essential Film Group is handling worldwide sales.