The Breed (2001)

Pretty Good

Nice effects though.

Best movie ever!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This film is actually surprisingly good considering the ratings and some of the reviews. The setting and atmosphere, while nice in itself, lends to the film not feeling dated. The story is competent, if not somewhat predictable. The only real complaint would be Bokeem Woodbine's performance in this; it feels off and even forced at times (overacting) - which wouldn't honestly be much of a problem if he wasn't such a main and central character. Adrian Paul, however, is fantastic. This isn't a rip-off film by any means (no more than any other film, anyway), and is definitely an underrated vampire flick that I'd have no problem recommending to people looking for something more than what's on every "must see" vampire movie list. It's no masterpiece, but it's good for what it is.

Like the curate's egg' this film was good in parts, but they weren't very big parts.I have always enjoyed the twist associated with 'good vampires' and I guess I am still waiting for a film to properly use it.This film was too outré and grotesque (in the original meaning of the word) for it to have worked as anything other than an over-the-top dance-macabre of a film; a sort of Grand Guinol of the film world. Unfortunately it never really achieved this distinction and instead we are left with a mishmash of themes and failed attempts at being something that it never quite achieved.The script and the acting were pretty deplorable and the direction was anything but tight, though still one can sort of envisage what was intended; and those stolen fleeting glimpses serve to supply enough motive to keep watching. In the end this continued attention is utterly frustrating, since the ending manages to further let one down and, indeed, the rest of the film.I don't say 'Don't watch this film!' I would, however, warn you to keep you expectation low, and not to be too surprised if it fails to live up to them.

"The Breed" is a rather original but bland vampire story.**SPOILERS**On the search for missing persons, Steven Grant, (Bokeem Woodbine) stumbles upon a rogue killer, and police officer Aaron Grey, (Adrian Paul) is assigned to help the case. Aaron reveals that he is a vampire, and that there is an alliance between the twp species and are anxious to solve the killings. As they delve into the mystery of the killings, they find a massive conspiracy from Vladimir West, (Zen Gresner) a militant extremist who disapproves of the alliance and strikes out against the two. Using help from fellow vampire Lucy Westenra, (Ling Bai) who wishes to help the cause, they discover a plot to use a deadly virus stolen from the humans and race to stop them from using it.The Good News: There really isn't a whole lot in here that's all that good, but what's here isn't that bad. The best part of the film is the central premise, which has the vampires and humanity in an effort to co-exist together for the first time, and the way it's done is quite clever. It's not the first time it's been done, but the methods and reasoning are pretty well thought-out, and give it a different twist than most other vampire films. Rather than just being about exterminating the entire society, it's about finding a rogue in the family, and that's not a bad way to go about things. There is a pretty decent action sequence near the end, with a SWAT team launching into a full-fledged shootout at a ship's dockyard. It's nicely handled, as there's tons of guns and stunts involved with all the usual action sequence heroics. There's even a small martial arts sequence involved that's not that bad, and with it taking the time to get everything done and over with rather than just ending abruptly, it's not that bad. The gore is manageable, with a couple of really nice neck-bites, a forehead caved in, a gun barrel impaled in the stomach and out the other side, and lots of bullet-wounds. There's far worse ones than this out there.The Bad News: There isn't a lot wrong with this one, but they are big ones. Very few films can get away with changing the vampire myth's, and this is no exception. From the start, it's mentioned that the traditional methods of dealing with vampires will not work, and that leaves very little suspense as to how to stop them. To throw away the most recognizable assets as this one does and then not to replace them with anything credible is a major disservice to vampire fans. One of the films biggest problems are it's action sequences, which are poorly staged and uninteresting to watch. It can't be stressed enough how badly the wire-works are in the movie, as they consist mainly of a bunch of vampires flying around on wires and shooting guns in each hand, which was done to much greater effect in a great many other types of film of the sort, and don't really have much of a place in the film, being there mainly to appeal to the crowd who finds it appealing rather than being an artistic choice. That appears most clearly in the dockyard sequence, where the fighting is all done in this manner and it gets very aggravating, even more so when it uses another incredibly common and very unwanted technique, which is the dreaded slow-motion shooting. This only pads out the running time by having a scene take twice as long as normal to finish, and it's not that original when used in the action scenes. All it does is wear the movie out longer, and it's done that way here. The fact that there's only one action scene in the whole movie also means that there's an incredibly amount of talking and investigating going on, and it's not the most thrilling one either. It's all full of clichéd scenes that really have no purpose, and it makes the film a real challenge to get through. All in all, it's not all that great of a vampire film.The Final Verdict: While by no means one of the best vampire films around, there's enough here to like and loathe about it. The more discriminating vampire fans can find some enjoyment in it if they can over look the fact that it plays around with the mythology, while non fans will be better severed with something else, there's really not a lot for them to enjoy with it.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity and a sex scene

This was one of the greatest cheaply made vampire movies I've ever seen! And there are A LOT of cheaply made vampire movies. It was great to see Adrian Paul again, too. I miss Highlander... Bai-Ling gets to show a little skin, something she would NEVER do in real life. Yeah, right. Bokeem Whassisface plays a good cop, and one look at the special effects shows you were the rest of the budget went. Paul is a wonderfully believable vampire, and the way the vampires are portrayed in this movie is original and thought-provoking: new species of human trying to live peacefully in a world that fears them. Anyone else thinking X-men? Undoubtedly, this movie is a great bargain buy.