BloodRayne: The Third Reich: Unrated Director’s Cut

Director: Uwe Boll,
Starring: Natassia Malthe, Brendan Fletcher, William Belli, Steffen Mennekes, Michael Pare, Clint Howard,

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DVD Review

Loosely based on the video game series of the same name, BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2010) is the latest installment in the film franchise about the titular character who is half human and half vampire, hunting and killing bloodsuckers through the 1800’s (BloodRayne), the Wild West (BloodRayne II: Deliverance) and now fighting Nazi vampires during World War II. Model turned actress Natassia Malthe returns as Rayne after taking over for Kristanna Loken who played her in the first film, as does Michael Pare who has appeared in all three BloodRayne films as completely different characters.

We meet Rayne (Malthe) helping out a group of resistance fighters, led by a man known as Nathaniel (Fletcher), attack a Nazi train depot looking for weapons and instead finding prisoners of war. She kills and a feeds on their Commandant, Ekart Brand (Pare) and inadvertently turns him into a vampire like herself, able to survive in sunlight. The Nazis have an experiment-happy doctor (Howard) go to work on Brand with the goal of making Hitler immortal by injecting him with vampire blood.

Ever the canny opportunist, director Uwe Boll certainly knows what sells with blood-splattered action sequences and the voluptuous Rayne engaging in a lesbian love scene with a prostitute in a bordello. As is common with all of his films, the acting ranges from competent to subpar with veteran actors like Clint Howard and Michael Pare dutifully collecting a paycheck. The dialogue is functional at best and mostly kills time between action sequences. Whereas as the first BloodRayne film (2006) had the kitschy charm of seeing the likes of Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen and Meatloaf hamming it up with pulpy dialogue, the third installment suffers from the law of diminishing returns and instead we have the likes of Howard and Pare doing their best to sell the film’s bland dialogue.

At best, BloodRayne: The Third Reich is a silly bit of alternate history hokum as the Nazis hope vampirism will help make them the master race. Is this Boll’s version of Inglorious Basterds (2009)? If so, it is a mighty pale imitation. That being said, the action sequences are fairly well-executed and appropriately visceral with plenty of the red stuff splashing about. BloodRayne probably won’t win Boll any new fans but it is a harmless time waster that should be a SyFy Channel staple in no time.

Special Features:

“Making of BloodRayne: The Third Reich” is a fairly amusing look at the mad methods of Uwe Boll and the cast and crew that love him. Clearly the actors are aware of the kind of film they’re doing and don’t take it too seriously. Say what you will about Boll but he comes across as a savvy filmmaker who knows what he wants.

In “Interview with the Writer,” Michael Nachoff talks about his work on the film. He did a little bit of historical research but basically saw Rayne as a gunslinger akin to Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992). Nachoff also talks about his writing routine, rewriting, and so on.

Also included are the official and alternate trailers.

Finally, there is an audio commentary by director Uwe Boll and writer Michael Nachoff. As you would imagine, Boll dominates the track and does not disappoint. He always envisioned a trilogy with this film set in World War II much like the video game. Unlike the Underworld and Resident Evil films, Boll didn’t want to simply repeat what he had done before and instead tackle different genres with each installment. Not afraid to speak his mind, the director dishes on the two lead actors hooking up during filming and why he couldn’t cast Kristanna Loken (she wanted too much money) in this film. He also criticizes the tough working conditions on all three films (i.e. a drunken Michael Madsen on the first one and a train station blowing up in the second one) on this admittedly amusing and entertaining track.

J.D. Lafrance

J.D. is a freelance writer who is currently doing research for a book on the films of Michael Mann. He likes reading anything written by Jack Kerouac, James Ellroy, J.D. Salinger, Harlan Ellison or Thomas Pynchon. J.D. is currently addicted to the T.V. series 24 and enjoys drinking a lot of Sprite. This is not a blatant plug for the beverage but if they ever decided to give him a lifetime supply he certainly wouldn’t turn them down.
view all DVD reviews by JD Lafrance

 

Rating: 73%

Website: http://www.facebook.com/BloodRayneTheThirdReich