Slick Thirsty Vampires

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 1998)

Vampire film lovers will probably love Blade, a stylish, gory action vampire flick with plenty of big drinks. Wesley Snipes who also co-produced Blade stars as the Marvel Comics sad hero, and he looks great in the part. He understands the tempo and tradition of Marvel's hero vampire. Snipes is big, he's mean and at the same time vulnerable; an ideal comic book super hero. Blade is in the tradition of Dark City, the Crow and Spawn but for my money is heaps better than any of the others, but aficionados will no doubt have their own favourites. My prejudice will always swing towards the good ol' vampire flick any day, so no doubt I'm no judge, especially regarding the two Crow flicks which I didn't like at all. As for Dark City and Spawn, well they weren't much good by any measure. Blade's mission is to kill off vampires. He's the strange son of a Drac; his mother was bitten while he was in utero. He's half beast, half human and is sustained by a concoction he injects periodically which is prepared by his mentor and protector Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), also half human and half vampire is the head bad guy, and for someone who's not an obvious choice for the height of evil in a flick like this, he's neither big nor ugly, Dorff is very credible as an adversary for Blade. The twists for this vampire flick largely revolve around hi-tech weapons and environments. The vampires gather at a disco where they indulge in their own version of a foam party. Blade mixes modern haematology, biological warfare and garlic mace with old fashioned blades, silver (very large) bullets and shotguns. Crosses aren't in but garlic mace is very handy accessory if you're in questionable company. Blade isn't one of those psychological vampire flicks; the set ups are obviously orientated towards the next mass brawl. The sexual element, a seminal characteristic of the vampire myth isn't emphasised all that much either but there are still copious exchanges of bodily fluids. Vampire films are fairly rare in mainstream cinema, the last one was the surprising From Dusk Till Dawn. Blade is both rare and well done.