Dark Species – Die Anderen (2001)

Dark Species – Die Anderen: Directed by Michael Oblowitz. With Adrian Paul, Bokeem Woodbine, Bai Ling, Péter Halász. When a rogue vampire kills his partner, an FBI special agent reluctantly teams with another officerwho is a “good” vampire in an attempt to track down the evil vampire killer.

“Iu0026#39;ve seen too many movies. I admit it. Thatu0026#39;s why I can tell where most movies are going most of the time. This is especially true of horror movies. I donu0026#39;t mean to imply that all horror movies are same and therefore easily predictable. Rather that there is a tendency towards sameness when it comes to quickly made B grade horror movies. This tendency is what makes me treasure those rare B grade horror movies that manage to surprise me. Movies like u0026quot;The Breed.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie, set in u0026quot;the near future,u0026quot; opens with our main character, named Steve Grant (Bokeem Woodbine), and his partner tracking down a kidnapped girl. Grant is an agent of the NSA (National Security Agency) and I am unsure as to why an NSA Agent would be tracking a kidnapped girl. Unfortunately, so is the script. Moving on. The partners quickly find the girl (too late) and confront her kidnapper. The kidnapper turns out to be a vampire and slaughters Grantu0026#39;s partner. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was at this point that I figured I knew where the movie was going. I assumed that this incident would open Grantu0026#39;s eyeu0026#39;s to the world of the occult and he would either A) be kicked off the police force and become an independent vampire hunter or that B) he would be inducted into the secret branch of the police force that specializes in demolishing creatures of the night. Just as the movie looked to be headed straight for path B, it took a left turn and regained my interest. When Grant insists on telling the truth in his official report he is told that the Government has known about vampires for nearly a year and are working on integrating them into normal society. He is then introduced to his new partner, one Aaron Grey (Adrian Paul), who is a vampire and told that they must work together to catch this dangerous rogue who threatens the peace of both races.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a good premise for a movie and, to u0026quot;The Breedu0026#39;su0026quot; credit, it tries to live up to this premise. It fails more than it succeeds, but at least it fails in a watchable way. The movie spends a little too much time on a murder investigation that isnu0026#39;t as complicated or as interesting as it seems. It sets up an ending that isnu0026#39;t as surprising as the movie wants it to be. It gives action scenes that arenu0026#39;t as exciting as they should be. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn between the scenes mentioned above we get a love story that, properly handled, could have been the basis for an entire movie of itu0026#39;s own. We watch two partners learn to trust each other and deal with their differences. We see totalitarian overtones to the government that, if played up more, could have added a whole new layer of depth to the movie. We meet some cool vampires. We see some cool death scenes. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGenerally, this is a lousy movie, but it is a movie that tries hard. Sometimes, Iu0026#39;d rather watch a failure with high ambitions than a success with that settled for ordinary.”