The one good thing about this movie is Lucy Liu but even she can't save it.I'm not a fanatic when it comes to the vampire mythos,but if you are,don't watch this movie.In my movie world vampires bite people.These vampires use a dagger shaped pendant to cut the neck of their victim.In my movie world the sun causes vampires to light up like a match.These put on a pair of shades...good to go.In my movie world I expect a vampire to be stronger than ...well...me.Here a fat,bald cop can toss one around(but they are immortal and heal very fast when injured).And in my movie universe a naked Lucy Liu SHOULD at least make a movie bearable.Here she does not.

Lucy Liu plays a reporter who is attacked and vampirized.After rising,she seeks revenge on the master vamp and his minions of mayhem.She does this with a crossbow pistol and an arrow to the heart.No exploding in a cloud of dust.No turning quietly into a pile of dust.They just slump over.She is helped in her quest by a cop whose daughter was killed by what he thinks is a cult but is really those darn vamps.The movie does not show you this in any kind of chronological order.They flash foreward,they flash backward... and I think they even flash sideways a couple of times.

I get that they are trying to do something different with the vampire genre movie and I can dig that.They tried to make an artsy and modern erotic vampire thriller,but ended up with a choppy and boring mess.Too bad.It's been a while since we've had a good vampire movie.

RISE
BLOOD HUNTER

This was the second vampire film from Sam Raimi's and Rob Tapert's Ghost House Pictures, the first of course being "30 Days of Night". This one right here stars Lucy Liu and sadly even with her upside down and naked this does not come close to being as good as "30 Days of Night". Not to say that this film is a bad film or doesn't have its moments, because it is worth a watch if you rent it or something. I think the main problem with this film is that it is hard to follow and tries too hard to be such. I know that sounds weird but I think they went for that feeling and just didn't get it to come off as well as they planed. The first half of this film falls into that path and suffers because of it, but to its credit the last half really picks up. The film is still somewhat predictable though and that brings the tension of the film down.

Sadie Blake [Liu] is a reporter that wakes up dead and in a morgue, and she wakes up here a lot through out the film which leads me to believe she can't get a thing accomplished. It turns out she is now a member of the undead under belly of the city and is on a mission to kill off those who are like her. If you are thinking this sounds like a female Blade movie you are not to far off, she even enlists the help of a weapons maker to craft some specialty items for her. Liu is great in the role that she is given and brings the character to life [time after time LOL {trust me you will get it after viewing}], not really surprised by that. James D'Arcy is just as good in his role as Bishop; he is actually one of the most interesting characters in the film. Michael Chiklis who seems a little over the top at times creates some of the best scenes in the film and that over the top feeling you get adds to the film in a positive way.

Writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez does a pretty good job with this film; I think he got a little over ambitious. Not exactly sure if his script was the problem or his direction but if I had to guess I would say the script was too ambitious. I think if the screenplay would have been worked on a little more the film may have been better. The main problem I had with this movie was it seemed like it wanted to take the vampire genre into a whole new direction but at the same time seemed like it wanted to be a Quentin Tarantino film. When you see it you will know what I mean, and no I am not just talking about the cuts between times in this. Another problem with this flick is at times you may loose interest on what is going on in the film, not exactly boring just predictable.

There are things to like about this film though as much as the review so far has been in the negative. There are some pretty tense moments every once in a while, and if you get past the first half of this movie you will like the last half. Performances are up to par and Lucy Liu even gets naked in this film, which should have some of you excited. Also the movie is about vampires, who doesn't like that. But I guess over all this is not the best release from Producer Rob Tapert's production company with partner Sam Raimi, but it will do if you have nothing better to watch.

After she's murdered and partially devoured by members of a cannibalistic death cult, investigative reporter Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) returns to earth as a flesh-consuming, bow-and-arrow-wielding member of the undead bent on exacting revenge on those who killed her.

If you can swallow this premise, you might just possibly enjoy this ludicrous, frequently laughable, two-hour-long foray into sadism, cannibalism, vampirism, necrophilia and supremely bad acting. Sadie is at least a ghoul with a bit of a conscience - she feels really really bad when she has to eat someone - so we'll give her points for that, but the movie dedicated to telling her story rates a big fat zero on every other conceivable count.

Rise (Sebastian Gutierrez, 2007)

Perhaps the most telling sign that the demise of my favorite currently-running TV show, The Shield, is coming quickly: Michael Chiklis' presence in a movie that played, in its widest release, on sixty-three screens. Gutierrez, who was responsible for the execrable She-Creature in 2001 (despite the presence of Rufus Sewell, it's one of the handful of movies I've seen over the course of my life that I simply couldn't get through), cranks out another formulaic, unscary horror flick, this one about vampires instead of mermaids.

The plot: Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is a reporter who finds herself involved in a story that seems to involve vampires. She initially blows the story off, but when one of her co-workers disappears, she starts investigating. I'll fast-forward through the spoilery bits and get to Michael Chiklis, who here plays (surprise!) a police detective who's also on the case; jumping to conclusions, he pegs Sadie as the ruthless killer who's stalking the streets, and goes after her. Cue buddy-cop movie. The only problem is that by the time we get to the buddy-cop movie, there's about half an hour of screen time left.

I find it hard to characterize this as in "indie film" given its cast (aside from Liu and Chiklis, the cast includes Mako, Carla Gugino, James D'Arcy, Marilyn Manson, Elden Henson, and Nick Lachey-- yes, that Nick Lachey-- among others you will instantly recognize) and its Ghost House connections (they were the ones responsible for the remakes of Shimizu's Grudge films); hell, it's got Sam Goldwyn's name right up front! If that's not big-studio Hollywood, nothing is. And yet I can't believe some stuffed shirt in a penthouse office would have let this script through the way it is; it's jerky, unfocused, contains a slew of plot holes that make the notoriously holey Tara Reid vehicle Incubus look like a masterpiece of scriptwriting. And yet, Samuel Goldwyn. You understand my confusion, I hope. The acting is, in most cases, barely competent, but there are a few surprises (Chiklis is exempt, since he's playing Vic Mackey)-- Lachey lends at least a breath of believability to his character, and Liu proves she is, in fact, capable of emoting at least once in a movie.

Thing is, with another script rewrite and in that hands of someone who hadn't directed a monstrosity like She-Creature, I think Rise might have actually been worth watching. As it is, though, it's a mess. **

I watched this rental in a brain candy frame of mind. If not for my girlfriend and a Stinger or two, the basic 20 minute rule would have kicked in and despite some lush camera work and one or two well done scenes, the predictable dialogue and slow pace would have would have sent me to bed. 2 stars is a reasonable rating - unless you're a blood drinking fan.