Rish Outfield's reviews
Not a slasher movie--maybe less a horror movie than some--but definitely gory and definitely horror-related. This recent film was clever, well-acted, and greatly violent, with absolutely wonderful special effects. I found myself oohing and ahhing (actually, more ‘oohing' than ‘ahhing') during the vampire death sequences--easily the best I've ever seen. Though I'm not a Wesley Snipes fan (I keep seeing him in a dress), he was a likable enough hero, even when mean and grouchy. I liked how brutal he was with the bad guys, something that a real crime fighter would have to be. Stephen Dorff was an evil vampire with dreams of world-domination (a real rat-bastard), and it helped that I've never cared for him as an actor. I had low expectations for this one, and I really ended up liking it. It may have something to do with the fact that I had never read a "Blade" comic book before, or maybe it was just really well- done. The ideas were good, the story moved along well, and even the MTV editing didn't bother me much. I still don't know what that huge fat thing was, though. I had a complaint or two, but one of them is more about vampire movies in general, and I'll only address that one: In this film, Dorff and pals could go outside during the day with a little sunscreen on, other movies they can't even look at a picture of the sun. In some movies, crosses kill vampires, in others, they simply annoy them, and in this one, no effect at all. In this film, silver bullets will kill them...in EVERY other vampire film, they will not. What I'm asking is, What's the truth? Huh? Can we please get our stories straight?
Best Scare: The blood sprinkler scene at the beginning (along with the hideous music) really made me uncomfortable.
I'd Recommend It To: Vampire and superhero fans alike.

The tyranist's thoughts
As comic book adaptations go this one is fantatastic. As horror movies go, it isn't bad. The element that convincingly makes this a horror film is blood. There is so much blood in this movie that I think Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn looks kind of weak. Of course, the fact that all of the gore is free flowing blood and not partial rotting limbs makes the impact a little less significant. The production values are high, the story is good. Only a one scene at the very end bothered me at all. This is a should see for vampire movie lovers.
Where this movie really shines is in the dark. Most movies that take place predominantly in the dark lose the viewer at one or more points to the simple fact that there isn't enough light to see what is happening. Batman is a fantastic example of this. Blade, on the other hand, is never so dark that we can't see what is happening. They obviously took special care to make sure the audience knew what was happening and who was killing who. In my mind this is more important than just being a benefit to the eyes. It also makes it easier to understand the differences (or lack thereof) between Snipes and the blood-sucking crew. In Batman it was important to emphasize that Batman wasn't so different from the people he was throttling. In Blade the entire story relies on the difference.