Lucy Liu stars as and unwilling vampire who decides to take up arms and make the bloodsuckers that turned her pay.
This film pays homage (meaning steals) from many other films from the genre, but even with its faults I still found it watchable.
Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is a reporter who has finally made the front page of her paper with a story about a group of kids who think they’re vampires.
One of the computer nerds at the paper has found a hidden message in an Internet address that a girl named Tricia (Margo Harshman) slipped to Sadie.
Sadie isn’t interested since the story has been put to bed, but Ethan thinks that he might end up in a three-way with some Goth chicks so he goes to the address in the message. When he doesn’t show up for work the next day Sadie goes looking for Ethan.
What she finds is a man named who runs into her in the alley behind the deserted house and when she goes to search Ethan’s apartment, Rourke (Holt McCallany) kidnaps her.
She awakens at the home of Bishop (James D’Arcy), the mysterious Eve (Carla Gugino), and his manservant Poe (Mako, in his last screen performance), the man she ran into in the alley. She’s taken to one of the bedrooms where Bishop and Eve have their way with her and slit her throat and feast on her.
She awakens in a freezer in the morgue and finds that she’s now a member of the undead. She swears revenge on Bishop and eventually teams up with Detective Clive Rawlins (Michael Chiklis), the father of Tricia and out to find out who killed his daughter.
Rise seems to borrow from a number of other movies for its plot points. Liu seems to be a bit of Blade crossed with Mel Gibson from Payback (or Lee Marvin from Point Break if you prefer).
The vampires of the film are fangless and kill their prey with small decorative knives that they usually wear around their necks; this bit reminded me of the Hunger (with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve). She even finds a mentor to train her in the ways of vampire slaying.
Although the film shamelessly steals from other films, I still found it somewhat interesting and even entertaining. I guess it was the performances of Liu, Chiklis, and especially Gugino. Gugino’s character was so interesting it seems too bad that she’s relegated to such a small part of the picture.
Speaking of small parts, the film has cameos from Robert Forster as a man looking for some action at a bar, Marilyn Manson (sans makeup) as a bartender, and Nick Lachey as a dimwitted thug.
I suppose the novelty of the film not having any fangs was also another thing that interested me, but some people might be disappointed that the vampires are not more of the traditional variety. I’m not saying that the film is the greatest vampire film ever made.
It could’ve been edited down some since this undead, unrated cut runs over two hours. However, I did get an evening’s entertainment out of the deal. It wasn’t going to win any Oscars, but it was okay.
Rise is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a series of featurettes (that could’ve used a play all button).
The first is the 2-minute “Blood” that interviews production designer Jerry Fleming, costume designer Denise Wingate, special makeup effects technician Christopher Nelson, Margo Harshman, and Fran Kranz (“Alex”) about how they applied the sanguinary special effect in the film.
The 2-minute “Sex and Murder” adds interview footage with Julio Oscar Mechoso (“Arturo”) and Lucy Liu about the favorite activities of the undead. The 2-minute “Location, Location…” adds interview footage with set decorator Betty Berberian about where they shot the film.
The 2 minute “Stunts” interviews the stuntmen about the stunts – doh! Finally there’s the film’s 2-minute theatrical trailer and previews for other Sony DVDs.
Rise isn’t exactly anything new to the vampire genre but I thought that it had some good points. That being said, it also had some bad points that other viewers will be annoyed by.
It was good to see Mako on last time, but too bad that he had to be in such a mediocre film. It did find it entertaining, but by no means any classic of the genre.
Rise - Blood Hunter (Unrated) 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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