Razor Blade Smile (1998)

0% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(3,456 ratings)

The story begins in 1850, when Lilith Silver (Eileen Daley) interrupts a duel between her lover and the nasty Sir Sethane Blake (Christopher Adamson). When she shoots Blake, he just smiles, and punishes her impudence by biting her on the neck when she is shot in turn by his manservant. After a nifty… More The story begins in 1850, when Lilith Silver (Eileen Daley) interrupts a duel between her lover and the nasty Sir Sethane Blake (Christopher Adamson). When she shoots Blake, he just smiles, and punishes her impudence by biting her on the neck when she is shot in turn by his manservant. After a nifty title sequence, the film flashes forward 150 years to watch Silver in modern London, where she hangs out at glitzy vampire bars and works as a mercenary. Lilith's biggest job involves hunting down members of the Illuminati, a sect of freemasons bent on world domination. Their ruler, not coincidentally, is Sir Sethane Blake. Clad in skintight black leather and armed with a coffin full of guns, knives, and throwing-stars, the blood-sucking hit woman uses her supernatural abilities to hunt down her targets and avoid police, at least until Inspector Price (Jonathan Coote) and a forensic scientist nicknamed "the Horror Film Man" (David Warbeck) get on her trail. Visually dazzling and loaded with sex, blood, and macabre humor, Razor Blade Smile uses an array of cinematic techniques to achieve the slick look of a glossy comic book, reminiscent of many Asian efforts in the genre, and quite unlike anything to come out of Britain in recent memory. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Jake West
Genres: Horror, Art House & International, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Oct 16, 1998 Wide
On DVD: Sep 14, 1999
Studio: A-Pix

Critic Reviews

Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
West's cleverness gets the better of him in the final minutes, tacking on an arbitrary twist that, quite simply, trashes the trashy enjoyment of all that preceded.
Alan Simpson, Sex Gore Mutants
often maligned by genre fans and unjustly so

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Featured Audience Ratings

Phil H

Believe it or not but this UK made film is most probably the genesis for major US films such as 'The Matrix' and many future sci-fi films and vampire films, especially 'Underworld'. The film is VERY low budget but shows the kind of imagery, cam angles and typical… More
Believe it or not but this UK made film is most probably the genesis for major US films such as 'The Matrix' and many future sci-fi films and vampire films, especially 'Underworld'. The film is VERY low budget but shows the kind of imagery, cam angles and typical slow motion action that is now common place in all big films, the tight latex catsuit wearing hitwoman is certainly a much used idea these days. Director West does well with virtually no money and using his parents house haha there are some really nice sequences here which look much better than you might expect. Cast is also quite unique really with some cult figures included such as Adamson, Warbeck and of course Daly, wonder if they were paid anything? The film has some lovely hammy moments with some really delicious dialog, the obligitory sex scene for Daly, plenty of fangs and vampire hissing, a coffin full of weapons ('El Mariachi'?) and Adamson REALLY twisting the knob with his performance and facial expressions. In fact you can easily see an early Viktor from 'Underworld' with the character Adamson plays, almost a direct rip off infact, only Adamson is slightly more meaty than Nighy.
Lee ?

No-budget independent Brit Vampire actioner. Mediocre all-round with cheapo effects, cheesy under par acting and some soft-porn erotica. A decent attempt considering the lack of budget though. Surprisingly it's gained a little cult following. I prefer the directors' other… More
No-budget independent Brit Vampire actioner. Mediocre all-round with cheapo effects, cheesy under par acting and some soft-porn erotica. A decent attempt considering the lack of budget though. Surprisingly it's gained a little cult following. I prefer the directors' other movie 'Evil Aliens' - much more fun!
xGary X

A vampire assassin is hired to murder the members of a secret society while a lone policeman tries to prove not only her guilt but her nature. There's low budget, then there's straight to DVD and TV standard. Then, there's Razor Blade Smile. I have literally seen… More
A vampire assassin is hired to murder the members of a secret society while a lone policeman tries to prove not only her guilt but her nature. There's low budget, then there's straight to DVD and TV standard. Then, there's Razor Blade Smile. I have literally seen internet porn with a higher production value than this, and it looks like the entire cast were a combination of Jake West's mates and some girls from the local rock bar who he quite fancied seeing in the nip. It's all just an excuse to make goth chicks dress up in fetish wear and make out while he and his chums run around the local park with fake guns. The action sequences are like something out of Be Kind Rewind, he obviously having seen a couple of John Woo films and then trying to copy them from memory and the cast are, to a man, dreadful. Of course, all of this can be blamed on the lack of money. But the utterly atrocious dialogue cannot. I'm going to score it higher than it really deserves for the sole reason that I got a few laughs at its expense out of it, but really it's just like a cross between Underworld and a dog-eared copy of Readers' Wives.
Kylie B

One of those films that's so bad, it's good. The acting is quite bad and the plot is barely worth mentioning, yet it still has a certain charm that many horror lovers will pick up on.
Dr Blood

Watch this and learn how, in spite of a low budget, a good story and a sexy vampiress can impress the hell out of anyone! Except me, that is.
Antony S

I honestly can't remember much of this! It's perhaps telling that our protagonist is played by a porn star that the end result will be a campy, straight-to-video hokum-fest. Sadly, even this is difficult to fathom, as most of the (bad) acting is played straight, like this… More
I honestly can't remember much of this! It's perhaps telling that our protagonist is played by a porn star that the end result will be a campy, straight-to-video hokum-fest. Sadly, even this is difficult to fathom, as most of the (bad) acting is played straight, like this has a definate message behind it all! Hence some terribly dribbly dialogue that John Waters would frown on, and a general amateurishness that would test anyone's ability to watch it all. Another issue is how Daly's femme fatale is presented, more or less forcing you to find her attractive, and therefore justified in all her revengey-bloodletting. If you like tits and blood, this may satisfy, but I doubt it.
Adam M

A very good British vampire film.It gives the vampire myth a modern twist with a good story.The acting isn't exactly great with the main "villain" standing out with a very good performance but the strength of the story and Jake Wests directing keep the film moving along… More
A very good British vampire film.It gives the vampire myth a modern twist with a good story.The acting isn't exactly great with the main "villain" standing out with a very good performance but the strength of the story and Jake Wests directing keep the film moving along nicely.Add in a few gory moments and you've got a decent horror.Not all the acting was great and there was some dodgy dialogue here and there but this still gets 4 stars for a strong story,great anti-hero,a great villain and some good direction from Jake West,who later went on to do Evil Aliens.If you like vampires,this is worth checking out.