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61 out of 72 people found the following review useful: 2 different Movies, really, 2 May 2007 Author: MissSummers from Germany
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Okay. First the good news: Lucy Liu is sexy and really emotional in this. Her acting chops finally come into play in a movie where she isn't just tough or bitchy. The woman is a really good actress. Most of the rest of the cast is really good, especially Carla Gugino and James d'Arcy (American haunting). A few scenes are standouts, particularly a nasty bit of business in a junkie shelter and a very very claustrophobic scene inside a morgue drawer. Now the bad news: Nick Lachey is in this for some incomprehensible reason and it REALLY snaps you out of the story. When will Hollywood learn that goofy cameos don't belong in horror? You're watching a perfectly cool creepy thriller when suddenly the audience gasps at ridiculous casting choices that have NOTHING to do with the story. That, as well as some cheap attempts at "jumpscares" slightly spoil what is basically the antidote to Blade, Underworld and the rest of the goofy vampire pics of late. The treatment here is much more based on pain and grounded in reality.Definitely worth checking out for fans of vampire fiction.
50 out of 60 people found the following review useful: Best Ghost House Pic By far, 3 May 2007 Author: Drew (stigmata-8) from United States
To call this the best Ghost House film ain't saying much. After all, this is the same ripoff company that gave us Grudge 2, Boogeyman and Messengers. But Sam Raimi might finally be onto something here with this low budget sexed up version of Darkman.If only they'd spend a little money on the ad campaign and lose the cheesy subtitle Bood Hunter! Lucy Liu is great! Funny and sad and really good at the action one liners. So is the very sinister and veddy British James D'Arcy but the incredible Carla Gugino is barely in the movie!!!! Why? Was her part cut down? Marilyn Manson proves he can actually act and the less said about Nick Lachey's cameo, the better. All in all, great sense of humor and dialogue add a lot to the suspense of the story.
49 out of 60 people found the following review useful: Deserves Wider Release, 2 May 2007 Author: ripper-53 from New York City
Don't be put off by the lame artwork on the poster, RISE BLOOD HUNTER is a striking, unsettling moody thriller with really fine acting and cinematography (from Oscar winner John Toll) that has somehow been repackaged as an action movie (!) It's not. I read on Shock Til You Drop that this was originally a non linear vampire noir film, told mostly in flashbacks. And guess what? It shows!!! The movie has been rearranged chronologically and it becomes monotonous and not nearly as haunting as you can tell it was supposed to be. Where's the director's cut? Why the studios insist on dumbing horror down? Why is Nick Lachey in this movie? Why is it anytime someone tries to do something new, the studios try to turn it into the same crap we've all seen a million times? You'd think Sam Raimi would have a little more faith in his fans.
50 out of 64 people found the following review useful: Original!, 29 April 2007 Author: trunk-4
Just saw this at Tribeca. The poster and "blood hunter" subtitle make it out to be an Underworld ripoff, but this engaging flick by the writer of Snakes on A Plane is an attempt at something much more original. Most of the time it succeeds. Lucy Liu is very effective as the reporter who has been turned into a member of a gang of vampires by James Darcy and Carla Gugino. Her journey to becoming an assassin bent on revenge is powerful stuff, including an unforgettable scene where she has to feed for the first time off an old man in a shelter. That moment perfectly captures all that is good and new about this story, a way to see the vampires that hasn't been shown before. The whole audience covered their eyes on that one. It was great! Another great moment with humor has Lucy picking up an innocent hitch hiker who just might be her next meal. Hilarious and tense. The camera-work and supporting cast (including a cameo by Marilyn Manson, great and a really weird one by Nick Lachey) are topnotch and the whole thing is set up for an interesting sequel. Highly recommended.
65 out of 96 people found the following review useful: Fun movie, worth a Saturday night scare, 28 April 2007 Author: Matt Fisher from Brooklyn, NY
Just got home from the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Rise, and it exceeded by expectations a bit. Gutierez was there to introduce the film, and he said something along the lines of 'This movie was shot in 30 days with very little budget, John Toll did a great job with the cinematography, and I give you permission to laugh at cheesy lines even if they're not meant to be funny.' The main reason I went to see the film was that I'm a huge Michael Chiklis fan, and if you enjoy his role in 'The Shield,' you'll love him here. Lucy Liu carries out her role well...I wouldn't normally picture her in this kind of movie, but she actually was convincing even when lines were a bit cheesy (this is a vampire movie!). Gutierrez did a very good job with music selection to help build suspense, there's some scenes in pretty industrial settings that had a lot of the audience hiding behind their fingers.The movie is a bit bloody and gory, though it certainly could have been more intense, it is not for the faint of heart. Editing and cinematography were great - John Toll, who was cinematographer for Vanilla Sky, The Thin Red Line, and Braveheart - obviously knows what he's doing, and he really contributes to the mood of the film.All in all, if you're looking for a good scare with some funny lines, this will certainly do the trick.
