The Forsaken

Forsaken, The

Released: 2001

MPAA Rating: R

Genre: Vampire

Nuts and Bolts: A young film editor embarks upon a cross-country trip through the deserts of Texas. On his way he comes upon a hard-luck hero, an infected young girl and a troupe of vampires out to drink them dry. Can Sean and Nick lure the evil Kit to hallowed ground before its too late?

Summary: First we meet Sean. Sean has no last name. Sean is an editor for a lowbrow movie production company in California. But he has some vacation time coming up and decides to use it to perform an odd job. He's agreed to drive an old lady's Mercedes Benz from Cali to Florida and deliver it to her. While in the Sunshine State he plans on attending his sister's wedding. Sounds like fun doesn't it?

But Sean is beset by troubles almost immediately. He has barely crossed the state line into Arizona when his tire blows out. He limps the car to a mechanic in nearby Tenopah who holds it overnight. Sean is forced to stay at a small motel. During the evening, he hears strange sounds coming from the next room. He can't identify what they are but they almost sound animalistic. He looks out the window and finds that a beat up dirty red Dodge charger is parked outside.

The following day, he returns to the garage to pick up the car. As he's getting ready to leave a straggler named Nick approaches him. Nick has no last name either. Nick looks like he just woke up in a bus station. He begs Sean for a ride but the young film editor is reluctant. Nick volunteers to pay for gas and Sean finally caves in. They are driving down the interstate, when Nick pulls a beer out of his pack and begins chugging it. Sean tells him to get rid of it, as he doesn't want to get pulled over. Nick flings the beer out into the road and the projectile hits a police car. The cop gives Sean a ticket and a stern warning.

Some time later they stop at a public restroom in Texas. Sean gives Nick a ration of shit about the beer can, but the straggler just blows the whole thing off. As they are getting back into the Mercedes, they find a car full of rouges next to them. Lo and behold, it's the rust colored Charger that Sean had seen at the motel. A smooth looking dude named Kit asks the guys for a jump. Attending kip is a redneck named Penn and two voluptuous whores named Teddy and Cym. The guys help the strangers out and head out on their way. At this point we learn that Kit and his brood are vampires. Cym tells Kit that she recognized Nick as a hunter.

Later that evening, Sean and Nick stop for a bite to eat. After dinner they exit the restaurant to find a strange blonde haired girl flittering listlessly about the nearby bus station. She appears to be high on drugs, but Nick recognizes what's wrong with her. They take her into the car and head off down the road. They arrive at the Park's Inn motel and check into a room. Nick begins administering to the sick girl's needs while sending Sean out for ice. Stripping her down, he discovers a vampires' bite mark above her pubic area. She chucks her naked ass into the bathtub as Sean returns. The two guys try to hold the flailing bitch down, but she bites Sean in the process. Nick gives her an emergency antigen injection and the girl passes out.

No while all this is going on, Kit and his crew come upon a group of surfers partying on the beach. They try to finagle some beer out of the crew, but the partiers tell them to fuck off. Kit punches his fist through a guy's chest ripping his heart out in the process. The remaining partiers flee for their lives, but the vampires manage to capture a prisoner.

Back at the motel, Nick finally breaks down and explains to Sean that the girl (Megan) is the victim of a vampire bite. Sean naturally doesn't believe him. Before he can go into detail, the two learn that Kit and the others have come upon the Palm's Inn. They kill the motel manager and secure a room.

As night turns into day, Nick decides to show Sean that he is telling him the truth. They approach the Dodge Charger wherein they find Penn sleeping on the hood. Penn is not a vampire, but rather their day driver. Nick knocks him out cold with a shovel and takes his keys. They open up the trunk where they find the sleeping Teddy. Teddy leaps out to attack them but Nick beats the bitch back with a shovel. The two watch as the rays of the sun burn Teddy to a crisp.

They hop in their car and take off before anything can happen. Penn awakens and realizes that Teddy is dead. He backs the car into the hotel room and collects Kit and Cym. The two vamps hide in the trunk of the Charger. As Penn takes off a gas valve ruptures inside the motel blowing the entire building to bits. As they are driving down the highway, the car is pulled over by a cop. As the cop takes down Penn's information, he forces the driver to open the trunk. Upon doing so, Kit levels a shotgun barrel at the officer blasting him backwards onto the hood of his own car. Penn douses him with gasoline and lights a match finishing him off.

