Books of Blood, on Hulu
IMDb; Rotten Tomatoes; Wikipedia

This is an anthology horror film which was very loosely adapted from a series of anthology horror books by Clive Barker, which I've never read. Though there's some new material added in. I can only barely say I liked it, and a lot of that was because it had a couple of stars of whom I'm a fan. Well, also Paige Turco was in it, but I didn't recognize her, and I didn't learn she was in it until after I'd watched it. If I'd known beforehand, I probably would have recognized her. But anyway, her character wasn't important.

It begins with a bookseller being murdered, but not before telling his killer where to find a "Book of Blood", which is supposedly worth millions of dollars. This acts as a framing device, and will eventually become the third story. The first story is about a young woman named Jenna (Britt Robertson), who has suffered mental problems ever since an incident at college that involved a boy, but we won't learn what that incident was until the end of the film. Anyway, she's recently stopped taking her meds, and one night she decides to run away from her parents' house. She ends up at a bed & breakfast run by an old couple named Ellie and Sam, and she eventually discovers a very disturbing secret they're keeping. I don't want to spoil what that is, but Jenna nearly becomes their latest victim, but manages to escape.

The second story is about a professor named Mary (Anna Friel), who is approached by a man named Simon, who claims to be a "speaker for the dead". Mary has a history of debunking such claims, and of course she's skeptical, but she gives him a chance in the hopes of getting a message from her deceased 7-year-old son, Miles, who had died of cancer. She ends up being convinced that he's the real deal, and brings together a group of potential investors to help her and Simon start a foundation together. And I don't want to spoil any more about that.

The third story is about a man named Bennett, who had killed the bookseller at the start of the film. He and his partner, Steve, go to the deserted and creepy area where the Book of Blood is supposed to be... And it ties into the second story. I don't want to say any more about that. But then we see more scenes with Jenna, and learn about the incident with her boyfriend that had left her emotionally scarred. I must say, I don't understand the motivation behind that incident at all, which is something I don't like about this movie. But her feelings of guilt lead her to make a surprising and disturbing decision.

So... I don't know what else to say. It's not a great movie, but at least I don't feel like it was a waste of my time.