In “A Blind Bargain,” he has chosen another unusual vehicle and warped character, mad Doctor Gruber.
“A Blind Bargain” is supposedly a remake of a lost 1922 Lon Cheney silent film. In that film, a young man makes a ‘blind’ bargain with a mad doctor to save his mother. However, in this 2025 remake, director/writer Paul Bunnell (“The Ghastly Love of Johy X”) has twisted things around. This time the young man, drug addict Dominic Fontaine (Jake Horowitz – “Bones and All”), owes money to drug dealer Vincent (Rob Mayes – “Deep Blue Sea 2”). In order to free himself, he offers to sacrifice his mother to the Doctor Gruber for the promise of a fistfull of cash … and his elderly mother’s rejuvenation.
Bunnell has chosen to set this piece in 1970, and all the more loathsome attributes of that decade are on display. In addition, the acting is outrageously bad (good) and the production is intentionally cheap. Considering all this, I think the effect is more Ed Wood in Color – with a 1970s vibe.
Dominic tricks his mom, Joy (Amy Wright – “Please Give”), into thinking she is going to be treated to a session at an exclusive spa withing the Gruber Institute. When they arrive she is a bit suspicious (after all, her son is a drug addict who’s betrayed her trust many times before), but her fears are briefly allayed by the oily Dr. Gruber. However, the next thing she knows she’s been sedated and tied to a hospital bed. Meanwhile Dominic has fallen for Nurse Ellie Bannister (Lucy Loken – “Secrets of Greek Row”), who alternates between Gruber’s willing agent and a genuine concern for the Fontaines. And lurking in the background, ready to snap any vulnerable neck, is the disfigured Logos (Jed Rowen – “Pretty Boy”). He develops a crush on patient/victim Joy. Logos is the equivalent of Ed Wood’s Lobo (Tor Johnson), but with intelligible dialogue.
This is a mildly entertaining tongue-in-cheek throwback to earlier shlock productions. As long as you don’t think its taking itself seriously you’re OK. However, if you start think of it as “artsy,” we have to wonder who’s the real “madman” here?
As for Glover’s choice of roles, he recently appeared as Pickman in Guillermo del Toto’s “Cabinet of Curiousities” for Netflix. Specifically it was an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model.” It was a far superior performance to his shallow Dr. Gruber.
Runtime: One hour, 35 minutes
Availability: Currently showing at film festivals and special screenings.
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