Sean and Nick continue driving and he explains a little about the Vampires. At one point Nick himself had been bitten and through the experience learned he could stave off the transformation effects by way of antigens and other assorted 'cocktails'. He tries to get Sean to take some of the drugs but he refuses. Nick further elaborates that he needs to get Megan to hallowed ground. She is one of Kit's and the vampire is likely going to track her down. Once he gets him on hallowed ground, he has a chance of destroying him. If the host vampire is destroyed all of his brood will be cured. This is why Nick needs to safeguard Megan. He feels that maybe if uses her as bait to destroy Kit, he therefore may be able to cure himself. They finally arrive in Tornillo Texas and stop at a diner. As Megan sleeps off her dose of morphine in the back of the car, Sean and Nick go inside. Nick offers forth the origin of the vampires and why they are referred to as the Forsaken.

During the Siege of Antioch of the Great Crusade, nine French soldiers were left to die in a blizzard. But some time after the battle, the dark angel Abaddon appeared and offered the knights immortality in exchange for obedience. Eight of the nine agreed and they proved their loyalty by sacrificing the ninth. In the morning the eight knights were so ashamed of what they had done they could no longer face each other. They took to living in caves and Abaddon's curse forced them to feed off the blood of the living. Since the vampires' bite was communicable, it was regarded as a disease and thus they became the Forsaken. Kit is one of the last remaining Forsaken alive today.

Leaving the diner, the group is pursued by Penn's Charger. They manage to evade them by cutting across the path of an eighteen-wheeler and spinning around in the opposite direction. Penn tries to follow them but the car's dying engine won't let him get more than a few feet. Sean and Nick are safe for now.

The two boys stop to take a break and Megan awakens and makes a run for it. Nick catches up to her and knocks her out cold. He tells Sean that there is a mission sixty miles to the North. If he can lure Kit there they might be able to stop him.

Meanwhile, Kit finds a new group of victims. He has Cym flag down a pickup with two coke-fiends in it. Cym slices one man's throat and begins slurping out his blood while Kit kills the other with his pistol. They jump the engine to the Charger and take both vehicles off the road. Kit is driving the Charger while Penn takes the truck.

Meanwhile, Megan tries to escape from Sean and Nick again. The blood urge is really rising inside of her and she continually suffers from flashbacks of her initial meeting with Kit. The guys catch up to her and throw her ass back in the car.

By this point, both of the vampire vehicles have tracked the Mercedes down. Another highway chase is underway, but this time Sean tries a new stunt. Spinning around on the highway he doubles back and begins playing a game of 'chicken' with Penn's new truck. Sean steers the vehicle out of the path at the last instant forcing Penn off road. Penn circles back and chases them into a construction facility. Sean narrowly avoids him again but this time Penn's truck crashes into a fuel truck exploding.

Sean and Nick speed off down the highway before Kit can follow him in the Charger. They eventually reach a bed and breakfast close to the mission area that they are looking for. An old lady named Ina Hamm owns the place. Ina tries to scare them off with a shotgun but Nick begs her assistance in helping their sick friend Megan. The old lady finally caves in and Megan is brought upstairs. Through the course of conversation Nick learns that the building is built atop an old Spanish cemetery (naturally). He decides this will be an ideal place for a final showdown.

Believe it or not, Megan actually starts fucking TALKING now! So far, all this bitch has done is scream and bit and kvetch. She doesn't really have anything interesting to say other than describing the night that Kit bit her.

Before long, Kit and Cym show up at the bed and breakfast. The boys take shelter behind the kitchen area while Ina takes Megan upstairs. The two vamps begin blowing the shit out of the place with their shotguns. Kit manages to tag Nick in the shoulder and the little stoner drops like a sack of shit. Sean fairs a wee bit better however. Popping out from behind a bar top he levels a shotgun at Cym's face blowing it clean off her neck. Now it's just down to Sean and Kit.

Kit corners Sean and really beats the piss out of him. He tells him that he is not going to kill him but rather, he will make him his new day driver. He orders Sean to go get the car. Satisfied that Sean is under his control he turns his attention on the bleeding Nick. But Sean isn't the type to just follow orders. He drives Kit's charger straight into the building pinning Kit against a wall. Kit struggles for a bit before finally freeing himself. He then goes to attack Sean. But by this point, the sun has come up. Sean pumps the shotgun shells into Kit's chest forcing him to remain within the influence of the cone of sunlight. Eventually, the little pussy vampire burns away.

Epilogue: The three kids are taken to the hospital. Megan returns to normal while Sean is nursing a fractured leg. Nick has released himself and left before the other two awaken.

