Lucy Liu Books

Wasted money for those who bought it. Wasted time for Lucy Liu. Slow, extremely cliched, very boring. Probably the most boring vampire movie I have ever seen (seen lots of them). A pity that an interesting idea and difficult to spoil theme was misused in such a way.

As I get older and older and get more and more wrinkly, I start to vindictively resent awful films. After all, I only have so much time left on this earth. So what did I ever do to Lucy Lui that she'd blatantly steal away two hours of my life? Lucy Lui's movie career continues its downspiraling with this would-be horrorfest, RISE: BLOOD HUNTER. Except that the horror elements are tame as hell, and the film about as erotic as plucking your grandma's nose hairs (hopefully, that's not a turn-on for many). And, yes, there is plenty of tittilation here, some of it provided by Lucy Lui herself, who flaunts it in the buff in a few scenes. So, that's something. Alas, Carla Gugino, who is even more delectable, doesn't bestow a damn peep. You might be able to sense the quality of this film from the fact that I'm focusing so much on the nudity instead of, say, the plot or the acting.

Well, here's the plot. Reporter Sadie Blake (Lui) awakens in a morgue to find a toetag on her toe and herself become one of the bloodsucking undead. So, naturally, she wants some payback. In essence, that's the movie.

Now, the acting. Robert Forster has a cameo at the beginning, and then it struck him that sniffs at the Oscar Award don't come with cinematic skunks like this, and accordingly jetted. Michael Chiklis, usually a dependable thespian, ventures into sullen Michael Madsen territory as a boozy cop whose daughter had become vampire fodder, so he's all drinky and angry. Michael Chiklis, in case I was being too subtle, has been better. One saving grace in this movie is the ever-so-hot Carla Gugino, who doesn't get a lot of screen time yet manages to salvage some depth in her character. James D'Arcy plays the lead villain, and should be hissed at for not playing a good enough lead villain. Lucy Lui tries her darndest but, really, you can't make a cake out of crap, or if you try, you end up with cake that tastes like crap (and where's the fun in that?). Lucy, in desperate, desperate need of a good script and decent budgeting, ends up languishing in acting hell. Still, I give her props for trying, but then I wrest away the props because, in the first place, she should've known better than to sign her John Hancock to this movie contract. Lucy, remember the good old days, when you were making Ballistic - Ecks vs. Sever and Code Name - The Cleaner? Thank the bejesus television is good to her.

RISE thought it'd score on the hip factor by boasting a novelty casting of Nick Lachey (who plays a stooge, which is just about right) and Marilyn Manson (he's the bartender). But think again. On a truly sad note, this was Mako's final live action picture appearance. Rest easy, Mako.

Disjointed mess, disjointed mess. The film tries to do a PULP FICTION by jumping back and forth between the present and the past, but it does so without narrative cohesion or flow. It attempts to achieve the melancholy flavor of The Crow (Miramax/Dimension Collector's Series), but miserably fails. It's advertised as a supernatural revenge thriller, but whiffs on two of those three descriptives, because the supernatural content is dismal and the film isn't at all thrilling. On the other hand, Lucy does get her revenge on.

Again, I'm sure the meager budgeting forced the writers to forego the more sensational vampire effects. But not having the showy stuff should've given these writers all the more incentive to come up with a better story. Didn't happen. Plenty of dead spots in an already lackluster and lengthy film equals a hellacious dissing at the box office. Man, this movie dragged excruciatingly! Also, I expected Lucy Lui to be in there, kicking serious nosferatu tail. And while she succeeds in offing her targets, the manner in which she does it is simply frustrating. She pretty much just strolls up to them and shoots her crossbow, or has a drink with them and shoots her crossbow. Wesley Snipes and Kate Beckinsale must be laughing themselves silly.

It's a different breed of vampires, too, and not so satisfying. This type doesn't come equipped with fangs, and are forced to employ a cutting tool to slash their victim's throat. No changing to mist or bats, no children of the night. They're stronger than humans, but you don't see Lucy's character, Sadie, lifting dudes off their feet with one hand. Sadie seems to be immune to sunlight and crosses. And, apparently, in this reality, vampires are easy to knock out. That, or Sadie Blake is the sorriest vampire ever turned, getting knocked out and captured a busload of times. On the other hand, she makes out with a hot girl. So, again, that's something.

By the way, the bonus dvd stuff includes four 2-minute behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Blood," "Sex & Murder," "Location, Location," and "Stunts); a Storyboard to Screen Comparison; and the theatrical trailer. In its paltriness, the extra features seem to be hinting, "Why bother?"

