Bloodrayne 2 - Deliverance [DVD]

Okay, if you're a fan of the videogames, you're probably not going to like it because it's in a completely different setting, but as a "wild west vampires" flick it's pretty damned entertaining, in a tacky kind of way.

Deliverance will envoke memories of those fun Clint Eastwood classics while at the same time providing your vampire fix.

What could possibly be worse than the most horrendously lifeless, plotless, horrendously acted, laughably choreographed movie in many a year, directed by the most reviled director?

Why, a sequel, of course.

And while "Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance" doesn't succeed in actually being worse than its predecessor, it does succeed in being almost as bad. Slipshod production, ghastly acting and a truly laughable central plot (oh come on, a vampire Billy the Kid versus the Ms. Romanian Bustier?) all weight down the flimsiest of campy vampire flicks. It makes for a good drinking game, though.

The railroad is coming to the Not-So-Wild West town of Deliverance... and so are some nasty vampiric desperados, led by Billy the Kid. Entre Rayne (Natassia Malthe), a dhampir with lots of leather and some faux-medieval weaponry -- and after she finds some corpses in the snow (which seems to appear and reappear at random), she head to Deliverance.

Billy the Kid is ruling the place now, and she's a-fixin' to clean up that town (sorry, I had to say it). Turns out that Billy is not satisfied with Deliverance -- he plans to build an army, and he has spectacular powers that surprise even Rayne. Cue lots of gunshots, faux-Western banter and the occasional Brimstone guy in jail.

When the director thinks that people are so stupid that the first line must inform where the movie is set ("Wow! The Wild West!"), you know things can only go downhill. This stinker of a plot might have barely worked in the hands of a cinematic genius, but in the hands of Boll, it's a disaster. Even worse, Boll appears to taking the plot seriously, rather than playing it for camp value.

And after the choppy, spasmodic style of "Bloodrayne," the sequel goes the other way -- the entire movie oozes by at the pace of half-dried mud, with a lot of Rayne stalking around, staring at people, and occasionally having long, boring showdowns and conversations. Occasionally extras get killed for scares, or random shots are rendered in epic slow-motion, such as Rayne's horse walking through a river. Not an important river, just a river. Because it looks cool.

In other words, Boll seems totally bored and his actual participation is sporadic -- although his enthusiasm flares up at the funniest times, such as the absurdly silly showdowns. In the meantime, he lets the movie marinate in shaky, meandering camerawork and murky lighting, as well as a long stream of truly ghastly dialogue ("A woman alone won't be able to handle those bloodsuckers!" "Your fly's open").

I will say this -- the gorgeous Malthe seems like a decent actress, mostly via her body language, her voice and her eyes. Too bad she's forced to spout faux-Western dribble like "That ain't the work of no bandits!" and "You reckoned I'd given up lookin' for you?" She actually looks pretty miserable, as if wondering how she ended up in this ghastly movie.

"Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance" doesn't manage the heights of hysterical wretchedness as the first movie, but Boll's sleeping-on-the-job direction and ghastly script make this a minor trainwreck. Worst of all, it's a boring trainwreck.

the original was different, with a huge famous cast, enjoyable but didnt quite live up to the hype.

whereas this sequel has a few little know faces, disjointed plot, but Natasha Malthe hols it all together with long pouting looks