Rise: Blood Hunter: Review By Vamp

Well, a few months ago, when my good friend, The Cryptkeeper, sent me the James Bond movies to watch, he also sent along "Candyman" and "Rise: Blood Hunter." It's taken me this long to watch "Rise: Blood Hunter," but that's not because I didn't want to. I started it, and then had to leave, and after that it was pretty much just the fact that I forgot I had it, and whenever I'd remember to watch it, I'd either be in the middle of another movie, or I'd be away and unable to watch it. So, finally, with nothing to do, I popped it in again, and was taken on a whirlwind of awesomeness. This is one of the best Vampire Movies that I've seen in a while, that's not counting "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," of course. I know that I'm a fan of "Twilight," but quite frankly, the fact that they sparkle urks me. While the vampires in this aren't necessary allergic to the sun like most vampires are, they don't sparkle, and that's all I could really ask for. The story isn't exactly the first that we've seen in the vampire realm, a vigilante killing off vampires. However this is one of the seldom times that the killer is FULL vampire; most of the time they're half-breeds or humans, so that was an awesome aspect of it. I really like Lucy Liu, so it's nice to see her in a Vampire Movie, and kicking ass, which, I might add, she does very well. While this film might seem a bit too much for the average movie-viewer, it's a thrillride that I recommend to anyone who enjoys action movies or, like myself, vampire movies. It's another new take on Vampires, since they don't have fangs, but it's interesting and fun to watch, at any rate.

The director of this vampire film is Sebastian Gutierrez, who also writes the film. Sebastian has done one other movie that I've heard of, directing-wise, and that is a movie called "Judas Kiss," but he's written for movies like "The Eye," "Snakes On a Plane," and "Gothika." While I've never seen "The Eye" or "Gothika," I know that "Snakes On a Plane," untrue to it's strange, and slightly corny name, was an excellent movie. As such, this is an excellent movie, as well. I can't really compare Gutierrez's directing to any of his past movies, so I'll just state that for this one he does an extremely good job. Excellent angles and filters are chosen at the right parts that really add flare and eeriness to their respective scenes, and most of the camera work is done very well. The camera is a bit shaky in some parts, but I hardly noticed that, since most of the movie is done very well camera-wise. The writing of the movie was excellent. I liked how it slipped back and forth throughout the movie, revealing secrets to how she became a vampire, and how she came into her hunting habits. It was interesting, and not to mention very fun. For some reason I love flashbacks, it could be because I watch so much "Family Guy," but I'm going to go with the fact that they're awesome and fun to watch. The story isn't exactly new, but the way the story goes about is pretty original, and I like originality in a vampire movie. Especially these days, when originality causes them to sparkle. At any rate, Gutierrez manages this movie in the Director's Seat and the Writer's Chair very well, and makes a veritable contribution to the Vampire Universe.

The visuals of this movie are pretty gruesome for a Vampire Movie, though I don't particularly count it down for that. The movie isn't really intended for scaring people, so the blood isn't there to try and scare people (as many of you readers probably know by now, I am not a fan of using massive and ridiculous ammounts of blood to try and scare people, at all... It just doesn't make it scary. It turns it into a movie that just makes you want to puke, instead of scream). The one visuals that I like most, is the little device that the vampires use instead of fangs, since they don't have fangs. It's this little cross-like nail-thing that is very sharp, and allows them to cut across an artery and draw the blood nicely, well it's not nice, but you know what I mean. At any rate, the next thing I wish to bring up in my visuals breakdown, would be the blood itself. Many a time you find that blood looks incredibly fake. They either make it way to dark, to the point of blackness, or it's way to bright, like neon, or it's too orangey, and you can definitely tell that they were using tomato juice. This movie's blood looks very real, and since there is massive ammounts of it in the movie, that's definitely a good thing. It's not too bright, not too dark, and not anywhere near orange. It's just the right color, and when it looks black, it's like it should be, at night, so everything definitely works. One of the one visuals that I found hard to swallow, however, happens in a mission home for the homeless, and I'm not going to tell you what that is, but when you watch the movie, you'll know EXACTLY what I mean. It's not fake looking, on the contrary, it's very realistic, but it was very hard to watch nonetheless. The visuals department for this movie was handled VERY masterfully, and made the movie even more exciting to watch. DEFINITELY a great job with the visuals department.

