I, Blade

I, Blade is the first film in the Amalgam Cinematic Universe. Released in the summer of 1999, it centers on Andrew Brooks, a dhampir who must stop a mad vampire, from resurrecting an ancient evil.

## PLOT

In 1771, a pregnant French woman was attacked by a vampire, causing her to go into premature labor. Doctors are able to save her baby, but the woman dies of an unknown infection.

250 years later, the child, Andrew Brooks, has become the vampire hunter, Blade, who is a human-vampire hybrid that possesses the supernatural abilities of the vampires without any of their weaknesses; except for the requirement to consume human blood. Blade raids a club owned by the vampire Deacon Freeze.

Police take one of the vampires to the hospital, where he attacks Dr. Michelle Morbius  and feeds on hematologist Mary Jenson, and escapes. Blade takes Michelle and Mary to a safe house where she is treated by his old friend Abraham Afari. Afari explains that he and Blade have been waging a secret war against vampires using weapons based on their elemental weaknesses, such as sunlight, silver, and garlic.

Deacon wants to command a ritual where he would use 12 pure-blood vampires to awaken the "god" La Frias; and Blade's blood is the key. His motives are unknown.

Later, at the hideout, Blade injects himself with a special serum that suppresses his urge to drink blood. However, the serum is beginning to lose its effectiveness due to overuse. While experimenting with the anticoagulant EDTA as a possible replacement, Mary discovers that it explodes when combined with vampire blood. She manages to synthesize a vaccine that can cure the infected but learns that it will not work on Blade. Karen is confident that she can cure Blade's bloodthirst but it would take her years of treating it.

Freeze and his men attack the hideout, infect Afari, and abduct Mary. When Blade returns, he helps Afari commit suicide. When Blade attempts to rescue Mary from Freeze's lab, it is revealed that Freeze wants to summon and use the powers of La Frias, the Ice Vampire, to bring his dead wife back from the dead. Blade is then subdued and taken to the Temple of Eternal Frost, where Freeze plans to perform the summoning ritual for La Frias. Mary is thrown into a pit and devoured by a larvae like version of La Frias. Blade is drained of his blood, but Michelle allows him to drink from her (turning Michelle into a dhampir), enabling him to recover. Freeze completes the ritual and obtains the powers of La Frias. Blade confronts Freeze after killing all of his minions. Freeze manages to resurrect his wife, who is taken to the hospital, and Freeze sacrifices himself to destroy La Frias.

Michelle offers to help Blade cure himself, instead, he asks her to create an improved version of the serum, so he can continue his crusade against vampires. In a brief epilogue, Blade confronts a vampire in Moscow.

## CAST

Wesley Norrington - Andrew Brooks

Alexander Dorff - Deacon Freeze

Kerry Thomas - Mary Jensen

Olivia Thornby - Dr. Michelle Morbius

Kris Washington - Abraham Afari

Angela Roberts - Jean Freeze

## CREW

Stephen Prince - Director

David T. Gomez - Writer

Charles Closer - Composer

Isaiah Tyler - Producer