This is a first for me. I’ve never seen Uwe Boll’s work before - although I have heard a great deal about the devilish director (and have seen his disciple’s Ulli Lommel’s work). This time he’s out for blood in the old west.
Rayne (Natassia Malthe, replacing Kristanna Loken) is a Dhampir, which are half vampire and half human. Seems a vampire raped her mother and she was the result. She has the powers of a vampire but none of their weaknesses (hey didn’t I type that in my review of Blade: House of Chthon?).
She finds herself in the old west riding towards the homestead of some friends of hers. Newton Piles (Chris Coppola) is a reporter from the Chicago Chronicle who has arrived in the town of Deliverance to report on how wild the west is. He’s assured by the mayor that Deliverance is a quiet town, but the railroad is arriving in a matter of days and things will pick up then.
Meanwhile, back at Rayne’s friends homestead, the villainous vampire Billy the Kid (Zack Ward) shows up and slaughters the parents and takes away the children. Billy makes his way to Deliverance with his kidnapped children in tow and takes over the town. He wants to create a new kingdom in this new world and the railroad is going to play a major role in his spreading his vampiric plague.
The kids are just snacks. Meanwhile, back at the farm, Rayne has found the bodies of her friends but also meets Pat Garrett (Michael Pare). Rayne rides into town but finds that vampires control the town and she’s scheduled to hang at high midnight.
I had hoped to avoid the prolific Uwe Boll in my reviewing career since his reputation had preceded him. I had already tasted the foul discharge of his mate Ulli Lommel and didn’t want to repeat the experience. You can imagine my “excitement” when Bloodrayne 2 plopped on the old reviewing desk.
I had not partaken of Bloodrayne and the reviews didn’t exactly make it sound like it was worth seeking out. Although I had definitely heard of Uwe Boll (whose first name sounds like the sound you make if you were to have stepped in dog doo) and the word was not good.
After viewing my first taste of Uwe, I guess he really lives up to his reputation because although the film is bad but it’s not has hideous as I was led to believe. Don’t get me wrong, the acting, scripting, and shooting are atrocious, but they’re better than Ulli’s Black Dahlia.
Even though Deliverance plays like an interesting idea executed badly I still thought that it has a bit of a car wreck factor that keeps you seeing if it can get any better. Boll seems like a director in need of an editor since there are numerous times where scenes go on too long.
He also tries to steal from others (they call that a homage in Hollywood) including Sergio Leone and John Ford; the problem is that he does it badly. Even the score sounds like second rate Ennio Morricone thievery. If you’re a glutton for punishment when cue up this DVD.
I now see why Boll finances his own films; other producers wouldn’t let it get this bad. If you want to check out a good vampire western check out Curse of the Undead (1959) or Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1991).
Bloodrayne 2 is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by the mad director himself, Uwe Boll. Next are about 3 minutes of extended scenes.
Next is the 14 minute collection of interviews with Boll, writers Christopher Donaldson and Neil Every, Michael Eklund (“The Preacher”), Zack Ward, producer Dan Clarke, and Natassia Malthe. There are also 14 minutes of deleted scenes, a DVD comic, and a trailer for Uwe’s next film Postal. There’s a second disc with the Bloodrayne videogame on DVD-ROM as well.
It was still pretty painful but it wasn’t as bad as I was led to believe. Does this mean that I’m an Uwe convert? Heck no! It still seemed like an interesting idea but it was done very badly as a film. If you cared at all for the first one then you might want to check this one out.
Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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