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Overall Rating : 3/10
Directed By : Peter O'Fallon
Kirk 'Sticky' Jones (House of the Dead 2)
Jill Wagner (Splinter)
Nelson Lee
Jessica Gower
Supplied By : New Line Cinema
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : August. 30, 2007
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| PLOT he House of Chthon, an ancient evil sect of vampires, is growing stronger everyday. Led by the vampire overlord Marcus, their objective is to create a vaccine that will give rise to a new breed of super vampires, immune to vampire weaknesses. In order to stop them, Blade joins forces with the ruthless and beautiful Krista Starr, whose brother was slain by the vampires and who will go to incredible lengths to infiltrate the House of Chthon. With her help, Blade will do everything he can to win this war before it's too late. |
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| THE REVIEW In BLADE : HOUSE OF CHTHON, which is nothing but a repackage of the Pilot for the tv series, presented in an unrated form, we are basically reintroduced to Blade as he goes on another Vampire hunting adventure. For the series we are introduced to a new group of Vampires, called the Chthon, whom basically run like an underground corporation, They are usually selective in who they turn(turn into a vampire, to join them), so they usually choose the more gullible types - this is where the actual plot begins. One such person is a young man named Zack Starr, who ends up being killed by Chthon leader Marcus. Zack's death, somehow has a connection to the day walker known as Blade, and also sparks the curiosity of his Sister Krista, whom has just returned from Iraq. In her search for answers about her Brother's sudden death, Krista crosses paths with Blade, and eventually the two find themselves working together(along with Blade's sidekick Shen), to bring down Marcus and his brood. The episode resolves with Krista becoming a Vampire unable to fight the "thirst" that vampires are plagued with, thus leaving Blade to persuade Krista, that his serum would be the only way to control it. First off, let me say that from the beginning I thought this show was a bad idea, so I never watched not one episode. Now that it's canceled(as I knew it probably would be before long), New Line is now releasing the full unrated pilot episode as an individual movie and titling it BLADE: HOUSE OF CHTHON. So, with this release, I finally decided to check it out, the end result? Well, I am really glad I chose not to invest time in this lackluster series. What the producers chose to do with the series, is to basically recreate the whole film series leaving the only character relatively still in tact is Blade. Gone are Abraham and Abigail Whistler, along with villains like Frost from the first film. They are replaced by entirely new character, Blade even has a new sidekick(whom seems to have stolen Whistler's blueprints for his hand-crafted weaponry). These new characters that replaced the old ones my turn off die-hard fans a little, but nothing would sure turn than away more than the horrendous portrayal of Blade by Kirk Jones. The series is aptly titled BLADE, there for Blade should be the character that moves audiences to tune in weekly to watch the show, well they not going to do that when everyone else gives a far(and I mean FAR) better performance than the series star. Instead of bringing his own style to the character of Blade, Kirk Jones chooses to imitate Wesley Snipes, the role's originator(whom did the role to perfection in the films), from his movements, even to the way he spoke as Blade Kirk Jones, whose nick name as a rapper was "Sticky" or other times, "Sticky Fingaz", must have had something literally stuck to the bottom of his shoes here, or joints all together, because his performance was wooden and dull. The overall story was decent and the premise was nice. I really liked the character of Krista portrayed by Jill Wagner(who is really sexy, I might add). Believe it or not the character of Krista Star really was more interesting than Blade here, which is really bad news for the producers to here because after all, Blade was supposed to be the main draw for the series. I would not be opposed to an individual series based on the character of Krista Starr however, would by far more interesting than any Blade Television series they could make.....that is, unless Wesley Snipes came back. And with the legal problems that occurred after BLADE TRINITY, between snipes and the filmmakers, I just don't see that ever happening. | ||||
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| GORE
METER 3.5/10 With this unrated version, all of the gore and nudity that had to be cut for it's airing on Spike TV. It does have some gory moments, like blood pouring vigorously from a slit throat among others, but overall, it's nothing really special.... |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 A lot of Hip-Hop and bass-riddled tracks, your typical Urban soundtrack....it was ok...... |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I'll admit, BLADE : THE SERIES did have some good special effects, while some went, but from the get-go it was doomed by having a less than appealing main character. Sure Blade is indeed is a money making character if he is done right, and to me, Wesley Snipes IS Blade, and will always be. Some people tell me that the show is enjoyable if you do not compare it to the movies - but how can you not? The movies were highly successful and has a cult following(I am one of those fans). When they chose to make this series they changed a character and story a lot of people are very familiar with a little too much. Kirk Jones, doesn't even look authentic in the role as he gives us one of the worst Blade imitations let alone overall performances I have ever seen. Blade is a character that is meant to be taken seriously, but every time I saw him here, I couldn't help but laugh - surely this wasn't supposed to be a comedy. If you have yet to see the series, I would skip it... This DVD will be available on September 18, 2007 |
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