Riding home from the Civil War, Asa McCoy comes upon three members of the Southern-sympathizing Hatfield clan. He’s murdered.
And so begins the feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky, their homes and states separated by a creek.
Jeff Fahey and Perry King play the patriarchs in this telling, Anse Hatfield and Ran’l McCoy, respectively.
Sean Flynn is Johnse Hatfield and Kassandra Clementi is Rosanna McCoy, the young lovers hoping to survive and somehow escape the feud.
Christian Slater plays the governor of Kentucky, who frets about the feud and orders people to stop it, without providing many suggestions for how that should be done.
That difficult task falls to Frank Phillips, who very quickly learns it isn’t a one-man job.
Jeff Fahey as Devil Anse Hatfield, quizzing his kin about Asa’s death in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Perry King as Ran’l McCoy, ready to strike back at the Hatfields after Asa’s death in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Review:
Way short on the grit and realism necessary to make the film work. Fahey and King turn in fine performances as the heads of their families; unfortunately, characters in many of the supporting roles just aren’t up to the task at hand.
Meanwhile, Rosanna and Johnse sneak undetected back and forth to one another’s home with remarkable ease considering all the killing going on around them.
Slater gets top billing, but his is a supporting role that has nothing to do with the film’s central conflict.
Oh, and the timing of the DVD release was clearly to cash in on the publicity surrounding the airing of Kevin Costner’s version of the same story, which had just shown on The History Channel.
Sean Flynn as Johnse Hatfield, pushing for an end to the killing in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Kassandra Clementi as Rosanna, the McCoy girl who falls for a Hatfield boy in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Directed by:
Fred Olen Ray
Cast:
Jeff Fahey … Devil Anse Hatfield
Christian Slater … Gov. Bromfield
Perry King … Ran’l McCoy
Priscilla Barnes … Vicey Hatfield
Tim Abell … Uncle Jim Vance
Sean Flynn … Johnse Hatfield
Lisa Rotondi … Sarah McCoy
Kassandra Clementi … Rosanna McCoy
Ted Monte … Frank Phillips
Dylan Vox … Elias Hatfield
John Wells … Valentine Hatfield
John Shockley … Junior McCoy
Addy Miller … Alifair McCoy
Scott Thomas Reynolds … Asa McCoy
Jim Dougherty … Curtis
Chris Petty … Pharmer McCoy
Runtime: 90 min.
Ted Monte as Frank Phillips, the man with the task of ending the feud in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Christian Slater as Kentucky Gov. Bromfield, looking for an end to the bloodshed between the Hatfields and McCoys in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Memorable lines:
Devil Anse Hatfield: “Brother Ellison, if you can hear me, you have my word, my God, these boys will pay.”
Vicey Hatfield: “He don’t hear you, Anse. He’s dead.”
Sarah McCoy: “You can’t outgun ’em. There’s too many of ’em.”
Ran’l McCoy: “I don’t plan to outgun ’em, Sarah. I plan to out-kill ’em.”
Tim Abell as Uncle Jim Vance, whose killing of Asa starts the feud in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Bloood (2012)
Lisa Rotondi as Sarah McCoy, immediately on guard when a Hatfield boy starts talking to her pretty daughter in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Priscilla Barnes as Vicey Hatfield, realizing her youngest son plans to run off with a McCoy girl in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
John Wells as Valentine Hatfield and Dylan Vox as Elias Hatfield, checking on a wounded relative in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Chris Petty as Pharmer McCoy, on a quest for vengeance after Asa’s death in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
Scott Thomas Reynolds as Asa McCoy, running into part of the Hatfield clan on his way home from war in Hatfields and McCoys, Bad Blood (2012)
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