Razor Blade Smile

The Movie

The tale is of a 150 year old vampire "Lilith Silver" who is bored to tears and fills her time by knocking off people for money. Yes, she is a hit-vamp. Her current boy-toy employer has her knocking off people who wear rings with eyeballs in them. When she finally gets curious and asks a contact of hers about them, she learns they belong to a group called The Illuminati, a mysterious cabal that has inundated itself into the world's power structures.
[from D. Smithee "Universal Daddy"]

Directed by Jake West
Written by Jake West

Eileen Daly as Lilith Silver
Christopher Adamson as Sethane Blake
Jonathan Coote as Detective Inspector Price
Kevin Howarth as Platinum
David Warbeck as The Horror Movie Man
Heidi James as Ariauna
Isabel Brook as Silk
Louisa Moore as Celeste
Grahame Wood as Student Photographer
Jennifer Guy as Cindy Arnold
Georgio Serafini as Leonard Arnold
Mark Caven as The Detective
Brad Lavelle as The Chill Pilgrim
Peter Godwin as Illuminati Conspirator

Released October 1998

Review

I'm heartily sick of vampire movies which focus on 'being a vampire'; if a chap has been a vampire for a few hundred years, then he doesn't need lessons in how to do it, or long soul-searching discussions with other sad vampires. If you are a vampire, then you are a vampire - get over yourself!

This movie, for the most part is refreshing in that the lead vampire, Lilith, never questions her existence. She knows that she needs to be part of society to survive, she knows, boring though it is, that she needs money. What better job than killing people, with a little bloodsucking on the side?

Movie buffs will love the special effects, which are cheap, pointless and distracting. But more serious is the weak ending. Not only did it deny any possibility of a sequel, but it was weak, poorly scripted and silly.

But I liked this movie a lot; script quality varied, with ten minutes of absorbing, utterly believable plot, undermined by weaker moments, then another strong section - but when it was good, it was very good. Acting also varied [note to Lilith - when firing two guns at the same target, it helps to have them pointing roughly in the same direction].

Direction was mostly pretty slick, again, weakened by silly special effects , and finally, the editor should have stood up to the director on the silly bits, and left them out [note to director - a good vampire movie needs a few pairs of half-inch canine fangs, some imaginative lighting, and - if the budget runs to it - maybe a few contact lenses. Nothing else; the special effects exist in the imagination].

But I'm carping because this could have been a great vampire movie - as it is, it's a very good one, and I'd be first in line at the box office if the team were to come up with another. It's fast moving, with a solid plot and some well-made characters. It respects the vampire tradition, and when it departs from 'standard', it tells you why without the oh-so-usual sentimental hogwash. This achieved so much more than most 'blockbusters', and was made on a tiny budget. Respect!

Buy it and enjoy!

The DVD

Language: English
Region: Region 1 or 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: September 20, 2005
Run Time: 192 minutes

Special Features

Usually none - but there is an Anchor Bay edition that includes

• Theatrical Trailer
• Audio Commentary
• CG Test Shots
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Outtakes
• Slices of Life Documentary