Holy smokes, what a crap dvd.

I will keep this short because there isn't a lot to say. This movie could be kind of interesting, well at least the premise "could" work. Unfortunately the script is awful and the acting is lame.

The cast is actually quite good so I can only assume that the director, producer and everyone else are either incompetent or just didn't care.

The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is because Lucy Liu is so gorgeous.

While Rise: Blood Hunter isn't a terrible film, it's a predictable one. This is meant to be a revisionist vampire film (no one actually uses the word vampire in the movie) but these are the same trendy vampires that have haunted the screen since Blade. Is it too much to ask someone to try and shake up the vampire film the way Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red did with Near Dark? Or Larraz did with Vampyres (over 30 years ago)? Can't we just get a little Nosferatu around here? Instead what we have here is a journalist by the name of "Sadie" (Lucy Lui) who discovers that a young goth girl she briefly covered in a recent article has been found dead and a hidden message she left behind may lead to her killer's whereabouts. What she discovers is a secret underground group of vampires, who feed on unsuspecting women. Sadie becomes their latest victim, but instead of being left for dead, is turned into one of them. After she awakens in the morgue, she must come to terms with her new self and is enlisted by a mysterious Spanish man, who gives her the means and know-how on how to find and destroy the vampires that turned her.

This movie proved to be another interesting take on the vampire mythos. The vamps in this flick are fangless and really show no signs of being Nosferatu, with the exception of their strength, lack of a reflection, and thirst for blood. They're not afraid of crosses, and we're not shown whether the old garlic theory works on them. Sadie doesn't even use wooden stakes to kill them; instead she seems to use metal bolts shot from her small crossbow. Although the flick is very slow-paced and doesn't offer a whole lot of the typical vampire action we're accustomed too, it does show a different side to the legend, by following Sadie from the moment she awakens in the morgue, to how she gradually copes with her thirst, and eventually finding strength in herself to confront those that harmed her.

The whole sequence where she awakens in the morgue, to her trip to a homeless shelter, where she feeds on her first victim, was somehow mesmerizing to me. I also liked a scene where she finally accepts the fact that she needs to feed and picks up a hitchhiker in a secluded road. From the homeless shelter to her reactions and awkward dialogue with the hitchhiker, the film seemed to portray a kind of realism behind vampirism and the need to feed. That, and my general interest with revenge-type flicks, led me to enjoy the movie mildly. Since this isn't your typical vampire film, there's no flying, clawing, or neck biting, so the gore is kept at a minimum. There is, however, a lot of blood spurting and bolts to the heart. In the end, what it lacks in gore and action, it makes up for in story.

Hence, the four stars. I'm going out on a limb here and I know I'll get booed but I liked this movie and thought it very good for it's genre. I realize people don't like it when you go against the popular vote but I wanted to provide another voice. I'll skip summarizations as that has been already been provided but give my thoughts (for the two cents they're worth) instead.

I gather the Amazon Review person didn't watch the same movie because there are a lot of errors in that summary. I'm also confused over the starring roles listing. Robert Forster was on screen for maybe two minutes - a nice cameo by him and a few others. Marilyn Manson played a bartender without all the make-up (it took a while to recognize him) and Nick Lahey plays a small time crook who doesn't think about the whole picture (working for a vampire cult is never a good idea). All of acting was good, even the minor characters, with two main characters standing out. Sadie Blake (Lucy Lui), a supposed unwilling victim and The Bishop (James D'Arcy), an Englishman who charms his way past a woman's barriers. These two are the ones to watch and scenes containing them sizzle. The cinematography is amazing with it's color washes of reds and blues upon black. It's nicely filmed by a master.

There were nice twists here with the innocent turned against her will into vampirism.... or was she? We learn from Eve that her will to survive was so strong that not even The Bishop's feeding could kill her. That her survival instincts took over and that's what made her a vampire, not another vampire. She was lead in that direction but Blake choose her path. I found this to be an interesting character development. As the Alchemist points out, no one is really innocent. He also points out that she is different from them, that she possess a gift. Apparently, this gift is the thirst for life and not the blood she needs to sustain it (life being a relative term here).

This movie definitely left on a possible sequel note and although I would not mind seeing another installment, the straight to dvdness of this movie leaves little option for another. There were a few plot holes but that's what makes it a "B" grade movie so I let it go.

I recommend this movie for supernatural film fans that like a different kind of vampire movie. This is not a great film and doesn't really qualify as true horror (lack of scary parts - plenty of gore but not much genuine fear), but entertaining all the same. Maybe it's just me though because I hated Dracula 2000 and most reviewers loved it.

