BloodRayne II: Deliverance
There are few directors that have the name recognition of Uwe Boll. Unfortunately, Boll’s name is recognized for all the wrong reasons. The mere fact that Boll has wasted his time creating a sequel to one of the worst theatrically released movies of all time is just one indicator of the man’s utter cluelessness… or what I had presumed was utter cluelessness before watching BloodRayne II: Deliverance. While the film is still a stinkbomb, it does show that Boll is growing as a director… who knows, maybe one day he’ll make a cheesy classic that isn’t famous for being a terrible film.
BloodRayne II takes place in the Wild West (which is really British Columbia). Billy the Kid takes over a small town and kidnaps all of the children… because he’s a fucking vampire. Too bad for Billy, but some of the kids that he kidnaps just happen to be family friends of Rayne, a leather clad vixen, who happens to be a vampire killer despite the fact that she is a vampire herself. After getting caught and almost lynched by Billy’s town of vampires, Rayne goes on a search to find some fearless vampire killers. With the help of Pat Garrett, a thieving preacher, and a slimeball murderer, she returns to the town of Deliverance to take her revenge. What follows is a borderline quality showdown between vampires spread over the framework of a typical western format.
For this film, Boll was working with considerably less money and he seems to have responded rather nicely. The editing on the film is pretty good and many of the scenes aren’t nearly as boring as in some of his other films. The shot selections are more interesting than in the first BloodRayne, even though Boll does have a tendency to rely on some shitty handheld camera action that is kind of distracting and cuts the tops of people’s cowboy hats out of the frame. Boll also fails to accurately portray the time period that he is working with, as there are clearly some electric lights in the background of many of his shots. The lighting in general is a real problem. The set design of the film is generally weak and everything feels like it was shot at a wild west theme park.
The acting is a step up from the last film, as well. All of the actors seem like they tried their best, and while none of it is really fantastic, the actors do an alright job of working with some truly terrible dialogue. Natassia Malthe is a giant step up from Kristanna Loken’s performance as Rayne. Malthe actually captures the sexy feel of the video game inspired character, and while her athletic skills aren’t as good as Loken’s, at least she doesn’t look like a budding toothless meth addict. Zack Ward is pretty interesting as Billy the Kid, when he isn’t hissing like a douche bag. He goes a little overboard near the end of the film, but I think it has more to do with poor writing than anything else. Michael Paré is a surprise as Pat Garrett, a grizzled bastard that tags along with Rayne as she tries to save the town of Deliverance. The rest of the cast is pretty bad, but at least the leads are watchable, something which has been missing from all Boll flicks to date.
The film does have some problems. The biggest of these is the location of the town of Deliverance. One minute the town is in the mountains, the next it has a swamp, and after that it’s a snow covered plain. The scenery and weather of the film never really match and the homemade bog looks absolutely terrible. Another problem is the terrible dialogue. The film ends with the following line: “Newton, life is like a penis. When it’s hard you get screwed. When it’s soft you can’t beat it.” That is probably the best line in the movie, other than some random background swearing that caught me off guard. The line still isn’t that great and borders on the verge of middle school locker room genius.
There are also a few appreciated Boll staples missing from the film. Boll has removed virtually any excessive gore and sex from the movie, despite ample opportunity to explore these realms. The gore of BloodRayne has been replaced with squibs and bullet wounds that, with a few exceptions, aren’t anywhere near as interesting as the excessive blood spraying of the original film. There is one scene involving a gattling gun that is completely amazing, but it’s not enough to register a good score on the gore-meter.
BloodRayne II may not be a good movie, but it certainly isn’t as bad as the rest of Boll’s flicks, which isn’t saying much. Boll’s progression as a director is rather pronounced and there does appear to be some hope for the man as he has steadily improved since House of the Dead. Yet, I find myself saddened by the fact that we are losing one of the worst director’s of our time to the lonely, unfunny legions of mediocre directors. Maybe all that Boll bashing was really doing a disservice to the horror community, because if BloodRayne II is any indication, Boll’s days as being considered the worst director in the horror community are numbered… long live Ulli Lommel!
Final Synopsis: BloodRayne II isn’t a good movie, but if you only had Boll movies to watch, it is by far the best of the bunch. If you’re looking for a few good cheesy laughs, some shitty dialogue, and a Wild West landscape that changes every five minutes, then you might be able to have some fun with this movie. The gore is pretty minimal for the majority of the film, and there is absolutely no sex in the film, so if those are dealbreakers, then you’ll want to skip this. If you want to watch a good flick, then this isn’t for you.
Points Lost: -1 for changing landscape, -1 for shitty dialogue, -1 for a terrible supporting cast, -1 for bad handheld camera footage, -1 for shitty lighting, -1 for being a little slow in a few spots
Lesson Learned: It might be hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but it’s not impossible to teach a mildly retarded German some new ones.
Burning Question: Why does this film look twice as good as the original film… even though it had one-third of the budget?
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