Fright Fest 2018: Blade (1998)

At the start, let me get out of the way that I fully acknowledge that in no way is Blade a perfect film. I don’t place it in my list of favorites – its isn’t even my favorite vampire film and I’m not going to argue that it should be for you.

It isn’t horror – in any interpretation of the word. I would categorize this alongside other similarly themed films as Underworld or Van Helsing. Films that may involve supernatural creatures or monsters as part of the story but are clearly just intended to be action movies, thrillers at best. Is this really important in the evaluation of it as a film? Probably not. But considering the context of reviewing vampire movies this month, I think it’s a relevant issue to bring to light. Is it really a vampire movie? Or is it just a movie that happens to have vampires in it?

So, I don’t think this is necessarily a shining example of what I would consider vampire lore. I can’t stand the notion that a vampire could be able to survive being out during the day because he’s wearing sunblock. And I tend to think that it takes a concept that should be fairly straightforward and simple and places it on an arbitrarily grandiose scale with notions of this massive underground society and with pseudo-mythological notions of the “day-walker”. Whatever, it’s all just pieces of the story to me and I don’t give it that much importance.

And I do tend to believe that the movie is a tad superficial. At times, I can’t escape the feeling that what the movie is really trying to do is show me how cool leather can look and sound.

I’ll also admit that I haven’t read even a frame of the comics that this movie was based on. So for me, I’m coming at this and seeing the movie in a vacuum for what it is. For me, this is all about just sitting down in front of a movie and enjoying, or not. Any previous knowledge or expectations are left at the door.

The question naturally and fairly becomes, why the hell do I like this film when by all rights and on paper, this should be a movie I don’t like?

It could be that it came along in the perfect point in my life. I was in the process of moving out of my dorm, it was the end of my senior year of college and it was a stressful time. There was a lot that needed to get done and my brother was in town helping me out.

And as things were finally angling down towards being finished, he and I took time out to catch a late-night showing of this. And I think it was exactly what I needed at the moment. Mindless, fun, loud action film at the theater that gave me something to escape into.

It could also be that, growing up in the eighties and nineties, Wesley Snipes was a major name and bulwark of my movie experiences, from as early as Major League, with fairly notable roles throughout much of the years to come. And looking back now, from the distant perspective of 2018, the Blade franchise was kind of the last hurrah for Snipes in terms of his visibility as an actor. This is not a criticism of him, by any means and I hope that wherever he is, he’s living comfortably, working on what he wants to and has found happiness on the back of the great work he has produced over his life.

Despite the annoyances over the little things and the parts I wish had been done differently, I have to put out there that I think the opening sequence of this film was one of the best I’ve seen. As absurd as the notion is of underground vampire clubs, it was a perfect way to introduce Blade as a character and I loved watching the intensity of him taking that room apart. It established the perfect mood for a movie that is designed to keep you in your seat, eating popcorn and drinking soda. It’s a great movie visually, with great dark tones to it and despite the summer blockbuster status, it still has some hints at harder edges that would suggest that maybe they were going for an adult audience at least. This is the kind of movie that you aren’t supposed to take that seriously. It’s a nice balance of the Marvel formula of action and funny talking combined with some gory and bloody bits as well.

And if there is anything Wesley Snipes does to perfection, it’s action movies. And this was one of his swan songs in that regard. Take it in for what it’s worth, great action and fun fictional escape routes from the dreary reality of our day to day existences.

Chad A. Clark is an author of horror and science fiction. For more information on his literary universe, check out his official website or take a peek at his Amazon author page