The storyline of this movie, I've touched down on a little bit, and I'm sorry, but I can't help but go on a slight "Twilight" rant while doing so. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the series, but the one thing about it that I do not condone, is the fact that they sparkle. What the f*ck is that? It's absolutely unacceptable is what it is. Vampires are supposed to become kindling in the sun, not an arts and crafts project. So, when the vampires in this movie could walk in the sunlight, I was slightly disappointed, for some reason I always thought that the no-sunlight aspect of vampires was really cool, however I wasn't broken-hearted because I just thought to myself, "At least they don't sparkle!" At any rate, I'm not reviewing "Twilight," I'm reviewing "Rise: Blood Hunter." The premise of this movie, as I've stated a few times already, is not exactly the most origianl of concepts, however, the way that it goes about getting the movie's point across was a different and new style, and for that, I give the movie some definite points. Sebastian Guttierez DEFINITELY puts together an excellent vampire story for the movie, and has it executed very well. I like the fact that he takes an old concept, and sort of freshens it up a bit. It's your average revenge trip, with a lot of twists that make it very fun and interesting to watch. I always like to see new takes on Vampires, as well, and while these vampires can blend better with society, since they're fangless and don't burn in the sun, I like the fact that they've got a special device, not unlike a fang, with which they get access to their blood. It's an interesting concept, though I'd take fangs any day. It's a movie that doesn't sway often, and does an EXCELLENT job at keeping your attention throughout the movie by using flashback sequences very well. DEFINITELY a great job with stoyline for this movie.

The movie starts out in a bar, where a woman whose name is Collette (Played by Cameron Richardson of "Alvin and the Chipmunks") is at a bar with a man who is going to buy her, ehem, "services" for the night. She starts to agree, when a strange woman shows up, and offers her a lot more money to come with her. Collette agrees, and heads off with the woman to her house. There, she is tricked into going into a special shower that locks her inside and then knocks her unconscious. When she awakens, Collete finds herself upside down in the shower, and rather beaten up. Staring at her is an elderly looking man in a wheelchair, standing next to the woman who brought her there. The man taunts and teases her, and tells the woman who brought Collette to leave them. The woman argues however, and tells him that she's not leaving without what he promised her. He tells her to wait untils he's finished. The woman turns to him and threatens him, as he makes a remark about being her superior. She stands adamant and slaps him, demanding the information. He gives her an address with which she can find someone she is looking for, then he tells her to be on her way. She then changes her tact, and shoots him with her crossbow, killing him. She then helps Collette out of the trap, and tells her to go away, and to not mention anything that has gone on here, or tell anyone about her, otherwise she'll come after her. Collette leaves without much of a fight, and in hysterics, constantly thanking the strange woman for saving her life. When Collette is gone, the woman heads back into the room, and looks around. She then heads into an adjacent bedroom, and passes out suddenly onto a bed. Here we get the first flashback, and we find out that this woman's name is Sadie Blake (Played by Lucky Liu of "Charlie's Angels"), and that she is a reporter. She is seen in the flashback talking on her phone to someone whom she definitely knows in an intimate sort of way. As she's heading in, we find out that it is her sister, who has graduated as a Validictorian in her class. She talks about going to dinner that night, and then says goodbye heading into her office. There her boss hands her the front page of the paper, and displays her story. Sadie is ecstatic, as she heads off to see her friend Ethan Mills (Played by Kevin Wheatley of "The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell"), who has an interesting story for her. He tells her of a place in Koreatown where there is a cult meeting. She doesn't take it seriously, though, and heads off. The next day she reads an obitiuary for the girl who was the lead to Ethan's Koreatown cult. She heads to the house to investigate, and in the basement finds a gruesome and empty bloodstained scene. Later that day, she is abducted by a man, and taken to a strange mansion, where she meets a man named Bishop (Played by James D'Arcy of "Exorcist: The Beginning"), who interrogates her asking what she knows. She says nothing, but when he shows her the severed head of Etahn Mills, she spills everyhting that she DOES know about the house she visited. That's when he takes her to his room with his girlfriend Eve (Played by Carla Gugino of "Watchmen"), and they kill her in an ecstasy-filled manner... However, she's not dead, she finds out, as she wakes up in a Morgue Cabinet, and breaks free. This is when we return to the present and see Sadie waking up, and leaving, heading to the house she was told to go to by the old vampire. There she confront's Bishop's butler, Poe (Played by Mako of "Memoirs of a Geisha"), and he tells her nothing before she kills him. She leaves, and finds a hitchhiker whom she feeds on, being a vampire herself now. She gets a call on Poe's phone, and tells Bishop that they needed to meet. She calls the number back and finds out it's a bar. She heads there and interrogates the bartender about the man who made the call. On her way out, she is nabbed by two hicks working for Bishop. Bishop doesn't know who is after him, but he wants them taken care of now. She is knocked unconscious. Here we head back to how she came to be a vampiric vampire hunter, and it shows her training with a Mexican man, who sends her on her way. Soon she wakes up again, in the back of the trunk, and escapes, heading back to her hotel. She gets a call from the bartender at the bar where Bishop was supposed to be, and he tells her that he just walked in again. When she gets there she finds a cop named Clyde Rawlins (Played by Michael Chiklis of "Fantastic Four"), who arrests her. He screams at her for being responsible for his daughter's death, and locks her in the back of his car. She tells him what she is, and shows him by telling her to look at her in the rearview. He doesn't believe her, even when he sees no reflection, and waits for the cops to arrive. She escapes however, only to be shot by him. He finds out that she wasn't lying when she told him what he was. He dresses her wounds, and she tells him that she is after the man who killed his daughter (Who is the girl that was the lead to the Koreatown apartment that got her killed), and he decides to go with her. They reach an agreement: She kills Bishop, and then he kills her since her purpose has been reached, and she doesn't want to have to kill to live. They go on the hunt, but will they be enough to take down Bishop alone? The actors and actresses that are involved in this movie really bring it out, and Lucy Liu's performance probably shines the most for me. They all deliver their roles very well, and bring out each character's respective traits and habits, as well as worries, emotions, and characteristics wonderfully. They were all DEFINITELY great casting choices for the movie.

