A man becomes addicted to drinking blood in Painkillers trailer

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Director Roxy Shih's dramatic thriller PAINKILLERS has had our attention for a while now, because how could we not follow the progress of a movie about a blood-drinking surgeon? Now we'll have our chance to watch the movie soon, as Kew Media Group will be giving PAINKILLERS a limited theatrical release on January 31st, followed by a VOD release on February 4th.

In anticipation of this release, a trailer has arrived online and can be seen below.

The film was written by Giles Daoust, who also produced for Title Media. Luke Barnett and Vincent Masciale of Lone Suspect also served as producers, with Mike Macari, Alain Berliner, and Catherine Dumonceaux executive producing.

Starring Adam Huss, Debra Wilson, Grant Bowler, Madeline Zima, and Mischa Barton, PAINKILLERS has the following synopsis: 

After a terrible car crash in which his son dies, brilliant surgeon John Clarke, tormented by guilt, becomes prey to an unbearable physical pain. While his marriage starts disintegrating, John soon finds out that the only thing that can ease his pain is the taste of human blood. When he encounters Herb Morris, a man who claims he can help him get his life back, John embarks upon a nightmarish journey through which he will either have to come to terms with his pain… or become a monster.

Shih had this to say about her film: 

I don’t think PAINKILLERS is something that people have seen before; we use paranormal elements as mechanisms for the story, but at the heart of it we deal with very real themes of grief and coping with addiction. I look forward to seeing how audiences react to more genre-hybrid films like this, I’m really proud!"

Barnett added, 

With so many conversations happening today around the lack of female directors being hired, particularly in the horror genre, we couldn’t be prouder to have hired Roxy Shih. We all feel very strongly she’s about to be one of the most in demand young directors in town."

This sounds pretty good to me, and I like what I'm seeing in the trailer. I might have to give PAINKILLERS a look when it's released.