Customer Reviews

The Breed

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Set in a bleak, communistic, not-so-distant future a conflicted young NSA officer whose partner is murdered by your not-so-run-of-the-mill villian. Fangs? But the report on the murder gets a surprising reaction. Apparently he is not crazy, a new Breed of humans have just revealed themselves after centuries of secrecy. But not everyone wants an alliance with humanity to succeed. And it is up to the young cop and his new partner, a vampire, to save both the breeds.
I definitely think this is a great movie for the horror lover as well as fans of Adrian Paul. My favorite leading man does have some very exciting scenes in this movie. Some of the dialogue is a little too forced and cryptic and the choriography definitely leaves something to be desired, and you wish it would just slow down and develope the characters a bit more but overall I think this is a must-see movie. With the Forever Knight esc plot and realistic makeup it usually makes up for its dificiencys and manages to hold together as a fairly good film.

The movie starts with two police detectives tracking a serial killer. They find the latest victim--but they also find her killer, who proceeds to attack them. One detective survives, and reports back to his superiors the bizarre acts he witnessed. He is informed that vampires do exist, and that he has survived an attack by one. In addition, the vampire community wants to find the killer as badly as the mortals do, and have provided the use of one of their own detectives, played by Adrian Paul (of "Highlander, the Series" fame). The mortal detective isn't thrilled to be working with one of the same types of creatures that killed his partner, but has little choice in the matter.

And so begins a movie that is part buddy-picture, part supernatural thriller, and part old-fashioned murder mystery. In addition, the movie is set in a slightly Orwellian world--the colors are muted, and there are loudspeakers in the police station spewing rhetoric as the people go about their business. But some things remain the same--the Nazis did still exist, as Adrian Paul's Jewish vampire will attest. Indeed, there is a bit of metaphor throughout the movie with the vampires playing the part of the oppressed Jews. Enough about the subtext, however--how good is the movie?

First, Adrian Paul plays one hell of a vampire. He's got a slight Polish accent that makes the character. He's also got an irritated sigh/grunt he breaks out whenever his partner says something really ridiculous that you won't be able to stop grinning at. He cuts to the chase, and he has little tolerance for flippancy--but he still possesses his own wry sense of humor, and his take on both the vampire and human worlds is priceless.

And then there's his partner (whose name I don't recall). Brash, boorish, intentionally insensitive--your typical hard-boiled detective. He's also black, which doesn't have much to do with anything, except that the movie has a little fun with his racist attitude towards the vampires. Watching him plow through the strange world of the vampires is entertaining, as he tries to judge them by his own standards, yet finds himself having to admit that not all vampires are bad--especially the foxy lady vamp played by Ling Bai!

For those worried that this movie is sounding too high-brow, you'll be relieved to know that the banter & social commentary are punctuated by pretty intense action scenes, featuring Matrix-esque gunplay and displays of vampiric might. Having seen Adrian Paul's Highlander character wielding a sword for several years, it was quite a fun change to see him engaging in two-fisted handgun action!

Adrian Paul fans should definitely see this movie. Vampire fans should also see it, as the film does a good job of portraying an actual society of vampires, rather than just a few isolated indivduals. There are no big special effects, just lots of action and characters you'll enjoy getting to know.

This movie puts itself off as a buddy cop movie filmed in a film noir setting. As bad as this sounds it actually comes out fairly well. The movie only has one decent actor in Adrian Paul, who gives a decent but inconsistant performace as a Polish vampire with a tainted past trying to track down one of his rogue bretheren(point in case, he has accent throughout the movie with the very noticable execption of about two sceanes where it disappeares). The other main character is a cop who lost his partner to a vampire on a killing spree, is an overwritten and fairly annoying role. This is where the movie makes its main mistake. Instead of making this character a Danny Golver clone from lethal weapon, they should have cut out half of his lines and focused more on making a more visual movie in a more film noir setting. The movie looks good and has its high points, it just doesn't know when to shut up. Constiring that this was a movie a saw completely by accedent, it wasn't too bad.

This is a remarkable movie, & has come a long way from the Dracula movies of the 50's & 60's. Although this film will not be for everyone, it is powerfully archetypal & will become a cult classic. Vampires with their own society, with their own unique personalities-- they really do " bleed " into a homosapien world. Adrian Paul does a good job & Bai Ling is magnificent. The photography is other-worldly in a familiar, unsettling sort of way. The sets are decadent, but also possess a timeless quality. The political overtones are fascinating as well. Only the vampire terrorists are violent, etc. This is a truly fine movie & deserves more than one viewing.

