The Forsaken (2001)
7/10
Decent entry, if not overtly spectacular
15 July 2016
Traveling through the desert, a man picks up a friendly hitcher who reveals that he's a vampire hunter where they find an infected vampire who hasn't turned yet and after a series of encounters with one of the original vampires and team up to take him down.

This one wasn't that bad when it really mattered. One of the film's greatest pluses here is the strong and somewhat fleshed-out story which is rather nice in not only allowing for a slightly original take on a clichéd vampire story but also making for a natural excuse to feature a lot of action. The idea of having to hunt down a vampire of this one's scale and importance is pretty clever, especially when it could've been a Dracula clone. The fact that it doesn't is a testament that they wanted to go in a fresh new territory. As well, when it comes down to it, the action in here is pretty good as we get a complete out-of-the-norm in several car chases on the highway, and the brevity the first couple are among the more involved ones. The final one is perhaps the best, as it's two-part structure is pretty exciting to watch as the house shoot- out leading into it by itself is quite fun while letting the other action get featured quite nicely. There's also the strong storyline about the connection to the main vampire here with the telepathic victim and the flashes of their activities that causes them to track the group here which is a pretty nice and logical touch. Along with the bloody kills and nice nudity, these here are what works nicely for this one. There's a few problems here with this one that does hold it back, which starts with the rather disjointed pacing, Even though it picks up considerably in the later half, the initial introduction of everything comes pretty slowly since it takes a while before any vampires actually show up. Too much time is taken up with the exploration of the desert and getting to believe the story that the film takes a while to get going. The action scenes at the beginning of the film are pretty lackluster, and are quite a letdown when compared to what they could've been. That right there sums up the film pretty good as well: it looks good and has potential to be better if they went all out for it, but instead, they play it safe and it doesn't hold up to what it could've been. Even without all that, the film's biggest mistake is it doesn't really give the vampires anything to do. Sometimes, it seems as if they aren't really vampires at all, as they aren't bloodsuckers or anything like that. About the only reason we know they are is because it tells us they are vampires and because they die by sunlight, but otherwise we don't really know as they don't engage in any vampiric activities. Had they been given more screen-time, this might've been resolved. As it stands, there's some decent parts here though the flaws do stand out.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, a brief Rape scene and mild drug use.
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