Vietnamese supernatural horror film “Bloodline: The Curse Within” will be introduced to international buyers by Mockingbird Pictures at the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), the market of the Busan International Film Festival.
The company holds worldwide distribution rights for the film, which will be released in theaters in Vietnam on December 25. Directed by Đinh Đức Thiện and produced by K8 Studio and Hoàng Gia, the film is known locally as “Huyết Thống”.
The story follows a famous pediatric heart surgeon whose daughter falls victim to a vengeful ghost. When medicine can do nothing against a centuries-old curse, he is forced to turn the scalpel he used to save lives against his own buried sins. The ghost has its roots in that long-hidden past.
Leading the cast is award-winning actor Quách Ngọc Ngoan. He received critical acclaim for his leading role in Victor Vu’s “Immortal” (“Người Bất Tử”) and was last seen in the hit film “The Heroes’ Journey” (“Trại Buôn Người”). He is joined by Quang Tuấn, the familiar face of Vietnamese horror film, who starred in “The Corpse” series, and Lan Phong Tuấn, who starred in Vietnam’s biggest-grossing horror movie to date, “Phi Phong: The Blood Demon”.
“Supernatural events are only half of ‘Bloodline’,” said director Đinh Đức Thiện. “What intrigued me was juxtaposing medicine and spirituality in exploring what people are willing to sacrifice when someone they love is threatened.”
Hoàng Gia previously led the development of “The Corpse 2” (“Quỷ Nhập Tràng 2”). He said the team wanted the film to be genuinely scary, “rooting the horror in something deeply human, while family, bloodlines, and consequences passed down from generation to generation.”
Mockingbird will present this film to buyers and distributors in Busan as part of its latest series of Vietnam films. The company’s business director Phong Duong also serves as co-producer on the project.
“Audiences today expect more from horror than a strong concept; they expect quality in every aspect of filmmaking,” Duong said. “In ‘Bloodline: The Curse Within,’ we see that passion in the storytelling, the performances, and the overall cinematic experience, and that’s the kind of Vietnamese cinema we want to bring to the world.”
Mockingbird works to bring Vietnamese and Southeast Asian films to markets outside their home region. Each year, more than 60 films are considered for theatrical release and post-theatrical screenings, covering horror, comedy, romance and action. A growing portion of the lineup consists of standout hits and record breakers with appeal beyond their home market.