28 out of 35 people found the following review useful: Lucy Liu vamps it up., 2 October 2007 Author: BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England
Lucy Liu stars as Sadie Blake, an intrepid reporter who comes a cropper when she pokes her nose too far into the world of a strange vampiric goth cult. None too keen to have their story told, they abduct the news-hound and suck her dry, dumping her body when finished.But Sadie is a tough girl and refuses to just keel over. Instead, she joins the ranks of the undead, and sets out to get revenge on those responsible for her current state.Director Sebastian Gutierrez presents a refreshingly different take on the whole vampire schtick with this low budget shocker that is both bloody and innovative (these vampires may lack fangs, but still pack plenty of bite). Great cinematography, an engaging story, and a decent cast all go to make Rise: Blood Hunter worth seeking out, although the gimmicky use of a non-linear storyline is a little unnecessary (so many films seem to use this idea these days).A strong, sexy performance from Lucy Liu means that the film is never boring, although, at times, it does come across as a little too earnest for its own good. At times, Gutierrez strives so hard for an effectively moody atmosphere to suit his tale that the resulting gravitas detracts from one's enjoyment. Fortunately, Lucy Liu sees fit to shed her clothes at several points in the movie, so everything balances out nicely in the end.If you love vampire films of all types, adore Gothic fantasy, or, like me, just want to see Ms. Liu in the buff, then Rise: Blood Hunter is recommended viewing.
22 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Well-balanced meal, 2 January 2008 Author: Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) from United States
Despite its unwieldy, off-putting title, Rise: Blood Hunter (aka simply Rise) isn't as terribly cheesy and disgusting as I imagined it would be. A reporter (Lucy Liu) wakes up in a morgue's body drawer and discovers she's been changed into a blood-seeking, human-chomping immortal, or something, and rather than gleefully embrace her new self she decides to track down the evil bastards who put her in that condition, making her a sort of avenging angel for all those who have been similarly wronged.Sadie Blake (Liu) is a sexy, classy young lady who's just written a front-page story about teen goth clubs. One of her coworkers, the nerdy computer stereotype, tracks down a phone number that one of the teens handed to Sadie - turns out it's not a phone number but the first in a series of clues that leads to a website devoted to some weird bloodsucking cult. Sadie, of course, thinks the story's over and goes on a quickie vacation to Mexico with her sister, but when she returns, you guessed it, her coworker's dead. Sadie follows clues like a good little Nancy Drew and winds up getting kidnapped (several times) and killed (several times), all to figure out who or what's behind everything.The story jumps around a lot, flouting the conventions of time as we know them; things simply don't happen in the exact order we'd expect them to, which clouds Sadie's motives and intentions quite a bit. Is she good? Is she even human? After all, once she's been attacked by the vampire people, she's not exactly the picture of health, and she's gotta eat to survive. Is her ultimate goal of revenge enough to offset the unpleasant facts? It helps that there's a typically hissable bad guy, Bishop (James D'Arcy). He's eternal, of course, and he kills and mutilates and rapes for the sheer joy of it. There are no moral or ethical quandaries with this guy. Plus he has an effete, brandy-swilling British accent, making all the more unctuous and slimy. (Well, he's slimy also because he's often covered in someone's blood.) Now, granted, this isn't a pleasant, sedate movie to watch. It's full of gore and guts, although not so much as, say, a movie like Saw or Hostel. It's still not for the weak of stomach. You might remember how, in Kill Bill, The Bride traveled all over to wipe out those who'd wronged her - but the film didn't show us this in the order in which each avenging occurred, did it? So you'd see Uma Thurman wander over to Viveca Fox's house not knowing if she'd already visited Lucy Liu. Well, you would know, of course, if you picked up on the subtle hints, and that's exactly how it is here. At one point, Sadie runs into alcoholic, world-weary cop-with-a-conscience-and-a-cause Clyde Rawlins (a fantastic Michael Chiklis) and mutters something about having seen him before. And if you watch the movie closely, you see exactly where. It's as if there are no coincidences in the movie, and I think that works in its favor.Still, it IS just a revenge flick, albeit one with vampires and a kick-ass crossbow. Liu is very, very good - she's not the screaming, hands-in-the-air type of heroine, but she's also not the balls-out gut-stomping Lara Croft type, either. Remember, Lucy Liu is petite; she doesn't automatically have this intimidating screen presence, so she uses what she has and makes the most of it. In her case, I'd have to say it's her eyes, flashing terror or courage in.... well, in the blink of an eye.So despite some predictability, the movie does work, thanks to Liu and the novelty of the disjointed sequencing. There are quite a few chills, and the plot doesn't stray too far from its main revenge thread, thus simplifying matters.
