Blade:House of Chthon

Tonight the movie of choice was Blade:House of Chthon.  This movie was one I probably never would have saw if it had not come with the 4 film  package with the other 3 Blade movies.  Blade:House of Chthon receives a 2 star rating.

I'm introducing a more in-depth rating system tonight, but it is still in progress so expect a few more changes.  I will now rate on a few different key factors, picking out a few of the most relevant for each review.  Tonight, I will be rating on Acting, Directing, Story line, Filming, and Enjoyability.

Lets get the ass kickin' started with Acting.  For this movie, they replaced the perfectly cast Westley Snipes with Kirk Jones.  Although Kirk didn't do a bad job, it did not do the original three justice.  I feel in most cases, as it was with this movie, switching the lead role is a kill move.  Acting overall in this film was not bad.  Although it seemed to be poor while you are watching, I don't believe it was the actors cast that was the problem.  There was solid support for Kirk with his new sidekick Jill Wagner.  I think the best acting in the film came from the villain vampire Neil Jackson and Blade's sidekick Nelson Lee.

Lets get to the problem area of the movie.  I believe the biggest problem was the directing.  This category alone is most of my reason for giving Blade:House of Chthon a 2 star rating.  Perhaps you could blame some of it on the script, but the dialog was not there.  Pair that with an overactive slow motion crave and the beginning of the movie was just annoying.  As the story evolves, the movie does get up on both legs and makes a slight run for it.  Kirk fills the huge shoes of Westley Snipes decently, and the rounded out cast all work quite well together.  Kick out the director and it may have been a three star rating.

The story line is OK at best.  There were some holes and some questionable actions throughout.  They tried to tie into the original 3 by having some flashbacks showing footage from other movies.  Guess what...it didn't work.  It did what was expected however, it is a vampire hunting movie after all.  My least favorite part of the story is the ending.  You are just getting into the movie and waiting for the resolution to come.  They leave you at the top of the build up and just kick you in the face with the credits.  "What the hell just happened?" is your first response.  After doing a bit of research and finding it went to the TV Series explains what happened, but does not justify it.

The filming of the movie is perhaps the best part of the whole thing.  It is filmed in classic Blade format.  Dark, black and creepy.  This category is what saved Blade:House of Chthon from becoming a 1 star rating.  Leaving aside the stupid acting and scripting calls by the director, he did a decent job of shooting and editing.  I did however think the extreme symbolism of Jill in an all white sexy dress before she was turned, and an all black lacy skanky dress after she was turned representing good vs evil was not entirely necessary.

Enjoyability keeps this movie from 1 star as well.  It is a continuation of the Blade series after all, how can you completely hate it?  Remembering what the series was before this addition helps to keep you in check and from shutting off the DVD player in the first few scenes.  As the movie progresses the enjoyability goes up and you just get immersed and go with the flow.

All in all, directing is the sore spot, and filming paired with enjoyability keep the movie afloat to attain a 2 star rating.  Please become a follower of my blog to await the next amazing review, and share below to your favorite social networking site.  Ciao for now, and see you for the next review!