Wasted money for those who bought it. Wasted time for Lucy Liu. Slow, extremely cliched, very boring. Probably the most boring vampire movie I have ever seen (seen lots of them). A pity that an interesting idea and difficult to spoil theme was misused in such a way.

As I get older and older and get more and more wrinkly, I start to vindictively resent awful films. After all, I only have so much time left on this earth. So what did I ever do to Lucy Lui that she'd blatantly steal away two hours of my life? Lucy Lui's movie career continues its downspiraling with this would-be horrorfest, RISE: BLOOD HUNTER. Except that the horror elements are tame as hell, and the film about as erotic as plucking your grandma's nose hairs (hopefully, that's not a turn-on for many). And, yes, there is plenty of tittilation here, some of it provided by Lucy Lui herself, who flaunts it in the buff in a few scenes. So, that's something. Alas, Carla Gugino, who is even more delectable, doesn't bestow a damn peep. You might be able to sense the quality of this film from the fact that I'm focusing so much on the nudity instead of, say, the plot or the acting.

Well, here's the plot. Reporter Sadie Blake (Lui) awakens in a morgue to find a toetag on her toe and herself become one of the bloodsucking undead. So, naturally, she wants some payback. In essence, that's the movie.

Now, the acting. Robert Forster has a cameo at the beginning, and then it struck him that sniffs at the Oscar Award don't come with cinematic skunks like this, and accordingly jetted. Michael Chiklis, usually a dependable thespian, ventures into sullen Michael Madsen territory as a boozy cop whose daughter had become vampire fodder, so he's all drinky and angry. Michael Chiklis, in case I was being too subtle, has been better. One saving grace in this movie is the ever-so-hot Carla Gugino, who doesn't get a lot of screen time yet manages to salvage some depth in her character. James D'Arcy plays the lead villain, and should be hissed at for not playing a good enough lead villain. Lucy Lui tries her darndest but, really, you can't make a cake out of crap, or if you try, you end up with cake that tastes like crap (and where's the fun in that?). Lucy, in desperate, desperate need of a good script and decent budgeting, ends up languishing in acting hell. Still, I give her props for trying, but then I wrest away the props because, in the first place, she should've known better than to sign her John Hancock to this movie contract. Lucy, remember the good old days, when you were making Ballistic - Ecks vs. Sever and Code Name - The Cleaner? Thank the bejesus television is good to her.

RISE thought it'd score on the hip factor by boasting a novelty casting of Nick Lachey (who plays a stooge, which is just about right) and Marilyn Manson (he's the bartender). But think again. On a truly sad note, this was Mako's final live action picture appearance. Rest easy, Mako.

Disjointed mess, disjointed mess. The film tries to do a PULP FICTION by jumping back and forth between the present and the past, but it does so without narrative cohesion or flow. It attempts to achieve the melancholy flavor of The Crow (Miramax/Dimension Collector's Series), but miserably fails. It's advertised as a supernatural revenge thriller, but whiffs on two of those three descriptives, because the supernatural content is dismal and the film isn't at all thrilling. On the other hand, Lucy does get her revenge on.

Again, I'm sure the meager budgeting forced the writers to forego the more sensational vampire effects. But not having the showy stuff should've given these writers all the more incentive to come up with a better story. Didn't happen. Plenty of dead spots in an already lackluster and lengthy film equals a hellacious dissing at the box office. Man, this movie dragged excruciatingly! Also, I expected Lucy Lui to be in there, kicking serious nosferatu tail. And while she succeeds in offing her targets, the manner in which she does it is simply frustrating. She pretty much just strolls up to them and shoots her crossbow, or has a drink with them and shoots her crossbow. Wesley Snipes and Kate Beckinsale must be laughing themselves silly.

It's a different breed of vampires, too, and not so satisfying. This type doesn't come equipped with fangs, and are forced to employ a cutting tool to slash their victim's throat. No changing to mist or bats, no children of the night. They're stronger than humans, but you don't see Lucy's character, Sadie, lifting dudes off their feet with one hand. Sadie seems to be immune to sunlight and crosses. And, apparently, in this reality, vampires are easy to knock out. That, or Sadie Blake is the sorriest vampire ever turned, getting knocked out and captured a busload of times. On the other hand, she makes out with a hot girl. So, again, that's something.

By the way, the bonus dvd stuff includes four 2-minute behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Blood," "Sex & Murder," "Location, Location," and "Stunts); a Storyboard to Screen Comparison; and the theatrical trailer. In its paltriness, the extra features seem to be hinting, "Why bother?"