22 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Owing more to film noir than horror films this is a great B-movie that deserves to sought out for a great night at the movies, 11 July 2007 Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York
(This review is for the theatrical cut)Rise : Blood Hunter hit me like a ball out of left field. The film concerns a reporter, played by Lucy Liu who runs a foul of a group of vampires who kill her for her troubles. Regrettably the vampires botch the job and Liu comes back with a driving thirst for vengeance.Three parts noir and one part supernatural thriller this is the sort of grind house film that belonged in the recent "Grind House" double feature. Moving with a speed and an economy of motion this is a film thats rare to day anywhere, especially Hollywood. The film bleeds off the screen and you get a sense that this could be happening somewhere real. The story is as tight as a drum with nary a extraneous line or motion, this is a movie that tells its simple story and it tells it well. There are things which it could tell us, or show us, but it chooses not to since that would get away of the story (the alchemist for example). There is blood and violence but its always perfectly done for the right effect. The supporting cast is mostly note perfect including Mako, Robert Forrester and Michael Chiklas.While the film has its flaws (Liu is a bit stiff at the start) the film actually turns out to be a perfectly made B-movie of the sort that hasn't been seen on screens in decades. Taken for what it is the film will probably stand the test of time and repeated viewings to become a minor classic of its type.
12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Sex and Blood: A Different Vampire Movie, 5 April 2008 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The snoopy reporter Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is called by her nerd colleague Ethan Mills (Kevin Wheatley) that has deciphered a code and found an address in Koreatown from information of the Goth Tricia Rawlins (Margo Harshman) about a bloody cult. Sadie does not give attention to Ethan, but when she sees on the front page of the news that Tricia has been found dead in a dumpster in Koreatown, she decides to visit the address. She finds an abandoned house with a gruesome basement full of blood and she immediately drives to Ethan's apartment. She finds the place in a complete mess and is abducted by a stranger and taken to Bishop (James D'Arcy), who wants to know what Tricia has told her. Then, Bishop and his mate Eve (Carla Gugino) kill Sadie and they have a necrophilic threesome with her body. Later, Sadie awakes in the freezer of the morgue and sooner she realizes that she is a vampire and promises revenge to her sire.The low-paced "Rise" is a different vampire movie, with sex, blood and naked women. The screenplay discloses the plot in a non-linear chronology, but there is no unexpected twist or any part difficult to be understood. I expected some surprise regarding Sadie's savior Arturo, but this character has been completely forgotten after his short but important participation. The end gives a hint to a possible sequel and in this case and if Eve told the truth to Sadie, Arturo might have an important role replacing the evil Bishop as the leader of the cult that worships sex and blood as the greatest pleasures of mankind. I have never seen Lucy Liu undressing so many times like in "Rise", but the nudity situations are not free exploitation, being suitable to the context of the sexy story. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Rise"
27 out of 43 people found the following review useful: Disappointing, confusing & predictable, 22 October 2007 Author: kane4782 from Beijing, China
I saw the trailer of this a while back and thought it could be one of those sleeper hits, as it had a relatively good premise and I've always been intrigued by vampire films, so when I saw it on the shelves I thought I'd give it a go.As the film was overall a disappointment for me, I won't put any spoilers in this review. I will say however that from the outset, the sequence of events are disjointed and make for confusing viewing. The film tries to be too clever throughout and ultimately ends up being hard to follow. For a vampire film, it doesn't really give much background to the whole vampire genre as most do and adds to the confusion as to who is who and what is what. Apart from Lucy Liu's character, there is no back story or build up to the antagonists, everything just happens randomly, which makes it an effort to keep track of things.As for the acting, I find it a shame that Lucy Liu continues to make films that don't really challenge her. She spends most of this film looking either in distress or moody, oh and naked. Having seen her in Kill Bill and her earlier turns in Ally McBeal, Rise & Ecks vs Sever really don't do her justice as an actress. The vampire contingent here are pretty poor too, with James D'Arcy playing a poor mans version of every other bad vampire we've seen before (notably Stephen Dorff in Blade). Michael Chiklis is at best, mediocre, looking like he did this when short of a few bob, in his spare time from filming Silver Surfer.Overall, another addition to the growing number of mediocre vampire-themed films. I would avoid this if I were you, but if Lucy Liu (+ a few others) prancing about naked and lots of blood tickles your fancy, then give it a go.
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