All in all, this was one excellent Vampire Movie, as well as one of my new favorites. Everything about it was intense, bloody, and really fun to watch. It's always nice to find new Vampire Movies that really interest you. I like pretty much all Vampire Movies, myself, but I know a dud when I see one, and this is DEFINITELY NOT a dud. The director of the movie does a great job of using angles and filters to his advantage to make scenes creepy and add an eeriness to the movie, which really makes watching the movie a whole lot of fun. DEFINITELY a great on the Directing for this movie!!!!! The writer of this movie, who is the same person as the Director, does a great job at taking an old concept and, forgive the pun, revamping it to make things a whole lot more interesting. DEFINITELY a great job on the Writing of this movie!!!!! The visuals of the movie are grotesque, bloody, and disgusting, but that's a good thing. They're also very cool, which really adds to the feeling of the movie, and makes it even MORE fun to watch, which is almost impossible in and of itself. DEFINITELY a great job on the Visuals of this movie!!!!! The Storyline of this movie is done VERY well, and as I said earlier, the Writer does a GREAT job of taking an older concept, and revamping it to make things fresh and interesting for the viewers. DEFINITELY a great job on the Storyline for this movie. The Acting ties up everything for the movie. All of the Actors and Actresses deliver performances that are COMPLETELY Convincing, COMPLETELY Believable, and COMPLETELY Realistic, and also deliver performances as characters that you can really FEEL FOR, though I'm not sure how well you could RELATE TO them, on variously different levels. DEFINITELY a great job on the casting of this movie. So if you're looking for a new, interesting, and fun Vampire movie, with a hot female lead, then this is DEFINITELY the movie for you to see. If you had any doubts about the movie, banish them now because this was one HELL of a Vampire movie. Go ahead and watch it, you most likely will NOT get disappointed by it in the SLIGHTEST. I know I didn't!!!!!