Matho
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
GL84
Deep in the heart of Romania, vampire slayers hear a story about a woman believed to be a monster in a low-rent carnival nearby, and once she escapes she learns of her fate to acquire a special amulet to battle a vampire master and agrees to help them overcome the army of vampires.There's actually a lot more than what would seem to indicate. Among its best features is the old-time setting as it's such a welcome change from what is normally given to us about vampires. It also plays a part of it being a nice sweeping epic-look to it with the sweeping vistas and swelling orchestral scores and is a really pleasant change to see a film go for a feel like that with a very epic feeling present throughout here. In addition, the inclusion of her vampire tendencies in that type of storyline allows for some enjoyable action present here, starting with the beginning where a carnival man drags her out and spills water on her arm, resulting in severe burns before the blood of a farm animal causes her wounds to instantly heal back to normal, the carnival massacre is a nice set-piece that enables her escape into the world as well as the manipulation of several traps held in the church for their protection. It's best sequence is where one character is trapped inside a quickly flooding cavern which is nicely suspenseful, as is a daytime raid on a brothel to rescue a kidnapped ally. There are also several well-choreographed extended battles here that wouldn't seem out of place in a medieval movie to provide lots of action, from the assault on the monastery to capture her to the various battles that take place inside the temple at the end which manages to contain plenty of action, confrontations and graphic bloodshed which is really nice and bloody. This is far better than what is said about it as there is very little in here that didn't work. The main thing that hurts this is the side-plots that are thrown in every now and then to try to add more to the story but actually take away from it. The main gist here is good enough and serves the film well since there's only a single thread that covers the action. When a new idea is brought up, such as the inclusion of the need for the various amulets to be obtained before anything can transpire or the vampire rituals that are needed to be performed before they can continue their plans, it only confuses rather than explain due to the excessive elements brought in that don't add much. As well, the change in nature from the video-game to the movie is a little different which might be a problem for some to get over. These here are what manage to hold this one down.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity and a mild sex scene.
MaximumMadness
Oh, Uwe Boll.It's honestly a shame that he announced he's retiring from directing. ...no, seriously. I mean that. Yes, the man has essentially become the butt of many a joke online and is perhaps the most widely derided and ridiculed of minds in cinema in the last twenty years. And yes, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a part of that... indeed I was. I've written a number of cynical and dismissive reviews of his work. But I can't say that I don't admire the man to a certain extent. He's a passionate filmmaker and a man who loves his work- this much is evident. He wanted to be a director, and by god, he succeeded to at least some extent. And despite my negative comments, I think it's pretty evident that even when I didn't enjoy his work in its intended fashion, I still found great entertainment value in his catalog of films. I wouldn't be watching and discussing them still if I didn't. Granted, it was generally unintended comedic value, but still, I had great fun following his career. And I was always pleasantly surprised by the occasional flash of brilliance that would pop up here and there. So yes, I do think that it is a shame we may never again get to see an Uwe Boll film....but enough of that. Let's discuss "BloodRayne", shall we?One of Boll's earlier stinkers, 2005's "BloodRayne" was his third major theatrical release- at least counting his streak of wide-releases that started with "House of the Dead", and ignoring his earlier lower- budget roots. And coincidentally, it was also his third video-game to film adaptation, taking loose inspiration from the popular hack-and-slash action-adventure franchise of the same name. And while it is perhaps the most competent of his first fistfull of video-game movies, it's also a prime example of vintage-Boll insanity. Rife with nonsensical inconsistencies, amusing miscasting and plot-holes aplenty, it's definitely a very fun watch for fans of trashy, low- brow B-movies, and would make for a good "movie night" with a group of friends and lots of beer!Kristanna Loken stars as "Rayne", a half-human and half-vampire "damphir" who escapes from her life as a side-show freak and takes refuge with the Brimstone Society- a group of vampire hunters lead by Vladmir. (Michael Madsen) Together, they must stand up to a common enemy- Rayne's vile vampire lord father Kagen (Ben Kingsley), who seeks to take over the world using ancient artifacts that will grant him untold power.To give some credit where it is due, the film has a few inspired moments and some fun sequences that are uncommonly well-done in comparison to Boll's early work. While half-baked and far too abbreviated, the early sequences revolving around Rayne's exploitation at the hands of a circus freakshow are well-conceived and give a nice bit of sympathy to the character. There's a fun little sub-plot with singer/actor Meat Loaf Aday that comes unexpectedly and will provide a few minor beats of suspense. And Kingsley is a lot of fun to watch with his weirdly monotone yet oddly threatening take on a devious vampire lord.However, the rest of the film tends to fall flat on his face. Stars Loken, Madsen and an inexplicable Michaelle Rodriguez are all ludicrously miscast and seem in over their heads, leading to many unintended laughs. In particular Madsen, who I'm pretty sure is either heavily intoxicated or deathly tired in most of his scenes. He takes "phoning it in" to a whole new level. The action set-pieces are cringe-worthy in all the best ways, with some of the worst gore- effects and fight choreography I've ever seen in a major release. (Be prepared to double-over in a fit of laughter every time a sword is unsheathed.) Camera-work alternates between bland and flat from one scene to overly intricate and over-stylized in the next, giving it an inconsistent tone. And the actual aesthetic quality on display is on-par with a bad 90's soap opera.Oh, and did I mention nonsensical writing? Because the film is filled to burst with it. Story goes screenwriter Guinevere Turner, a talented artist in her own right, was sort-of bullied by Boll into turning in a crappy, first-pass rough-draft ahead of schedule. And instead of giving her time to fix it up with a second draft like most producer/directors do, he just took it as it was and ran with it, casually re-writing huge portions of dialog and story himself (despite not speaking English all that well) and tossing out pages left and right without discrimination. And good lord, does it show! The script as-is is just brilliant in its sheer incompetence.All in all, if you're a Boll addict like I am and you somehow haven't seen "BloodRayne", you really owe it to yourself to check it out. It's just so much fun in all the wrong ways. It's poorly written. Atrociously acted. Mind-bogglingly directed. And it is most certainly great entertainment in that wonderful, campy "so bad, it's good" kinda way. As a film itself, it's a 3 out of 10. As a piece of unintentional entertainment, however? It's pure gold. And it's a prime example of what I'll miss now that Boll is supposedly gone forever. We'll miss you, Uwe. We might not have liked your films the way you wanted... but we got a kick out of them nonetheless!
pmdoyle50
My two favorite Vamps have been ruined by cheap casting. First Vampirella was such a dud I could not finish watching it. Bloodrayne is one of my favorite video game characters ever. The casting was all wrong in this flick. * Kristanna Loken wasn't too bad as Bloodrayne acting wise, but did even come close to filling out the baggy costume (Sad). * I love Michelle Rodriguez and Micheal Madison but they were wrong for this movie, real wrong. Listening to these two quality actors struggle with "Ye Ole English" was traumatizing. * The best actor is this flick was Ben Kingsley. * Matthew Davis was OK but not fantastic. * Michael Paré while this man is very good at comedy his role in this film was wrong. I might of cast Milla Jovovich as Bloodrayne as she even looks like the game character, as for the rest with the exception of Ben Kingsley could of be replaced by lots of better actor who can cover ole English and make it sound good....
