Fantasy Flix: Vampires

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010)

Queen Ma’at finds her kingdom of Abelar under attack when treasure seekers accidentally open the tomb of vampire queen Xia. The Queen sends her half-sister, Princess Tanis, to the outlaw city of Douras to find her real father so he can save the kingdom. Meanwhile, servant girl Kara - who shares the same father as Tanis, but her mother is Xia - discovers her true nature as a vampire and begins hunting Tanis. Once in Douras, the Princess finds her half-brother Aedan and convinces him to help her. Together they locate half-sister Malia, half-sister Rajan and her daughter Alana. With this small group they plan to stop the vampire queen Xia before it is too late.

Director: Albert Pyun
Writer: Cynthia Curnan

I put off talking about this one for a little while now. I'm not really sure what to say about this or even how I feel about it. To be honest, I was kind of confused watching this movie. I'm not 100% on the whole plot of this film. I know The Sword and The Sorcerer had a fairly complex plot as well, so I guess it's just a part of the series. That being said, I didn't hate this movie or even think it was bad. Well, of course it's "bad", but in my little circle it's not. In fact, besides being a little confused as to what's going on, I kinda enjoyed this and hope there will actually be a third movie.

As most of you know Abelar, or as it's just called "Tales of the Ancient Empire", is a sequel to 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer. Yes, 30 years later we finally get the sequel. I'm not completely sure what this has to do with the original besides having a quick cameo from Lee Horsley as Talon, but there it is.

Tales is one of those movies that's going to get ripped apart by the general public is being shitty. Yes, the budget is low, but I think they do a pretty good job with it. It is weird to me, however that in 1982 they could make the sets look more "real" than they do now.

You're probably going to read that the acting is horrible, and that Kevin Sorbo couldn't even save it. I think the acting was just fine for the most part. Some are better than others, but I didn't think anyone was terrible. To be honest I thought the worst actor here was Michael Paré who didn't even seem to be trying. And of course these girls are unbelievably HOT! And, I am officially in love with Victoria Maurette.

The action here is decent, the women are beautiful, and it's a fantasy film. I'm not going to complain about much. If I have any complaints, it's that I didn't enjoy the "artsy" parts of the movie. I didn't like the lengthy beginning way they told the story, and the artsy end just confused the hell out of me. When you see this, you'll See what I mean.

Verdict: Fairly recommended

The Cast

Kevin Sorbo ... Aedan

Melissa Ordway ... Princess Tanis

Whitney Able ... Xia

Michael Paré ... Oda

Victoria Maurette ... Kara

Lee Horsley ... Talon

Sarah Ann Schultz ... Malia

Cazzy Golomb ... Hekate

Inbar Lavi ... Alana

Janelle Giumarra ... Rajan

Jennifer Siebel Newsom ... Queen Ma'at

Jessica Delgado

Matthew Willig ... Giant Iberian

Ralf Moeller ... General Hafez

Scott Paulin ... Tou-Bou Bardo

Xavier Declie ... Dernier

Friday, September 23, 2011

BloodRayne (2005)

Director: Uwe Boll

Writer:

Guinevere Turner

In the Eighteenth Century, Rayne is the half-human half-vampire Dhampir and the lead attraction in a carnival's freak-show in Romania. When she escapes, she meets a fortuneteller that tells that her mother was raped by the king of the vampires Kagan and she decides to destroy her father. In her journey for revenge, she meets Vladimir and Sebastian, the leaders of the fortress of vampire hunters Brimstone, and she joins their society. She seeks for powerful talismans to defeat Kagan, while the skilled warriors Vladimir and Sebastian train her to face the forces of Kagan and her human side falls in love with Sebastian. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I had a small hesitation about adding this film to my list. I just wasn't sure if it fit my categories of films I would cover. It may be a little late in time period setting for this blog, but considering the film has no guns and seems pretty medeival in nature I decided to include it.

This film gets alot of bad reviews. I have to wonder if the bad reviews come simply from the fact that it's directed by the infamous Uwe Boll. I have to admit that old Uwe has made some pretty shitty movies in his career, but to be honest I enjoy most of them for what they are. This probably says alot about the movies I like. I watch movies to be entertained, and to be entertained only. I'm not looking for some art masterpiece. These films usually bore the hell out of me.

Now As usual, I'm not going to tell you that this movie is good; because, frankly, it's not. However, I will tell you that I quite enjoy this movie for what it is. These statements seem to be a recuring theme in my short little reviews, but they are quite honest. Alot of these movies fall into this category. There is nothing wrong with the entertainment value of this film.

BloodRayne has alot of the things I enjoy in movies. Lots of action, violence, gore, blood and nudity. The story is simple but fine, and the movie does not lag and bore me to death at any time. Watch this movie for what it is and we'll leave the boring Oscar winning movies to those who enjoy those.

The acting here is good in my opinion filled with some decent and entertaining actors. I won't go through them here (you can see the cast list below), but there alot of faces here you will recognize.