BloodRayne (2005)

I don't like anything related to vampires, but this film caught my attention and was a pleasant watch for me. The main heroine is not a vampire: she is a dhampir - a half-human and half-vampire. She hates vampires and is on a human side. Still she has something vapmires have. The movie has many interesting action scenes and some intriguing plot turns. It is also a pleasure to see a cast of famous and great actors. The ending holds viewer in tension and the last scene is memorable. After the fight is over the last shot is very beautiful!

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!

The Bloodrayne Licence is from now just another Victim from "OUR GREAT" German Director Uwe Boll. Some Movies are crap, but they have some sympathetic hilarious Moments. Bloodrayne is just crap! What was Sir Ben Kingsley thinking, as he agreed to be a part of this Movie!?! The Sexscene with Kristanna Loken is the only Reason I gave this Movie 3 Stars. The Best Part of the Movie is the End, but I don't want to spoiler it;) You have to watch this Move by yourself, if you have the iron will. Maybe with some friends, Beer and specially Hard Drugs you almost can enjoy this Movie. I know Uwe Boll directed a Prequel, but right now I'm not in the mental shape to watch these.

I didn't go through all 400 bad reviews of this movie but it seems I'm the only one who noticed this.Uwe Boll blatantly stole his plot devices from another video game, Castlevania II, Simon's Quest. In the game, Simon Belmont must search the country side in search of parts of Dracula and you guessed it, two of them are "Dracula's Eye" and "Dracula's Rib". Oddly enough these are the only two item out of the five you must find that endow Simon with special power. Dracula's Eye lets Simon enter some areas he couldn't before (Like Rayne can now walk in water) and Dracula's Rib acts as a shield against projectile attacks (Rayne gains super-vampire strength once she has the rib).Let's face it folks, this proves once and for all Uwe Boll is not only a bad script writer and director, he's a thief to boot. Unable to formulate his own ideas, which is probably why he focuses on making bad video game-based movies. The stories are already written for him, he just has to copy it down and ruin it by putting his own special brand of suck into it to make it his.