Razor Blade Smile (1998)

Rating: D-

Dir: Jake West
Star: Eileen Daly, Christopher Adamson, Jonathan Coote, Kevin Howarth

Jake West has a great career as a director in front of him. Unfortunately, on the evidence of this, it’s not in films, but music videos and commercials. For when there’s nothing going on – or at least, nothing more taxing than lesbo vampire sex – visually, it’s damn fine with good use of London locations and music. However, the acting is on the “bunch of mates mucking around with a camcorder” level; Daly looks the part, but recites her lines as if on valium; perhaps this was a cunning attempt to recreate the bored attitude of the immortal? Mind you, none of the human characters are much better. The film wobbles uneasily between parody and po-faced, with some intentional laughs and a good many more less deliberate. A lot of post-production has gone on, with flashy digital effects, but even they can’t solve the major problems that this possesses. West will move on to bigger and better things, if only because there’s really no other way to go. A nice idea, with seriously flawed execution.