New On Netflix: Blade II

The original Blade (1998), directed by Stephen Norrington, was an efficient and entertaining genre piece starring Wesley Snipes (pitch-perfect) as a half-human, half-vampire dedicated to destroying all bloodsuckers (especially Stephen Dorff). Director Guillermo del Toro turned the series on its head with this sequel, transforming it into a dark fairy tale with shades of Frankenstein (a long-time del Toro obsession) and even a dash of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Whatever del Toro’s artistic designs may be, the movie simply kicks ass, as Blade engages in an uneasy truce with a group of vampires to take on a powerful mutated string of vamps called the Reapers, whose jaws and cheeks spread open all vagina-dentata-like to make them the messiest eaters on the planet. And note Norman Reedus‘ T-shirt, which bears the logo of Hellboy‘s Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense — and foreshadows del Toro’s next film.