THE BLOOD REICH: BLOODRAYNE 3

(A.k.a. BLOODRAYNE: THE BLOOD REICH; BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH)

Sexy immortal Rayne (Natassia Malthe) narrates as the story opens, telling of how she has roamed the Earth for many moons as a vampire. She informs us that she’s busied herself during this time by "destroying the destroyers" – that is, utilising her powers to help mankind combat some of the greatest monsters in history.

This leads us to Europe in the 1940s, where Rayne has become aware of a particularly abhorrent creature by the name of Adolf Hitler.

We first meet Rayne proper when she turns up to help a group of local freedom fighters as they ambush a Nazi train in a bid to rescue Jewish prisoners on their way to a concentration camp. A bloody shootout ensues between Nazi soldiers and the Resistance; Rayne assists the latter with her trusty sword and lightning-fast reflexes.

Unfortunately, during the chaos Rayne comes into close combat with Commandant Ekart (Michael Pare) and leaves him for dead, not noticing that a drop of her vampiric blood has fallen into his mouth.

As Rayne is welcomed into the Resistance fold by ringleader Nathaniel (Brendan Fletcher) and begins to plot the next Nazi ambush with him, Ekart springs back into action with a feeling of more power than ever before.

Unbeknownst to Rayne, Ekart plots her downfall along with his right-hand-man Kaspar (Steffen Menekes) and mad surgeon Dr Mangler (Clint Howard).

While waiting for the next bloody shootout and the inevitable eventual face-to-face between Rayne and Ekart, we’re treated along the way to a fantastically OTT performance from Howard – complete with a German accent that comes straight out of New York, some of the ‘best’ worst dialogue to have been heard in an age, and forays to a Nazi bordello that allow for gratuitous scenes of lesbian lovemaking.

BLOODRAYNE 3 (the onscreen title is BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH) is the latest offering from eccentric German director Uwe Boll. He also produces it. It was one of three films that he completed in 2010 and, as the title suggests, is the third in his series about the titular vampire vixen (based on a video game).

The plot – about the Nazis’ attempts to gather a sample of Rayne’s blood and pass it on to Hitler, thus transforming the Fuehrer into a "dhampir", a bloodsucker who can exist in daylight – is insane. It’s so daft that it borders on trashy genius. The fact that it’s bulked out by hammy performances, comic book-type gore and copious scenes of carpet munching only serve to make it all the more enjoyably lurid.

Production-wise, BLOODRAYNE 3 is a very attractive film. Sets are stylishly lit and Boll benefits from both a competent editor (Charles Ladmiral) and highly proficient cinematographer (Mathias Neumann). Even the FX are quite impressive – and bloody. Take a bow, Harold Levy and co.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I found the film to be entertaining. But that’s because I appreciated all of the above assets, and derived perverse pleasure from the film’s cheesiest facets: the dumbest script I’ve heard in years, and performances that make the bimbos of "Hollyoaks" seem Oscar-worthy.

What I didn’t enjoy so much was how the action really dipped whenever characters weren’t engaging in sex or combat. Boll still has trouble sustaining a pace despite interesting visuals, brisk edits and a constant eye for schlock.

The film comes uncut in a deeply coloured, sharp and clean anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer.

English audio is presented in 2.0 and 5.1 mixes. The latter is underused in terms of bass and back speakers, but both sound fair.

A high octane animated main menu page focuses on the film’s bloody battle scenes and sets them to a looped rock track, while a static scene-selection menu allows access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with a really good 26-minute Making Of featurette. This shows the charismatic (read: barmy) Boll in typically larger-than-life form, extolling the virtues of having actresses strip for the camera and gushing over getting Howard in his film. Howard (EVILSPEAK etc) speaks on location of his love for the genre, likening it to Mexican food. Elsewhere, the shoot seems to have been brisk, fun and sexy. It’s almost touching when Boll and his cast begin to muse over why the director’s films (SEED; ALONE IN THE DARK; POSTAL etc) are mocked so extensively. Almost.

Next up is a more restrained 6-minute interview with the film’s screenwriter Michael Nachoff. He perhaps takes himself more seriously than needs be, but offers a welcome insight into the characters as he sees them.

Best of all, Boll and Nachoff team up for a fluent and erudite commentary track. Anyone who’s sat through a Boll commentary track before will know what to expect: the man speaks English extremely well, and engages from the off. He’s witty, bonkers and a lot cleverer than most give him credit for being.

The disc opens with trailers for BATHORY (with Franco Nero!), AGE OF THE DRAGONS and BARBAROSSA, SEIGE LORD.

BLOODRAYNE 3 is another step in Boll’s journey towards credible filmmaking. In fairness, the biggest shortcoming is the script ... closely followed by some woeful (although, in the case of Pare and Howard, delightfully so) performances.

The film is served well on Metrodome’s decent DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis