Rating: ***
Release Date: 8/21/98
Producer: Stan Lee
Stunt Coordinator: Jeff Imada
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, Udo Kier,
cameo by Traci Lords
Dark and moody Wesley Snipes is a human/vampire hybrid who's on a personal crusade to fight and destroy vampires. His greatest foe is Stephen Dorff, a young punk vampire with an abundance of attitude, and he has plans to ressurrect the blood god, La Magra. The film looks great and is appropriately dark, moody, bloody, and violent. Snipes and Dorff are excellent, but the rest of the cast is pretty weak. The action, stunts, and fight choreography are superb, but occasionally cheapened by sloppy camerawork, ultra-tight shots, and choppy editing - a common and annoying problem with domestic films. But by far the biggest problem with the film is that it still clings to comic book mentality and clichés, making the whole production seem a lot campier and sillier than it should have been. There are also some seriously silly liberties taken with vampire mythology, but as long as you accept that, it's okay. Although the R rating helps maintain the tone of the film, it's littered with unnecessary and inappropriate bad language, and misplaced juvenile dialog. Overall, a flawed, but fun and exciting film that's just a tad too slow between action sequences.