razor blade smile running as part of the vancouver international film festival played october 2nd and 4th , 1998 .
official release : halloween
reviewed by vince yim
`you think you know all about vampires . . . believe
me . . . you
know f * ck all . ‘
with these words , we are brought into the world of a sultry vampire seductress by the name of lilith silver ( played by eileen daly ) .
made into an immortal a century and a half ago by the sinister ethan blake , she continues to alleviate boredom with her state of being .
so , what’s an undead girl to do , except squeeze into the tightest fitting clothes possible , get out her guns , seduce a few guys , and kill a few people for money and blood ?
with that out of the way , let me say this .
this film is bad .
this film is really , really bad .
yet somehow , it is strangely enjoyable .
with all the elements of a direct to video horror flick ? buxom babes , gore , cheesy dialogue , and bad acting ? any casual film viewer would be more inclined to spend their money on renting innocent blood or going to see blade .
still , it is considered to be one of the finest british vampire film .
agreed , it might be , but is far from being the best vampire flick ever .
period .
razor blade smile has some rather high production values , shown by the nice overall tone to the film .
the film is also a bit of a departure from popular vampire lore , with a vampire that can go out in broad daylight without disintegrating , doesn’t sleep in a coffin ( but leaves one next to her computer ) , and sees religion as the `opium of the peoples’ ( hence , immunity to crosses ) .
but aside from that , it doesn’t stray too far away from horror film conventions .
that is , unless that is intentional .
razor blade smile literally goes for the throat , then pumps the wound full of processed cheese .
you can’t help but laugh when a female vampire gets decapitated and her severed head goes flying into a puddle .
you’ll laugh even harder at the hideously contrived situations ( to distract two female guards , lilith tosses a cellular phone towards them and dials the number ) .
you’ll laugh the hardest when a murder witness recants the tale and suddenly starts sobbing uncontrollably .
and then , there’s the sudden twist ending ( i have enough heart not to give it away ) .
the film refuses to take itself seriously , which is a good thing , as by the time lilith zips up her skin-tight body suit and then unzips it just to show the right amount of cleavage , you’ve most likely forgotten the main point of the story .
but in case you really care , she’s been assigned to kill a bunch of people who belong to the so-called illuminati , and she’s leaving a huge mess behind for the police to find .
as much as my criticisms , this movie works best as a guilty pleasure or as a film that you watch with your friends and within groups .
almost destined for cult-status , the film’s campy , cheesy overtones actually work towards the film .
while this may not necessarily be the film you’d want to be seen watching by yourself , it makes for a fun time at the movies .