Blade (1998)
Action, Fantasy, Horror.
Director Stephen Norrington helmed this David S. Goyer adaptation of the Marvel Comics character created in 1973 by scripter Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan. A vampire hunter, Blade, joined by vampire detective Hannibal King and Dracula-descendent Frank Drake, stalks vampires. In the 1990s, Blade teamed with Drake and King in an agency created to fight a variety of supernatural beings. The Marvel origin is retold in this 1998 Norrington film, with Blade’s mother dying as he is born. Thirty-some years later, Blade now exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race.
In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade’s vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide — an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire.
Director: Stephen Norrington
Writer: David S. Goyer
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, Udo Kier, Donal Logue, Traci Lords, N’Bushe Wright
►Cast:
| Wesley Snipes | ► | Blade |
| Stephen Dorff | ► | Deacon Frost |
| Kris Kristofferson | ► | Whistler |
| N’Bushe Wright | ► | Karen |
| Donal Logue | ► | Quinn |
| Udo Kier | ► | Dragonetti |
| Arly Jover | ► | Mercury |
| Traci Lords | ► | Racquel |
| Kevin Patrick Walls | ► | Krieger |
| Tim Guinee | ► | Curtis Webb |
| Sanaa Lathan | ► | Vanessa |
| Eric Edwards | ► | Pearl |
| Donna Wong | ► | Nurse |
| Carmen Thomas | ► | Senior Resident |
| Shannon Lee | ► | Resident |
| Kenny Johnson | ► | Heatseeking Dennis |
| Clint Curtis | ► | Creepy Morgue Guy |
| Judson Scott | ► | Pallantine |
| Sidney S. Liufau | ► | Japanese Doorman |
| Keith Leon Williams | ► | Kam |
| Andray Johnson | ► | Paramedic |
| Stephen R. Peluso | ► | Paramedic |
| Marcus Aurelius | ► | Pragmatic Policeman |
| John Enos III | ► | Blood Club Bouncer |
| Eboni Adams | ► | Martial Arts Kid |
| Lyle Conway | ► | Reichardt |
| Freeman White III | ► | Menacing Stud |
| D.V. DeVincentis | ► | Vampire Underling |
| Marcus Salgado | ► | Frost’s Goon |
| Esau McKnight | ► | Frost’s Goon |
| Erl Van Douglas | ► | Von Esper |
| Matt Schulze | ► | Crease |
| Lennox Brown | ► | Pleading Goon |
| Yvette Ocampo | ► | Party Girl |
| Irena Stepic | ► | Slavic Vampire Lord |
| Jenya Lano | ► | Russian Woman |
| Levani | ► | Russian Vampire |
| Richard ‘Dr.’ Baily | ► | Cardboard cut-out in Subway |
| Ron Cobert | ► | Vampire |
| Nikki DiSanto | ► | Vampire Victim |
| Ryan Glorioso | ► | Blood Bath Vampire |
| Al Goto | ► | Henchman |
| Jeff Imada | ► | Henchman |
| Diana Lee Inosanto | ► | Blood Bath Vampire |
| Steven Ito | ► | Henchman |
| Elliott James | ► | Blood Club |
| Ted King | ► | Vampire at Rave |
| Henry Kingi | ► | Kenji-bartender |
| Will Leong | ► | Henchman |
| David Matthiessen | ► | Vampire |
| Stephen Norrington | ► | Vampire |
| Gerald Okamura | ► | Vampire |
| Frankie Ray | ► | Vampire Lord |
| Simon Rhee | ► | Henchman |
| Carrie Seeley | ► | Woman in Elevator |
| Michael Stumpf | ► | Sword Thrower |
| Beth Theriac | ► | Woman in Elevator |