Bloodrayne: The Third Reich is set in 1940's Europe during World War II & starts at a Nazi death camp where a train full of Jew's pulls in, suddenly a group of rebels attack the train & kill all the Nazi's in a shoot-out. During the fight leather clad half human Vampire half human Rayne (Natassia Malthe) takes out Nazi Commandant Ekert Brand (Michael Paré) but is shot in the process & her Vampire blood mixes with Brand's human blood which revives him as a powerful Vampire with all the immunities that Rayne has. Brand turns to Nazi mad scientist Doctor Mangler (Clint Howard) to assist him through his transformation, Brand wants to capture the powerful Rayne to collect her blood so Adolf Hitler can drink it & become an all powerful & immortal Vampire!
This American, Canadian & German co-production was co-produced & directed by Uwe Boll & is the third entry in the Bloodrayne franchise which originally started life as a video game, the first Bloodrayne (2005) isn't that bad actually & might even be described as alright & while I can't really remember Bloodraye: Deliverance (2007) I doubt it was any worse than this. The first Bloodrayne was set in 18th Century Romania, Bloodrayne: Deliverance was set in 1880 in the American wild west while the script here opts to place Rayne in 1940's Europe during World War II fighting Nazi's no less & ultimately the so silly it's fun concept of trying to stop Adolf Hitler from becoming an immortal Vampire. With a story as outrageous as that surely Bloodrayne: The Third Reich can't fail but be awesome, right? Well, wrong because it's a rather talky & bland film with a boring plot that only hints about the Hitler plan, every cliché in the book is used & even the action & gore set-pieces are totally forgettable. Bloodrayne: The Third Reich could have been a cult trash classic, instead it's a boring & silly mess that only last's for 70 minutes but feels a lot longer & every piece of potential the concept had is wasted. The dialogue alternates between bland & downright hilarious, it's obvious this was written by someone whose native tongue is not English & doesn't really care about treating World War II, the Nazi's & death camp's with any sensitivity.
To give Bloodtrayne: The Third Reich some credit it does look quite nice, Natassia Malthe reprising the role of Rayne for the second time is hot but she is given little to do other than swing her sword's during the tame & repetitive fight scenes. The 1940's period is well realised & the costumes, locations & props look authentic enough. There's not a lot of gore here, there's a fair amount of blood splatter but not much actual nastiness. Boll throw's in some nudity & a couple of sex scenes, sure they kept me from losing total interest but they hardly save the film. Released in the US in both 'R' rated & 'Unrated' versions there is no difference between the two at all other than the Unrated DVD has more extra features. Had the working title Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer & was retitled to The Blood Reich: Bloodrayne 3 when released here in the UK on DVD.
The IMDb says that Bloodrayne: The Third Reich had a budget of about $10,000,000 which I think is total crap, you can probably knock at least one zero off that. Filmed in Zagreb in Croatia. The acting isn't great, as mentioned earlier Malthe looks hot so I assume that was the reason behind her casting rather than her thespian skills. Great to see veteran actor's Michael Paré & Clint Howard (over 300 acting credits between them with Howard boasting over 200 film credits) turn up although they are obviously slumming it, Clint Howard's Nazi uniform looks about five sizes too big for him! I won't mention their German accents either...
Bloodrayne: The Third Reich is a mixed bag, at times it's silly & unintentionally funny while at other's it's a total bore but some sex, a hot looking leather clad babe in the lead & some fun to be had at Michael Paré & Clint Howard's expense means it's not a total disaster & bad movie fans should gain some pleasure from it, the short 70 minute running time helps too.
This American, Canadian & German co-production was co-produced & directed by Uwe Boll & is the third entry in the Bloodrayne franchise which originally started life as a video game, the first Bloodrayne (2005) isn't that bad actually & might even be described as alright & while I can't really remember Bloodraye: Deliverance (2007) I doubt it was any worse than this. The first Bloodrayne was set in 18th Century Romania, Bloodrayne: Deliverance was set in 1880 in the American wild west while the script here opts to place Rayne in 1940's Europe during World War II fighting Nazi's no less & ultimately the so silly it's fun concept of trying to stop Adolf Hitler from becoming an immortal Vampire. With a story as outrageous as that surely Bloodrayne: The Third Reich can't fail but be awesome, right? Well, wrong because it's a rather talky & bland film with a boring plot that only hints about the Hitler plan, every cliché in the book is used & even the action & gore set-pieces are totally forgettable. Bloodrayne: The Third Reich could have been a cult trash classic, instead it's a boring & silly mess that only last's for 70 minutes but feels a lot longer & every piece of potential the concept had is wasted. The dialogue alternates between bland & downright hilarious, it's obvious this was written by someone whose native tongue is not English & doesn't really care about treating World War II, the Nazi's & death camp's with any sensitivity.
To give Bloodtrayne: The Third Reich some credit it does look quite nice, Natassia Malthe reprising the role of Rayne for the second time is hot but she is given little to do other than swing her sword's during the tame & repetitive fight scenes. The 1940's period is well realised & the costumes, locations & props look authentic enough. There's not a lot of gore here, there's a fair amount of blood splatter but not much actual nastiness. Boll throw's in some nudity & a couple of sex scenes, sure they kept me from losing total interest but they hardly save the film. Released in the US in both 'R' rated & 'Unrated' versions there is no difference between the two at all other than the Unrated DVD has more extra features. Had the working title Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer & was retitled to The Blood Reich: Bloodrayne 3 when released here in the UK on DVD.
The IMDb says that Bloodrayne: The Third Reich had a budget of about $10,000,000 which I think is total crap, you can probably knock at least one zero off that. Filmed in Zagreb in Croatia. The acting isn't great, as mentioned earlier Malthe looks hot so I assume that was the reason behind her casting rather than her thespian skills. Great to see veteran actor's Michael Paré & Clint Howard (over 300 acting credits between them with Howard boasting over 200 film credits) turn up although they are obviously slumming it, Clint Howard's Nazi uniform looks about five sizes too big for him! I won't mention their German accents either...
Bloodrayne: The Third Reich is a mixed bag, at times it's silly & unintentionally funny while at other's it's a total bore but some sex, a hot looking leather clad babe in the lead & some fun to be had at Michael Paré & Clint Howard's expense means it's not a total disaster & bad movie fans should gain some pleasure from it, the short 70 minute running time helps too.