Amazon.com: Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) dies and comes backs to life several times in Rise—Blood Hunter, which gives this revenge tale impetus to continue perhaps longer than it needs to. At over two hours long, this film, written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez (Snakes on A Plane), is beautifully filmed and acted at times but drags due to the drawn out story of a LA Weekly reporter who seeks revenge on her murderer, the vampire head of an underground blood-sucking cult. This handsome monster, Bishop (James D'Arcy), charms women, kidnaps them, and slits their throats with his claw-shaped necklace, stumping the entire LAPD minus Clyde Rawline (Michael Chilkis), a hard-drinking policeman who eventually teams up with Blake to hunt and destroy the vampiric ringleader. The scenes depicting initial doses of violence, like when Blake wakes up in a metal casket at the morgue, or when she's originally killed in Bishop's bed, covered in black trash bags to avoid bloodstains, feature crisp film footage awash in blue and red, setting a semi-poetic mood. Mostly, Rise—Blood Hunter operates on the vampire tales' conflation of sex and death, taking a sexy tone throughout, especially when Sadie or her fellow vampire, Collette (Cameron Richardson), feast on blood then strip off their sullied clothing. Blake's vengeance underpins her rebellious attitude, as she shoots her crossbow at each person she meets on the trail to Bishop. Though Rise—Blood Hunter is not a classic in the genre, it is enticing to add Lucy Liu to the list of gorgeous vampire slayers. —Trinie Dalton
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.
unintentionally funny horror film 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.
Silly and stupid, but kind of fun. 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. **
Marginal rental material 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.
Sex and murder I thought this was actually a good movie. Lucy Liu does a good job of carrying the story, and Carla Gugino (smoking hot), as the vampire who sires her, and James D'Arcy as the lead villain are quite good. The title of the review is their opinion of the important things in their world. Michael Chiklis has kind of a thankless role, but his scenes with Lucy are good. The story jumps back and forth, unnecessarily, but as several other reviews have mentioned, the scenes where Lucy's character comes back to life and her feedings are well done. The photography was striking, especially the scene where she is hanging upside down with the other bodies. Oh, and viewers will learn that Marilyn Manson looks better with his makeup!
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