gretz-569-323863 despite the fact that Comcast only gave it 1 star, I decided to watch this movie one recent rainy Saturday afternoon, and I was pleasantly surprised.first, a disclaimer: even though I'm a 50-something female, I apparently have the movie tastes of a 12-year-old boy. I loved "Route 666" with Lou Diamond Phillips, and and I never miss "Wishmaster 2" when it's on cable.but if you, like me, like guilty pleasures, you will like this movie. it's a buddy pic with a desert vibe and rather a lot of bloody vampiric action, so--something for everyone! the acting is--competent, let's say. Brendan Fehr, who plays Nick, is actually pretty good. (I see he also starred in another favorite guilty pleasure, Final Destination.) and the two main characters are pretty appealing: you like them and root for them.when talking about a good-bad movie I always say "Well, it's not Citizen Kane or anything" but in fact this movie was far more entertaining than Citizen Kane. if you find yourself at loose ends on a rainy Saturday, check it out.

catalyst1 The script for this movie is a shameful rip-off of John Carpenter's Vampires (1998). It's almost as though the entire endeavor is a remake with Vampires cast's understudies. Considering how bad that movie is in the first place, that is not a compliment.I'm just consistently floored that writers can get away with obvious plagiarism and someone still is foolish enough to finance the production of it.Unfortunately, this reality is not restricted to forgettable films like this one, it's essentially the state of "entertainment" today.

Paul Andrews The Forsaken starts with Sean (Kerr Smith) getting a job where he has to deliver a car across country to Miami within five days with the added bonus that he can attend his sisters wedding on the cheap. While on his journey a guy named Nick (Brendan Fehr) ask's him for a ride & he'll pay for the gas, being a tight little git Sean accepts. Unfortunately for Sean this decision turns out to be a bad one as Nick is in fact hunting Vampires that roam the desert in an attempt to kill the Forsaken, a head Vampire named Kit (Johnathon Schaech) who spreads the Vampire virus. Along the way they encounter Megan (Izabella Miko) who has been bitten & is close to turning into a Vampire herself, she bites Sean so he also becomes infected with the virus which means he too will become a vampire unless they destroy the source of the virus. Nick uses Megan as bait to lure Kit & his gang into the open where he can put an end to their evil blood-sucking ways...Written & directed by J. S. Cardone I thought The Forsaken was a decent way to pass 90 odd minutes but wasn't anything special or spectacular. The script takes a lot of modern cinematic Vampire themes & ideas, it's a sort of mix of the likes of The Lost Boys (1987), Near Dark (1987), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Blade (1998) & Vampires (1998) all of which are better than The Forsaken together with the standard isolated desert road trip type setting of The Hitcher (1986) & Thelma & Louise (1991), there's nothing original or nothing we haven't seen before in The Forsaken that's for sure. The character's are your typical teens, the dialogue tries to be hip & modern as it refers to the likes of MTV. To it's credit the film moves along at a fair pace & isn't boring although I'd hardly call it exciting. There is also a criminal lack of Vampire action & lets face it that's the only reason we're watching it, isn't it? The Forsaken is one of those films which is perfectly watchable & entertaining enough in it's own right but within five minutes of it finishing you'll have forgotten all about it.Director Cardone, who directed one time British 'Video Nasty' The Slayer (1982), does an OK job but it's hardly the most exciting film to watch. There are a lot of dull sandy yellow desert shots which give the film a bland look. There are a couple of OK car chases & a few decent explosions but again it's all rather average & middle of the road, it certainly doesn't get the blood pumping that's for sure. Gore wise The Forsaken is a disappointment, there is one scene where someone has their heart ripped out, someone has their throat slit, someone has their head blown off with a shotgun & there is some blood drinking but that's it & Cardone directs with fast editing cuts so you see the absolute minimum he can get away with. On the IMDb's main page for The Forsaken there are some still photo's from the film including one where Sean is holding what looks like a jar of eyeballs, well I only saw it a few hours ago & I'm positive this scene never appears in the version I watched so maybe the film was cut for an 'R' rating or something.With a very reasonable sounding $5,000,000 budget The Forsaken doesn't look like it, sure there are a few action scenes & explosions but other than that it's rather dull & unadventurous. The acting is quite good here actually, I liked Schaech as the main villain & the two young leads were likable enough. Despite being in the film for most of it's duration Miko doesn't say a single word until the final 10 minutes or so.The Forsaken is an OK time-waster, it's perfectly watchable but there are many better Vampire films out there so why would you bother with this? If your a horror nut like me then yeah give it a go but more casual viewers would be advised to think carefully first. Just about worth a watch but don't bust a gut doing so.

Woodyanders While driving a delivery car across desolate desert badlands backroads self-absorbed twentysomething slacker Sean (amiable Kerr Smith) winds up running into both scruffy vampire hunter Nick (an excellent, charismatically ragtag turn by Brendan Fehr) and a deadly bunch of age-old itinerant bloodsuckers led by the smoothly malevolent Kit (the terrific Jonathan Schaech, who's wonderfully wicked in a juicy full-blown nasty villain part). Opening with the arresting image of beautiful blonde babe Izabella Miko washing blood off her bare breasts in the shower, culminating with an exciting explosive climax, with a handy helping of graphic gore, raucous roaring rock music and rousing vehicular action sandwiched in between, this delightfully down'n'dirty low-budget Grade B exploitation horror flick sizes up as a tasty trashy treat. Writer/director J.S. ("The Slayer," "Shadowzone") Cardone elicits sound performances from the entire cast (veteran late, great character actress Carrie Snodgress in particular contributes a lively last reel cameo as a feisty old battle axe), keeps the unflagging pace fast'n'furious throughout, and, most importantly, delivers the unapologetically lowdown sleazy goods with a winning dearth of pretense and a hugely satisfying surplus of rip-snorting panache. Moreover, there's a marvelously positive and optimistic statement about the redemption of Generation X in this movie: Sean starts out as strictly interested in achieving his own immediate goals in life, but by meeting Nick and joining forces with him to fight the vampires he overcomes his initial selfishness and thus redeems himself in the process. Cardone persuasively makes the point that the allegedly "lost" and hopeless Generation X has a latent capacity to amount to something; all they need is the right stimulus to spark them into action. Since I'm often perceived as a member of this "lost" generation, I found this message to be both very refreshing and extremely heartening. It's nice to know that there are a few filmmakers out there like Mr. Cardone who haven't totally written us off as a lost cause. A splendidly scuzzy and snappy dilly that's one of my favorite fright features of the early 21st century which even comes complete with some pertinent social commentary about modern youth.