I knew when I gave this score of 76% that there was no way that the other critics or anyone else for that matter would give it more than half and that is very much the case. What I am surprised about is that this is the first one in memory on this list but I expect many more to come with my taste in movies. I will begin with the scores then as IMDb gave this one 4.7/10 and Rotten Tomatoes did not even bother so I checked in with the audience score and it was very similar at 46%. It has a historic score of zero but it did creep up to 39% at once stage. This live action manga movie was released in 1998 it was produced on two pints of lager, a bag of crisps, two pound, 4 shillings and four pence. Or something around $33k to be honest but what it made at the box office is a mystery as I have no idea so I will assume it made just the 4 shillings as it is not listed anywhere I could see. It stars Eileen Daly, Christopher Adamson & Heidi James and Eileen is someone that has scraped to a bit of fame which I will get to later. As did Chris Adamson, who always seems to be the bad guy which this movie is no exception but he has appeared in such movies as Judge Dredd (as Mean Machine Angel), Lighthouse, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Freakshow. Where Eileen was someone I had met years and years ago who I would describe as desperate for fame. If you ever watched the Bravo channel there was a horror movie weekly show which she used to introduce which is where I remember her from she has also appeared in a music video or two of bands I like. She went on one of those Britain’s got talent things with Simon Cowell and got through to the live shows on a Saturday night but then wasn’t around for too long. Well this is the movie that didn’t spark the Hollywood movie career or the acting career she wanted. But this doesn’t change my opinion of her she comes across like a crazy insane individual but having met her many years before the drugs kicked in she was lovely charming and pleasant to speak to and that opinion isn’t going to change because I am typing this now.
Moving onto the plot it begins many years ago when a duel for her love, results in Lilith Silver attempting to protect her true love but she is shot herself by Sethane Blake (played by Christopher Adamson). Being a Vampire, he kills Lilith’s lover he bites Lilith and leaves her to heal by allowing her to drink his blood to keep her from dying and coming back as a vampire. Many years later in modern London. Lilith is a Vampire living and partying by night and sleeping by day. She is the perfect assassin. If she is shot she can drink the blood of her victim to return to health. As long as she is not staked through the heart and her head removed she will be back up and running in a day or two after drinking blood and healing. Lilith grades the blood she drinks in the old school way from F to A+ with a vampires blood being the A+’s of the world. She is hired to kill a man and first takes out two guards outside the house before breaking into the house where she kills the target in the bath. As part of the hit she is assigned to collect the ring from the victims. Whilst biting his neck to kill him she takes the ring from him just as a security alarm is set off and she drops the ring in the bath. Fleeing for her life after half a slurp of blood she is now in need of further nourishment and kills one of her friends from the club. Failing to get the ring with an illuminati sign on it means she won’t get paid. The murder has also got a lieutenant of Scotland Yard on her tail. She uses a friend to trace the organisation who hired her as she is assigned to take out another man with a Illuminati sign on it. The search brings her support into the attention of the illuminati organisation who are now targeted by this mysterious group. A mysterious group that has links to vampires and also her past. You can see where this is going can’t you.
There is a twist or two to come and one that made me smile as you can easily finish the story in your head. Even based on the plot details above is enough to conclude the story yourself it just means you can probably finish the story all by yourself. The director and writer is probably fully aware of that as well which is why he trashes the story in a shock finish. I have to say that I enjoyed this movie but I say that fully aware that the acting is as wooden as the stakes and the special effects are ropey to say the least. There is a soft core porn feel to elements of this movie with the star in an all-in-one which is tighter than an otter’s pocket. For me the story was good enough to suck me into ignoring the bad acting and flimsy props and effects and kept me interested to the end which stuck two fingers up at those mocking the story to say we don’t care we are going to enjoy it anyway. Would I ask a film critic, expert or movie buff to go and watch this movie -no! Unless you want the opportunity to write an essay on film techniques and what not to do but my opinion is that this was made on a shoe-string budget and the end results was not just enjoyable but clever as well.
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