Expected more

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

How anyone can give this anything over a 1 without invoking the power of the almighty "unintentional laugh" is beyond my understanding.Acting and character script: absolutely cringeworthy. Everything is stale, unemotional and wrong. "Oh I just died and can neither be with my husband nor child any more! What's more is that some strange people who are experimenting with me want me to be their new super duper killer! ...But... that's totally okay, because I'm a Vampire now *moronic smile*."Oscar is a master acrobat and a trained fighter" the guys says, apparently someone really to be fearful off. Yet he stops him by putting a fork through his hand, ramming it into the table. WHAT??Theme inconsistencies - A story is told of how the Witches Hammer came to being, somewhere before 1100AD, the movie of that story is in colour. Yet when another story is told about something that happened in the 1800s we get it in black and white and with silent film talk boxes. WHY? In the Witches Hammer story the people were dressed in 17th century, maybe 18th century clothing even though it's supposed to be around 1000AD, at the latest.Why do we need to know the French pronunciation of the word cardinal if it both sounds pretty much the same as the English pronunciation, and if that knowledge does absolutely nothing to further the story? WHY?And what's up with him being that absolutely incredibly strong and evil foe and when you get to meet him he's this whimpering little lump of ridiculous? If you're building up suspense and tension leading up to meeting a super villain, why then suddenly make a 180 degree turn and turn him into a soggy lump of nothing? Okay, not everybody can do super fight scenes - BUT IF YOU DON'T, THEN DON'T TRY! Why is the dead fat lady laughing while she's taking revenge on her father for poisoning her? Wouldn't she rather be full of rage, or sad or disappointed? No she butchers him with a happy smile. Why in all the world would she go out on a revenge spree if she's in such a good mood? That's it, I could go on for hours but what for? What remains is that I have another name of a director to stay away from. Sad that learning that name had to be such a painful experience.

"The Witch's Hammer" is an enjoyable and finely entertaining action vampire film.**SPOILERS**After being violently attacked, Rebecca, (Claudia Coulter) is brought to the mysterious Project 571, a group that hunts down vampires. Told that she has been genetically modified into a vampire, she is placed into a training regimen and returns from an assignment to find that everybody at Project 571 has been slaughtered, only to be rescued by the witch Edward, (Jon Sedgwick) and taken before Madeline, (Stephanie Beacham) a witch who heads Project 572, a special project that is assigned to battle the master vampire Hugo Renoir, (Tom Dover) only with her involvement. Needing to acquire a book to defeat him, they travel around the world attempting to find it, and when they finally get a hold of it, they face opposition from his vampire hordes to get it before they can use it against him.The Good News: This here was actually pretty good and had some pretty good parts to it. The main thing is the action in the film. There's a lot of this in here, mainly from the tremendous amounts of fighting in here, both hand-to-hand and swordplay. These here are nice to see in such a horror film, making it feel rather fast-paced and really entertaining with a lot of things going on to keep the interest level high. The fist-fight at the warehouse, the brawl on the train and the entire sequence that lasted back in the older times makes the biggest impressions, although there's a lot more in here to make the film feel all the more exciting. Rather well done as well is the back-story to this one, which is new, unique and incredibly interesting. There's some changes to the history that are played with nicely, seemingly logical without being too much of a stretch that the very inclusion is something that won't offend too many. The fact that there's also a very, very fun finale to this is what gives the film it's main powers, taking a lot into consideration to make it very entertaining and leaves on a high note. From the high-scale fight scene to the revelation of a twist that comes completely out-of–the-blue is what helps it out, and there's a real sense of action and danger here which is what is there for it's big finish. The last big one is that there's some really fun creative choices at times, namely the relationship between the two loner vampires, the decision to do the back-story to that one completely in B&W and there's a big sequence early in the film that makes for some impressive choices to come along that are highly creative to make it seem like a great film. Overall, this one here is a really fun film.The Bad News: There isn't a whole lot about this one that wasn't enjoyable. The main one is that there's a real lack of funds for the film, and the low-budget look it has because of it is really problematic. There's almost nothing here that makes it feel really outlandish or grandiose, and with the plot-line given to the film, it really needs something that will really force the film out to the top-levels of the genre if only it would've had more to do whatever it had to get more bang out of this. The low-budget also handicaps the big plus, all the action and fighting by keeping the style toned down to accommodate the lower budget, and it really could've been the fact that there's nothing in here to make the special effects stand out that make it so memorable. The film really could've had a better opening as well, since this one has rather confusing origins and then wipes it away later with another story-line that makes the inclusion of the first one is a difference that will really make some confused. Otherwise, there isn't much wrong with it.The Final Verdict: One of the more enjoyable modern vampire films, with a few mild flaws that keep this one down in the genre. Worth a look for those find the particular sub-genre entertaining or have an affinity for these kinds of films, while those who aren't particularly find with the genre won't find a whole lot with it.Rated R: Violence and Graphic Language

The film is hugely enjoyable with a great cast, and excellent direction by James Eves. The movie is entertaining with a very charismatic performance from Stephanie Beecham and everyone is perfectly cast. James Eves has a good eye for casting and directs like a conductor knowing exactly when to crank up the action, fall and then rise to a climax. He does this with an element of humour, Plenty of twists, thrills and blood. This is a return of the old vampire movie, with loads of gore, blood and screams. The movie works at a great speed and the characters take you on a terrific adventure,but what makes it work is that the film doesn't take itself too seriously with plenty of tongue in cheek action.Great !

I, like many horror fans, have been force fed the same banal big budget Hollywood remakes and MTV high school slasher tripe for the last 20 years. Here, at last, is an original horror genre movie that ticks all the right boxes.You want a hot lead actress, you want vampires, you want cool weapons, you want cool vehicles and you want blood, lots of it, by the bucket load - you got it.With excellent fight choreography and a supporting role from the Hammer Horror scream queen herself Stephanie Beacham, this really is fantastic stuff.Despite it's low budget, by opting to use 35 mm stock and adding quality CG effects to the mix, director James Eaves has created something that feels much bigger.A must for old school horror fans.