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Cast: Stephanie Beacham, Claudia Coulter, Jason Tompkins
I got to say that with all the latest teen slasher and MTV style horror that Hollywood has been putting out The Witches Hammer came as a real pleasant surprise. Rebecca is brought back from the brink of death by top secret agency 'Project 571'. She is trained as a lethal assassin and sent on missions to kill that which she has become, a vampire. When Project 571 is destroyed by a gang of vampires, Rebecca is thrown into a quest for an ancient book powerful enough to raise the dead. Rebecca joins two priests on a journey to kill the master vampire Hugo Renoir before he can unleash the grotesque souls of the damned into our dimension. If Hugo is allowed to perform the ancient ceremony the earth shall forever pass into the realm of darkness. Along the way Rebecca must utilise her training to face Vampires, Demons and Witches all vying for the book and its awesome power. Writer/Director James Eves doesn't have a very good early track record as far as good film's go, his only other two "Hellbreeder" and "Sanitarium" were both poor films to say the least. Now he took the lead on this vampire flick that from the outside looks like a rip-off between "Blade" and "Buffy" but this gem of a horror film is much more than that. For starters you got a great cast, Claudia Coulter as Rebecca, a sexy and tough as nails female vampire that can really deliver the pain. Also how can you not love a film that features the Hammer Horror scream queen herself Stephanie Beacham in a supporting role. But what really made this low budget UK horror film bigger than it should of been is the well written script, the cast and they way Eves blended all the action,blood and even some humor together to make for a highly entertaining film. All of that done without going over on the gore factor or introducing nudity that doesn't really add to the story at all. I don't think any fan of horror could resist a film with a sexy vampire,witches and even a midget, it's the characters as well that really add to the fun and most of the lead characters are developed enough so that the audience cares about them. Cool weapons, cool vehicles and well placed CGI effects make this one of the better films in the genre to come out in awhile. Shot on 35mm film the movie looks like it was made with a much bigger budget. The UK has been producing some very good horror movies in last few years and The Witches Hammer is another that is sure to gain a cult following, this is a high octane vampire flick with a kick!
Released by MTI Home Video
**** Out Of *****