Dull

Rating: 3/10 (11 May 1999)

The seriousness with which this movie took itself kept me from enjoying it; I wanted to laugh, but the wall-to-wall gore n' lore didn't allow it. The incessantly unpleasant tone makes for a terribly boring moviegoing experience, unless you're the sort that pores over Fangoria magazine.
Most offensive are the movie's calculated images- every single moment, practically every shot, is designed around the premise "what would look cool?" This renders characters, exposition, dialogue and action completely unbelievable. It also has the unfortunate- and perhaps intentional -effect of glorifying some truly repulsive, blood-drenched violence. We can expect as much from a vampire movie, but there's no subtext or allusions here (other than to other movies) and director Norrington shows no understanding of implication or restraint.
Not to mention, Mr. Snipes is so pompous, I would rather have seen Blade bite it.