Think you've seen everything when it comes to vampire movies? Well, how about Thai biker gang vampires interwoven with mystical Thai culture? Eh? How bout dem apples??
So, this movie is a bit of a plot cocktail really. A young American couple are on vacation in Thailand. Connor (Colin Egglesfield) is a kickboxer wanting to get some Thai tips, whilst his girlfriend Amanda (Meridith Monroe) is looking for romance. Amanda ends up getting kidnapped and used as a blood source by a gang of local biker vampires, whilst Connor must try and work out what the heck has happened to her. This leads Connor to discover another group of ancient vampires that are essentially good in nature and don't, or try not to, drink Human blood. Naturally, they are in a centuries-old battle with the evil biker gang of vampires, and it turns out, there is one way to kill all the vampires (in Thailand, I think), save Amanda, and Humanity (at least in Thailand, think).
So what you have here is a mixture of 'Big Trouble in Little China' style Far-East Thai mysticism, some gritty 'Bloodsport' style kickboxing, and some reasonably dark, gruesome modern-day gang action. The movie is shot in Thailand so the overall production values are solid, and everything does look authentic. They shoot in and around real street markets and historic buildings, so there is a sense of authentic, sweaty Thai culture in the air. The only thing with this being, it does tend to feel more like a commercial for Thai holidays.
As for the martial arts and action, yeah its actually pretty good, incredibly. The action is as you would expect, a bit low-budget and hammy, but it works for this type of flick. If you think along the lines of the 'From Dusk Till Dawn' franchise, you'll totally get my drift. There is plenty of blood and gore, it's hammy, but kinda cool. In that category of looking kinda naff but still good fun. But when looking at the martial arts, this is surprisingly where the movie shines a bit. The fight sequences are actually darn good! Egglesfield looks like he can handle himself pretty well, despite my not being able to find out anything regarding any martial arts background.
All the other Asian cast members (unknown to me) also hold their own well and make every punch and kick feel like they're connecting. Heck! Even various flips through the air (as vampires do) actually looked pretty good, to the point that this movie easily looked more authentic than the original 'Mortal Kombat' movies with their bigger budgets. The big finale with all these mystical vampires of the wild East fighting with samurai swords and whatnot, was handled well and not as hokey as you might think.
There is a lot of padding in this movie. A very long bike chase, a long dream/hallucination sequence, lots of Connor wandering around confused etc...Can't deny that. Obviously the acting isn't the best, but it does the job. All the cast come across well and not too cheesy or out of place. Everyone looks good with their ice blue coloured contact lenses. The plot does get a tad confusing at times, a bit too carried away. I'm not sure why this one female vampire can change all vampires back to mortals just by killing herself at the end of a solar eclipse. And yes, the slayers from the original movies are back here, doing what they do in exactly the same way (harpooning vampires, which always seemed like an odd method to me). Not so sure who's paying so much money for slain vampire heads though, I don't recall much from the original flicks.
No this third entry is not connected in any way to the previous two movies, apart from the slayers and their methods. But, I do think this movie is way better than it has any right to be and might actually be better than the previous two in certain aspects (I never thought that much of those movies anyway). A solid vampire flick with some decent martial arts, decent minor league casting, and gory special effects. What more could you ask for?
6/10
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