Razor Blade Smile (DVD)

“Bond. Fangs Bond.” At least, that’s what I was thinking when I saw the opening credits of Razor Blade Smile, a low-budget British vampire adventure flick (made in 1998, released on DVD originally in 2000 and now back with a special edition for 2005). I love vampire movies and of course horror is my thing, but somehow this little gem has eluded me till now.

The opening credits set the stage for our glamorous intrepid heroine, Lilith Silver (Eileen Daly), a knife-throwing, gun-toting, wisecracking, hard-loving hit woman/vampire, then the beginning of the film takes us back in time to an old-fashioned 1800s duel at dawn. This shows us how Lilith became a fanged one (in an interesting black and white scene, spot-colored with red blood), then flash-forwards back to modern-day London where Lilith, posing as a mortal, tries to set some young Goths straight on what vampires are really about (a humorous animated montage illustrates her point).

Before long, Lilith’s career as a hit woman is revealed and we follow her on a bloody spree. Hired as an assassin to destroy people who belong to a secret organization Lilith is unaware that it’s headed by her estranged vampire mentor, Sethune Blake (Christopher Adamson).

Razor Blade Smile is one of those movies that tries to put every conceivable genre into the blender: There’s horror, action, adventure, mystery, thriller, romance, and comedy in the mix. Bits and pieces of the story are blatantly borrowed from other movies (The Hunger, Martin, Innocent Blood, the James Bond series, Blade, and Near Dark to name just a few). In short, there’s nothing new here. But it works.

Writer/director Jake West did an excellent job in casting actors that look and sound right for their roles, chose a DP (James Solan) who could overcome the cheap, flat, grainy look of the 16 mm film they were forced to use for budgetary reasons and bring the film to life with nice angles, arty composition and anime-inspired tableaus.

Much of the film seems to be little too in love with itself (repetitive toothy freeze-framed mug shots, gratuitous sex scenes, ironic monologues) but the self-indulgence is forgivable — Razor Blade Smile is a great-guns vampire romp.

The new DVD features a bantering commentary between West and Daly that’s a lot of fun and largely politically incorrect (Daly blathers about one of the crew, “Oh, is he is still on the anti-depressants?” and they speculate on the state of one actress’s post-baby body). The making-of featurette goes on and on and on (and on!) about West’s student film, M.I.A. for so long that by the time they started talking about Razor Blade Smile I was in a stupor. Still, it’s interesting to (eventually) get to hear from the actors and crew on the making of the film and its aftermath once released.

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Review by Staci Layne Wilson