Most horror films ask the audience to suspend disbelief. A Blind Bargain asks them to trust a man who clearly shouldn't be trusted, and that's where the fun starts.
Paul Bunnell’s reimagining of the long-lost 1922 Lon Chaney film is not interested in jump scares or any of the modern horror gimmicks. Rather, it creates tension the old-fashioned way, through atmosphere, uncertainty, and the feeling that something is amiss long before anyone says it aloud. The film is not an exercise in nostalgia; it is a film that embraces the era. It takes place in 1970.
The movie oozes the look and feel of classic psychological thrillers, slowly pulling the viewer into a strange and unsettling world where every decision has consequences.
Jake Horowitz manages to give Dominic Fontaine a tired authenticity. Dominic, a Vietnam vet struggling with addiction and debt, is not cast as a hero so much as a man trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. When the chance to fix his money worries pops up, he grabs it without asking enough questions. Much of the tension of the film comes from the fact that the audience can see the trap long before he does.
The wild card is Crispin Glover. As Dr. Gruder, he never plays the character as a caricature. Instead, he plays him with a quiet confidence that makes him all the more disturbing. Each talk feels like a sales pitch, and each smile seems to hide another condition tucked away in the small print. Glover understands that the greatest screen villains rarely raise their voices.
What is left after the credits is not the film's link to the lost Lon Chaney classic, as interesting as that history may be. It’s the main idea of the story. How desperation can so quickly cloud judgment.
A Blind Bargain opened in New York in late April and expanded to Los Angeles and other AMC locations on May 8th, and has found its wider audience. It’s a strange, stylish thriller that takes its time, trusts its performances, and leaves viewers with an uneasy question: what would you be willing to sacrifice if someone promised to solve all your problems?
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 95 mins
Director: Paul Bunnell
Writer: John Falotico; Paul Bunnell
Cast: Crispin Glover; Jake Horowitz; Lucy Loken
Genre: Drama | Horror | Fantasy
Tagline: A Reimagining of the Lost Lon Chaney Classic
Memorable Movie Quote: "I work within the field of science."
Distributor: Vitagraph Films
Official Site:
Release Date: September 21, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Set in 1970, A BLIND BARGAIN reimagines the lost 1922 Lon Chaney silent film of the same name. A desperate young man strikes a dark deal with an unhinged doctor, offering his mother as a subject for the physician's twisted experiments.
