By Stephen Pytak 

     If you go in knowing what an Uwe Boll film is, 
the bad acting, dialog and so forth won't bother you
as much.
     Heck, I've come to expect it, maybe even appreciate
it, after sitting through "House of the Dead" and
"Alone in the Dark." Actually I fell asleep watching
the latter. It's one of the worst films I've seen in recent
memory.
     But "Bloodrayne" isn't.
     Whether it was intentional or not, it's got great 
comic performances and deliveries from actors like
Billy Zane and Michael Madsen. 
     It's also got a decent amount of gore, which 
reminded me of the kind of splatter Lucio Fucli 
employed.
     But the reason I'm going all out and giving this
flick a high rating is because of star Kristanna Loken. 
Her acting's good. Her sex scene is even better!
     While shacked up with a pack of vampire hunters,
she gets the urge for no apparent reason and jumps
"Sebastian (Matt Davis)." In no time flat tops are torn 
off and this film instantly becomes a classic.
     Loken is quite lovely. She made her mark in fantasy
films a few years back, playing the TX in "Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines." 
     In "Bloodrayne" she plays the female superhero
pretty well -- not as good as Jolie in "Tomb Raider,"
but a hell of a lot better than Garner in "Elecktra" or
Berry in "Catwoman."
     And because she can carry scenes better than 
some of the heavies in this flick, I'm hoping her career 
takes her into bigger and better roles.
     As I had mentioned, "Bloodrayne" is packed with
performances that will have you rolling in the aisles.
     Ben Kingsley was amazing in his portrayal of 
"Gandhi." And sci-fi fans will remember his strong
performance as "Fitch" in "Species." But for his 
portrayal of "Lord Kagen" in Bloodrayne, he deserves
a Razzie.
     He's an aging vampire king who's face is so white
it looks like the makeup was applied by The Muppets.
And his acting is so stiff, it makes you wonder what
kind of direction the C-movie maestro behind the 
camera was giving him.
     Michael Madsen, who was also in "Species" come
to think of it, is always interesting to watch no matter
what the film. He often comes off as the average guy
who enjoys cigarettes and sarcasm. Imagine someone
like that reading off medieval dialog and you got an
idea what his "Vladimir" is like.
     But all of this kind of gels. As I said I've come to
expect the half-baked performances in Boll's films. So
to me they're not only fantasy films, but comedies.
     If that's his style, and he's keen on it for whatever
reason, I'd like to know that. Maybe the truth will
come out someday when someone writes a retrospective
on him.
     There were a few interesting cameos here and if
you blink, you'll miss 'em. Udo Kier is here for about
two minutes. But Michael Pare -- remember "Eddie
and Cruisers" -- is in this for all of  25 seconds. 
     By the way, before the film started, we got a preview
of Boll's next film, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon 
Siege Tale," another mideaval adventure. But this one 
stars Burt Reynolds as "King Konreid." I can't wait!