This is the best vampire movie I have seen since John Carpenter's Vampires. The old vampire story is re-vamped in this original, creative, and exciting film. It takes place in the near future and features a curious futuristic set. Techno music adds to the chilling, adrenaline filled atmosphere. I highly reccomend this movie to anyone. It has mystery, suspense, action, horror, it makes you think, its original, and even has some good touches of humor. Bokeem Woodbine, Adrian Paul, and the female lead vampire all provide mezmerizing performances. Paul is ultra cool as a new breed of police officer. THe vampire's teeth look more real then I have ever seen and the plot was impossible for me to predict (which is a good thing). I can't wait to see it again. This film was put together by some very creative people who did an excellent job! If you are a vampire movie fan you will love this one!

I don't particularly like vampire flicks, but am very attracted by the name of Bai Ling, so I watched this movie. She was in Jodie Foster's "Anna and the King" (which I hate) and in "Wild Wild West" (no comment). In both films, she was utterly ill-used, because of the misguided directors who don't know what to do. Then this one came.

If you seek for blood-sucking vampires, "The Breed" is not the place. The setting is unique, some people might find, but actually is another version of buddy movie, with one vampire (Adrian Paul) and one human (Bokeem Woodbine), both trying to catch a serial killer. The near future society of humans has become totalitarian, like that of "Brazil," and the leader of vampires, not entirely hostile to humans, proposes to stop sucking humans' blood, content with substitute food which taste very bad. But as the investigation proceeds, the unlikely pair is about to find a conspiracy that would change the whole world.

Well, that is the sketch of the story, and it is fairly interesting. However, the director Michael Oblowitz, too intent on styles, forgets to entertain us with coherent storytelling. Like his previous "This World Then the Firework," he shows interesting ideas and stylish cameraworks, but soon bogs down among the mire of them. His idea of neglected vampires among cold-hearted humans has considerable brilliance, but after a while we realize the film stops there, just showing the vision which is initially intriguing, but soon losing steam.

Virtually a vampire version of James Caan film "Alien Nation," the charm of the film should have come from the cast. Adrain Paul is good as a creepy (but not evil) vampire with a slight tinge of young Christopher Lee, but Woodbine is miscast, utterly discrediting the power of the story. But compared with misguided use of Bai Ling, whose acting is confined within a heavy make-up, it is nothing. It is not until we come to the end of the film that we see bit of her acting skill that made her name in "Red Corner." Perhaps, they wanted to take her as an exotic beauty whose only function is to decorate the screen. Mistake.

This movie wasn't a great movie, it's not going to win any awards or anything. But i was bored this evening and it was on TV so i watched it, and i was plesantly surprised. As a campy, fun B vampire movie, it was awesome. It had really cool costumes and a fun plot with lots of twists and turns, it remained interesting from begining to end. If you want a cinematic masterpiece, then it's not the movie for you. If you want a fun, reasonably entertaining vampire movie that has an unusual plot, fantastic costumes and makeup, decent cinemetography and an interesting setting, catch it on SciFi channel or pick it up from the discount bin at your local video resale establishment.

This is even worse than the original Nosferatu, a silent film. The story is not fully written, it can't seem to decide if it is a vampire story, or a distopian science fiction story. The setting is never explained, or even noticed by the actors. They dress for the 1940's with dashes of the 1990's thrown in. They behave as if it were just after WWII, so why does it seem that half the story setting was stolen from George Orwell's 1984? That there are vampires is just a coincidence. The story would have worked better without them.

How times have changed. Vampires are now considered merely as a mutated form of the human species, are only slightly irritated by sunlight and have a synthetic substitute for blood nourishment. But now, a renegade vampire is killing off humans and feeding in a more traditional fashion than his peers. One of the victims was Steven Grant's partner, so when the National Security Agency asks him to hop aboard the mission (with Adrian "Highlander" Paul, no less) to track down the rogue bloodsucker, he's on it. And if the multitude of F-bombs Steve drops are any indication of his enthusiasm, well, shall we say "Mission Accomplished" now or later? Okay, so you're dealt with a slew of overacting (and under, for that matter) and probably could've used a bit more vampire action, but the weird setting warrants enough intrigue for you to sit through it all. The NSA headquarters' decor and uniforms look strikingly old school Russian, the cars all look like models from the '40s and '50s, and our main man Steve sports a hat and overcoat ala '40s style private eye. Yet, this is set in "the near future". Unusual, if unremarkable viewing. Still, I can't dislike anything with Bai Ling as a vampire seductress who owns a pet panther. 5.25/10

this one is good very good in fact! imagine vampires came forward and revealed themselves to the world (only about 4500 world wide) sun does not harm them they are allergic to silver (umm werewolves eh sheesh) and beheading is fatal its a modern future that looks decayed such as ww3 took place (in london no less lol) but the explanation of vampires as an evolutionary step rather then supernatural was refreshing for a change yes they can climb walls yes they drink blood and yes they are super strong ( as demonstrated in the video of vampires showing themselves lifting something not so light hehe)
4 of 5 stars only one star loss for being a little talkie but theres enough action and vampire action to make this film a must own to any true vampire fan!