Rise: Blood Hunter (2007)

A reporter wakes up in a morgue and finds herself a member of the undead, before vowing revenge against the sect which put her there.

Director:

Sebastian Gutierrez

Writer:

Sebastian Gutierrez

Stars:

Lucy Liu, Michael Chiklis, Carla Gugino

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Forster	...	Lloyd
Cameron Richardson	...	Collette / Frannie
Lucy Liu	...	Sadie Blake
Allan Rich	...	Harrison
Samantha Shelton	...	LA Weekly Editor
Kevin Wheatley	...	Ethan Mills
Margo Harshman	...	Tricia Rawlins
Cameron Goodman	...	Kaitlin
Holt McCallany	...	Rourke
James D'Arcy	...	Bishop
Carla Gugino	...	Eve
Michael Chiklis	...	Clyde Rawlins
Paul Cassell	...	Detective Easton
Mako	...	Poe
Sam Cooper	...	Coroner's Assistant

Storyline

The snoopy reporter Sadie Blake is called by her nerd colleague Ethan Mills that has deciphered a code and found an address in Koreatown from information of the Goth Tricia Rawlins about a bloody cult. Sadie does not give attention to Ethan, but when she sees on the front page of the news that Tricia has been found dead in a dumpster in Koreatown, she decides to visit the address. She finds an abandoned house with a gruesome basement full of blood and she immediately drives to Ethan's apartment. She finds the place in a complete mess and is abducted by a stranger and taken to Bishop, who wants to know what Tricia has told her. Then, Bishop and his mate Eve kill Sadie and they have a necrophilic threesome with her body. Later, Sadie awakes in the freezer of the morgue and sooner she realizes that she is a vampire and promises revenge to her sire.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | morgue | revenge | blood | vampire | 

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Taglines:

Seduce. Trap. Feast.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity, language, and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Pictures [France] Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 2007 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Rise

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$59,371, 3 June 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$106,398, 10 June 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandate Pictures, Kingsgate Films, Destination Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 122 min (unrated DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reunites Robert Forster with Carla Gugino after Karen Sisco (2003).

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Goofs

Just before Sadie stabs Preacher in the heart, there is already blood down his shirt, then in the next shot it is white, then in the next it is bloody again

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Quotes

Sadie Blake: Death is different now

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Crazy Credits

The persons portrayed in this motion picture are not intended to portray or represent any particular individual at LA Weekly.

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Alternate Versions

The film was released in two versions: an R-rated version running 98 minutes and an unrated (completely reedited) version running 122 minutes.

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Connections

References Dirty Harry (1971)

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Soundtracks

Demon Life
Performed by Laboratory Of Sound
Written by Sebastian Gutierrez

User Reviews

Disappointing, confusing & predictable

I saw the trailer of this a while back and thought it could be one of those sleeper hits, as it had a relatively good premise and I've always been intrigued by vampire films, so when I saw it on the shelves I thought I'd give it a go.

As the film was overall a disappointment for me, I won't put any spoilers in this review. I will say however that from the outset, the sequence of events are disjointed and make for confusing viewing. The film tries to be too clever throughout and ultimately ends up being hard to follow. For a vampire film, it doesn't really give much background to the whole vampire genre as most do and adds to the confusion as to who is who and what is what. Apart from Lucy Liu's character, there is no back story or build up to the antagonists, everything just happens randomly, which makes it an effort to keep track of things.

As for the acting, I find it a shame that Lucy Liu continues to make films that don't really challenge her. She spends most of this film looking either in distress or moody, oh and naked. Having seen her in Kill Bill and her earlier turns in Ally McBeal, Rise & Ecks vs Sever really don't do her justice as an actress. The vampire contingent here are pretty poor too, with James D'Arcy playing a poor mans version of every other bad vampire we've seen before (notably Stephen Dorff in Blade). Michael Chiklis is at best, mediocre, looking like he did this when short of a few bob, in his spare time from filming Silver Surfer.

Overall, another addition to the growing number of mediocre vampire-themed films. I would avoid this if I were you, but if Lucy Liu (+ a few others) prancing about naked and lots of blood tickles your fancy, then give it a go.