Holy smokes, what a crap dvd.

I will keep this short because there isn't a lot to say. This movie could be kind of interesting, well at least the premise "could" work. Unfortunately the script is awful and the acting is lame.

The cast is actually quite good so I can only assume that the director, producer and everyone else are either incompetent or just didn't care.

The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is because Lucy Liu is so gorgeous.

While Rise: Blood Hunter isn't a terrible film, it's a predictable one. This is meant to be a revisionist vampire film (no one actually uses the word vampire in the movie) but these are the same trendy vampires that have haunted the screen since Blade. Is it too much to ask someone to try and shake up the vampire film the way Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red did with Near Dark? Or Larraz did with Vampyres (over 30 years ago)? Can't we just get a little Nosferatu around here? Instead what we have here is a journalist by the name of "Sadie" (Lucy Lui) who discovers that a young goth girl she briefly covered in a recent article has been found dead and a hidden message she left behind may lead to her killer's whereabouts. What she discovers is a secret underground group of vampires, who feed on unsuspecting women. Sadie becomes their latest victim, but instead of being left for dead, is turned into one of them. After she awakens in the morgue, she must come to terms with her new self and is enlisted by a mysterious Spanish man, who gives her the means and know-how on how to find and destroy the vampires that turned her.

This movie proved to be another interesting take on the vampire mythos. The vamps in this flick are fangless and really show no signs of being Nosferatu, with the exception of their strength, lack of a reflection, and thirst for blood. They're not afraid of crosses, and we're not shown whether the old garlic theory works on them. Sadie doesn't even use wooden stakes to kill them; instead she seems to use metal bolts shot from her small crossbow. Although the flick is very slow-paced and doesn't offer a whole lot of the typical vampire action we're accustomed too, it does show a different side to the legend, by following Sadie from the moment she awakens in the morgue, to how she gradually copes with her thirst, and eventually finding strength in herself to confront those that harmed her.

The whole sequence where she awakens in the morgue, to her trip to a homeless shelter, where she feeds on her first victim, was somehow mesmerizing to me. I also liked a scene where she finally accepts the fact that she needs to feed and picks up a hitchhiker in a secluded road. From the homeless shelter to her reactions and awkward dialogue with the hitchhiker, the film seemed to portray a kind of realism behind vampirism and the need to feed. That, and my general interest with revenge-type flicks, led me to enjoy the movie mildly. Since this isn't your typical vampire film, there's no flying, clawing, or neck biting, so the gore is kept at a minimum. There is, however, a lot of blood spurting and bolts to the heart. In the end, what it lacks in gore and action, it makes up for in story.

Hence, the four stars. I'm going out on a limb here and I know I'll get booed but I liked this movie and thought it very good for it's genre. I realize people don't like it when you go against the popular vote but I wanted to provide another voice. I'll skip summarizations as that has been already been provided but give my thoughts (for the two cents they're worth) instead.

I gather the Amazon Review person didn't watch the same movie because there are a lot of errors in that summary. I'm also confused over the starring roles listing. Robert Forster was on screen for maybe two minutes - a nice cameo by him and a few others. Marilyn Manson played a bartender without all the make-up (it took a while to recognize him) and Nick Lahey plays a small time crook who doesn't think about the whole picture (working for a vampire cult is never a good idea). All of acting was good, even the minor characters, with two main characters standing out. Sadie Blake (Lucy Lui), a supposed unwilling victim and The Bishop (James D'Arcy), an Englishman who charms his way past a woman's barriers. These two are the ones to watch and scenes containing them sizzle. The cinematography is amazing with it's color washes of reds and blues upon black. It's nicely filmed by a master.

There were nice twists here with the innocent turned against her will into vampirism.... or was she? We learn from Eve that her will to survive was so strong that not even The Bishop's feeding could kill her. That her survival instincts took over and that's what made her a vampire, not another vampire. She was lead in that direction but Blake choose her path. I found this to be an interesting character development. As the Alchemist points out, no one is really innocent. He also points out that she is different from them, that she possess a gift. Apparently, this gift is the thirst for life and not the blood she needs to sustain it (life being a relative term here).

This movie definitely left on a possible sequel note and although I would not mind seeing another installment, the straight to dvdness of this movie leaves little option for another. There were a few plot holes but that's what makes it a "B" grade movie so I let it go.

I recommend this movie for supernatural film fans that like a different kind of vampire movie. This is not a great film and doesn't really qualify as true horror (lack of scary parts - plenty of gore but not much genuine fear), but entertaining all the same. Maybe it's just me though because I hated Dracula 2000 and most reviewers loved it.