Razor Blade Smile

Razor Blade Smile has style to spare, but after about 30 minutes it's tempting to quit watching. For those willing to stick it out, there are a number of slick, comic-book style sequences that are delightful to watch. Razor Blade Smile delivers in all the ways a good b-horror flick should: there is bright red gore starkly contrasted against black and white imagery, religious icons drenched in blood and leather-clad lesbian vampire action. Even so it probably won't hold the attention of mainstream audiences who expect better production values and more efficient narratives. Eileen Daly plays the sexy, middle-aged vampire Lilith Silver. The plot is decent but takes way too long to unfold. Silver is a vampire assassin killing all the members of a sect of Free-Masons bent on taking over the world. There are several beautifully shot murder sequences but they are few and far between. In the meantime, the weak writing and cheap production values make it difficult to stay interested. Director Jake West is heavy on the MTV-inspired stylistic touches. The camerawork is up close and personal, which is occasionally striking but more often cheap-looking. Groovy cinematography and stylish effects are great, but they mean nothing if the rest of the film only bores and alienates viewers. There is a twist at the end of the Usual Suspects variety, but by that point most are unlikely to care. The opening sequence is probably the best in the movie; it looks a bit like one of those melodramatic perfume ads from the early '90s, but with vampires and heaving bodices. From there it gets harder and harder to stay interested, with occasional jabs of brilliance that are only frustrating hints at what a filmmaker could accomplish if he had any sense of narrative efficiency. There are a handful of the usual DVD extras: deleted scenes that look like they were deleted for a reason, trailers, and even CG Test Shots, as if anyone was dying to see those. There is however, a 40-minute documentary on the making of the film that hardcore fans might find interesting. (Anchor Bay)