The Forsaken - Die Nacht ist gierig

SUMMARY: B-movie. Men under 30 who consider themselves outsiders will dig this road trip to Hell. Others, pick another film.

WHY I SAW IT: I'm too old for this film, but the young ladies in my local "Roswell" fan club wanted to see Brenden Fehr ("Roswell", "Final Destination") and Kerr Smith ("Dawson's Creek", "Final Destination"). WB fans, watch for the cameo by Sara Downing ("Courtney Banks" on "Roswell" and star of the upcoming TV series "Dead Last").

THE STORY: Ambitious, dutiful Sean is paid to drive a Mercedes sports car from L.A. to Miami. In this road movie, he encounters quirky characters in the deserts, canyons and plains of the Southwest. The pace picks up when he meets cynical slacker Nick and they rescue traumatized beauty Megan. The reluctant alliance of these mismatched people anchors the story as events go from disturbing to terrifying.

IDEA CONTENT: None of the common Hollywood refusal to recognize evil as writer/director J.S.Cardone pits ordinary guys against vampires who once were human cowards who "saved their lives" by becoming demons. Even more loathsome are the human criminals who serve the vampires and disguise their crimes as those of serial killers. News-junkies will be reminded of American and Russian politicians who pose as friends of the common people. With their organized-crime partners, they trash the economy and society while putting the blame on "selfish consumers" and "greedy businessmen". Those who know mythology will recognize the classic sequence of Ominous Foreshadowing, Leaving Home, Wilderness Journey, Crisis of Decision, the Mighty Action, and Personal Transformation.

ESTHETICS: Slightly-flawed, down-to-earth script skillfully alternates horror with humor, terror with sexiness. Well-chosen music. Several beautiful actresses.

DIRECTION: Downplays charisma in favor of realistic performances from well-cast actors.

EDITING: Muffled sound in one scene. Well-paced, well-cut action. The night chase by two carloads of vampires stands out.

WHY IT'S RATED "R": Four-letter words. Topless and nude starlets. Merciless bloody violence, not graphic enough for the splatterfans.

MY VOTE: For this subgenre and intended audience, 8 on a scale of 10.

Young man (Kerr Smith) delievering a car to Florida picks up a hitchiker (Brandon Fehr) along the way who manages to get Smith mixed up and eventually bitten by a group of vampires.

Well casted horror film offers realistic performances, nice atmosphere, good editing, well chosen soundtrack, some interesting twists to vampire folklore, and one of the sexiest casts to appear in a horror film in quite some time.

Rated R; Graphic Violence, Nudity, Profanity, and Sexual Situations.

I'm not a fan of Dawsons Creek, by that I mean I never got to see it but if I can ever watch it I will, but I have heard of Kerr Smith and it was the only reason I watched this movie. What I found, however was actually a really good and in parts scary, sexy, vampire movie. People say it's not original, I think it is. The vampire lore has been modernised (modernized) very well in certain tv shows, but Forsaken Desert Vampires really did scare me, and I felt something for the poor people who I felt were just like me in this horror nightmare being chased by vampires. If you dont like great acting, scary scenes, drama or great music than don't watch this movie, cause it has it all. Plus it has Kerr in a singlet and cars, what else do you need?? I was 17 when I first saw it, and think it's great for people in and around that age bracket.

Gosh, I remember seeing this movie when it was released in the theaters, a friend from school and I both are just the biggest vampire movie fans you'll meet. You name the vampire movie, I've probably seen it or at least have heard of it. So we naturally saw the trailer for The Forsaken and didn't even hesitate to see this movie, it just looked so awesome. Ever since The Lost Boys, we haven't had a really good teenage vampire movie that could be a new classic for my generation… well, sadly this failed. Now honestly it's not a horrible movie, but it just didn't thrill me. The story isn't anything special and the cast is pretty forgettable, I'm not digging the "make up" effects they had considering these "vampires" didn't have any fangs at all, but I didn't feel like my time was totally wasted.

Sean is driving cross country to his sister's wedding when he picks up Nick, a hitchhiker who happens to be a vampire hunter hunting a group of vampires led by Kit, one of the Forsaken. The Forsaken are a group of French Knights that during the First Crusade made a pact with the demon Abbadon to live forever. Nick was bitten by a vampire but thanks to a drug cocktail the vampire virus is kept at bay. Nick is hunting this particular Forsaken: he believes him to be the one that his strain of the vampire virus is descended from and that if he kills him he will not eventually turn into a vampire. At first Sean is less than willing to indulge his new acquaintance, but then they find Megan, a girl Sean finds he is attracted to, bitten and left for dead by the vampires. Nick also proves he is telling the truth by killing a vampire, Teddy, by exposure to sunlight. When Sean is infected with the vampire virus, their only hope is to kill the vampire leader before it is too late.

The Forsaken is just alright movie, the reason I say that it didn't totally waste my time is because it did have a couple good scenes here and there. I thought that the scene where the guys and the girl go to the hotel room to find out if the girl was bitten by a vampire and get some sleep, then they see the vampires go into the room across from them was pretty intense. The vampires of the movie were pretty decent as villains, but Simon Rex as this sort of updated retarded Reinfield, it's like if Reinfield and Forrest Gump had a child, it'd be Simon Rex and he just didn't get enough character development for us to care at all about him. There are still things that need to be fixed with the script, but I wouldn't say this is a horrible movie, I would just say that you shouldn't go out of your way to see it.

5/10

The Forsaken has a guy who cuts trailers going across the country to go to his sister's wedding. But in Texas (oh, of all places) he runs into a hitch-hiker who gets him into trouble when vampires start hunting them down. Some things in the movie not seen before (like a naked woman in a shower not being arousing, of course considering the blood) and some good action and stunts, but the plot seems like it's done before; this film was done better when John Carpenter did vampires (think about the similarites). Time waster deluxe. C+