Blade

Day 281 + 282 - 10/8 + 10/9/09 - Movie #281

BEFORE: Yeah, I'm slipping again. I fell behind again, since my body decided, for the second time this week, that it would rather fall asleep at 11:30 pm than allow me to stay up and watch a movie. I did run out of Mountain Dew, and I forgot to stock up last night on the way home. So now I'm playing catch-up again, thankfully the weekend is here. I'm continuing with the theme of horror movies based on comic books, and kicking off my vampire chain with this film based on the Marvel vampire comic "Blade". Horror was big in Marvel Comics in the 1970's, with Blade, Morbius, Werewolf by Night, and even Dracula himself, all starring in their own monthly books. This film was actually one of Marvel's earliest movie successes, predating both the "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" series. And it's one of the few Marvel movies where Stan Lee does NOT make a cameo, as it was reportedly shot but cut from the film.

THE PLOT: A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.

AFTER: At the core of this film is the notion that vampires have already infiltrated society, with a blood bank (for withdrawals, not deposits...) in every city, underground nightclubs all over, and a network of associates that reaches into the police and government, like a version of organized crime, based on a currency of blood. Just like "Constantine", Blade (Wesley Snipes) is trying to affect the balance between two forces - here it's the uneasy alliance between vampires and humans. The vampires can't destroy humanity, of course, or they'd be without a food source, so instead they lure them into the club scene to either feed on them or recruit them.

At the same time, a vampire named Deacon Frost is trying to decipher some ancient vampire texts, a sort of Un-Dead Sea Scrolls, or Da-Vampi Code. As readers of the comic know, Blade is unique, having been born to a woman who had been bitten by a vampire, but not yet turned into one. So he's not fully human, nor is he a vampire, he's somewhere in-between, with a thirst for both blood and vengeance. The movie makes things more difficult by taking away the usual movie conventions of crosses and holy water, leaving him with only silver, garlic, and of course sunlight in his arsenal.

I actually liked this one, despite the abundance of gore, and maybe a bit too many martial-arts battles. I guess the vampires eat the weak and turn the strong black-belt experts into more vampires? And of course, a lot of action sequences means a lot of continuity mistakes, like a blood-stain on Frost's face that keeps switching from the left side to the right...

With Stephen Dorff (whatever happened to him after "Backbeat"?) as Deacon Frost, Kris Kristofferson as Blade's mentor Whistler, and Donal Logue in an odd non-comedic role as Quinn, another vampire. And a cameo by Traci Lords.

RATING: 6 out of 10 throwing stars (damn, now I have to add the two sequels to my list...)

SPOOK-O-METER: 5 out of 10 (for graphic blood-letting and exploding vampires)