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Directed by Uwe Boll. Starring Kristanna Loken, Michelle Rodriguez, Ben Kingsley, Matthew Davis, Michael Madsen, Billy Zane. Action/Horror.  Synopsis: A story of a half human half vampire woman who leads a group of humans against the strongest vampire and his clan of vampires, the head vampire happens to be her father. Based on a popular video game.

I'll admit, the box cover of this DVD was the driving force behind my deciding to give this movie a shot. I didn't even read the description, although if I had, I would have picked it up anyway because I am a fan of almost all things vampire. Apparently, this is a flick based on a video game of which I am not familiar, though it seems to me that most of the buzz I've heard from folks who have  seen the movie and are familiar with the game pan the movie. Not surprising to me, based on similar reactions when a popular novel is made into a movie. But, I can't, and won't even try, to talk about this movie from the VG perspective, to me they are such separate mediums that it is borderline amazing to successfully capture the best elements of both.

I can say that Blood Rayne tries to be, and is in many ways, unlike most other vampire movies that you are likely to see. First off, in my opinion, it does not even try to be a horror movie. I include that genre in the synopsis only because I try to put as many possible descriptions on a movie as possible, knowing that one person's drama is another person's action and so on. To me, this is an action movie all the way with the vampires being shown to have more "human" characteristics and emotions than in most other adaptations of the vampire legend/franchise. Its also clear that the film was relying a whole lot on special effects to carry the story.

Rayne (Kristanna Loken) is a half human/half vampire (called dhampir) who starts the saga as an unwilling freak show performer in a carnival, being as she has this funny habit of dining on blood, which seems to heal the cuts inflicted on her human skin at the start of the show. Of course, Rayne is fortunate enough to be a sympathetic figure among some of the other performers, including most importantly a fortune teller, who lets Rayne know that it is her destiny to find and destroy Kagan (Ben Kingsley Suspect Zero), the most powerful and diabolical vampire of them all, who leads the murderous vampire clan. It seems Kagan's vamp clan is after a rare gem, which for some reason will make vampires even stronger than they already are.

And there is this little kicker to boot. Kagan is Rayne's dad. Seems that Kagan violated Rayne's human mother. Fortunately, Rayen is that rarest of creatures, a dhampir who actually survives into adulthood, so she is in a unique position to, as they say, exact a measure of revenge, which Rayne is all too happy to do. Believe me, there is no Cosby-esque Daddy/daughter love here.

Fortunately for Rayne, she is not the only one wants a piece of Kagan and his clan, as she teams up with  fellow vampire hunters (Michelle Rodriquez, Michael Madsen, Matthew Davis). The most important of these pals is Davis' Sebastian, as he becomes Rayne's love interest and they combine for the film's only gratuitous sex scene. (Notice I did not say "love scene")  

The nuances of the plot are somewhat indecipherable and, there will be some cheesy dialogue there for you, so those of you who go into each and every movie looking to critique it against the Citizen Kane standard will have plenty to talk about. The setting is ambiguous, I suppose its set in the Middle Ages times, so I just decided to suspend disbelief a lot with the costumes, as Loken and Rodriguez are dressed in tight, revealing tops that you would expect to see in a Showtime late night bawdy flick...but I wasn't complaining.

Visually, the movie is way above par for its look and effects. We see the vamps going out in different ways than usual, although as a dedicated vampire fan, it seems to me that one of the staples of the franchise is that you have to play by the basic set of rules, whether the vampire is Count Dracula himself in Transylvania as in Bram Stoker's Dracula or hippie looking teenagers hanging out near a California amusement park as in The Lost Boys. That is, there are only a couple of ways to kill a vampire. So, what's this with all of the sword fighting? What the hell use is a sword against a vampire, unless you always manage to pierce his/her heart with it? And why would a vampire have a sword? And, of course, the biggest question: when did vampires start doing the actual deed? I mean, isn't it just accepted that their sucking of the blood is the symbolic replacement for having, shall we say, "relations"?

And, even when movies do imply that the vamp does the deed, its always in conjunction with his wanting his human partner to join him in the world of the undead (like in Blacula) . What I'm driving at here is, why didn't Kagan drink Rayne's mother's blood, what's up with that? 'Cause if he had, then Rayne would have been a full blooded (pun intended) vampire, right? Well, maybe I missed something or I'm just putting too much thought into this.

Anyway, you won't see superior acting in this one, notwithstanding the presence of Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley, who looks outlandish in his wig and seems strangely wooden, not scary or creepy like he did in Suspect Zero. Billy Zane (Titanic) in his cameo and Michelle Rodriguez are the best of the lot. Michael Madsen comes across as if he took this part to have some fun more than anything. Loken is not going to make anyone forget Meryl Streep with her acting, but I think its a little unfair to banish her completely to the "Eye Candy/ Can't Act Group". Like her role in Terminator 3, there is no doubt that her principal purpose is to look sexy but tough and be believable as an action hero, and she does that very well.

Here she has a lot of dialogue, most of it cheesy, but she brings energy to it and has some screen presence. I just think it's kind of hard to pull off this kind of role and really impress with your acting. I think Charlize or Halle might be able to do it, but there is a reason that those two have statues on their shelves, not too many other bombshells could do it, if any. Loken is not bad and, over time, if she ever has some real serious roles in a widely seen movie where she has a real chance to show some depth, a lot of viewers might be surprised, because I think she has some talent.

On the whole, can't say this is a good film, the story is incredulous even for its genre, the acting is mediocre, the directing is uneven, but it does try to step outside of the box somewhat and there are some good scenes and nice effects. You've seen better movies, no doubt. But you've seen a lot worse, no doubt. If you like a little special effects gore, vampire movies, or any of the main actors, lower your expectations, buy it/rent it when its reduced in price, have some popcorn and kill some time when you're bored.