Now we flash-forward to three months later. Sean is now taking up the role of vampire hunter. He finds Nick hitchhiking on the side of the road. Apparently Nick is still searching for the original vampire host (It wasn't Kit after all). Sean picks him up and the two ride off in search of vampires.

Acting/Dialogue: The acting is fairly decent all around. I really liked Isabella Miko's portrayal of Megan. She didn't have a lot of dialogue but was forced to express her role through varying body gestures, convulsions and terror-stricken gazes. I'm sure this is not as easy to pull off as it sounds. The only actor who kind of disappointed me was Jonathan Schaech as Kit. He seemed to put too much of the Count Chocula factor into his role. I'd hate to tell him, but it takes more than a raspy voice and melodramatic pauses to make a cool vampire lord. I have a hard time believing that he is actually supposed to be a seven hundred year old fallen Crusader. He's more like a junkyard dog in need of putting down.

Gore: The gore is fairly minimal, but it does exist. We see frequent moments where Megan is convulsing around with blood pouring out of her lip. Kit rips a surfer's heart straight out of his chest and a young female burns to a crisp in the rising sun. Other than that, the gore is about as tame as an episode of Seinfeld.

Guilty Pleasures: Like any vampire movie worth its salt, Forsaken comes with its perquisite supply of boobies. Within the first three minutes we see a young girl flashing her wares as Sean drives down the highway. Isabella Miko shows off her chest several times throughout the course of this flick and finally delivers on what she failed to do in Coyote Ugly. There are two other scenes of brief nudity. Truthfully, this was actually one of the high points to the film.

The Good: This is a mediocre film that still manages to produce a few smiles from its viewers. Hot on the coat tails of successful desert vamp flicks like From Dusk Till Dawn and Vampire$, the Forsaken succeeds in maintaining the uncomfortable atmosphere that made those flicks so engaging. We are slowly phasing out the old gothic days of creepy castles, cacophonous thunderclaps and black haunted forests in lieu of blinding desert highways, Armadillo-sodomizing rednecks and piss-stained mariachi bars. This is not necessarily a bad thing mind you. There is something inordinately unsettling about the lifestyles of people on the open road. Especially when you throw in the apocalyptic trappings of a summer southwestern setting. Sean's a fairly clean-cut California boy and its fun seeing him suffer through the misfortunes inherent in most road trips. I once had a car conk out on me on a highway in North Carolina. I was forced to motor off the exit and limp the poor thing to a nearby garage. The welcoming committee in this town was comprised of half the cast from Deliverance. Let me be the first to tell you…we will likely NEVER have a Miss America contestant that hails from that state. At least not one that is housebroken and clean-shaven. So I can definitely relate to Sean's apprehension throughout the film.

But even in the scorching deserts of Arizona, you may find that allies come in the strangest packages. This brings me to the character of Nick. Nick is NOT the sort of person that you would expect to see brandishing a crucifix and a vial of holy water. Actually, he looks more like the guy who was pumping my gas last week at the local 7-11. I thought that the introduction of this character was an interesting break from tradition. Nick is a complete waste of space. He has no job, no ambitions and little prospect for the future. But he's researched the vampire phenomena and has expertly created a means by which to combat them. What I like about Nick is that he is not a super-hero. He's not a martial artist or a combat veteran or a former member of the CIA. He's just a regular Joe who has been dealt a shitty deal and now has to make the best of it. Hell, that accounts for just about all of us doesn't it? The audience can relate to him more and his character helps to draw you in to the story.

I also liked the origin story behind the Forsaken. Director J.S. Cardone steered clear of traditional lore and created a tightly woven back-story that takes place in the waning days of the Holy Crusades. This short history adds a thin layer of depth to who is otherwise a two-dimensional vampire character. The origin also leaves enough stones unturned to pave the way for an un-needed but not unwelcome sequel. It would be interesting to see a future tale involving Sean and Nick wherein they have bonded more closely and have increased their awareness of vampire combat methods.

The Bad: In an effort to stand apart from other vampire flicks, the Forsaken has also managed to forsake those very things that make us like vampires so damned much. There is very little fang work shown here and these guys aren't the type to transform into bats or mist either. Kit tries to come off as some rough-n-tumble rocker type but he's really nothing more than a glam-boy trying to make goo-goo eyes for the camera. Hell even the CHARACTERS called him a poseur. He's hardly a fearsome looking creature of the night. Kit has his two little whores with him, but they hardly amount to more than simply that. We also have the obligatory Renfield of the group. The character of Penn is about as original as a Milli Vanilli song and you often wonder why these vamps would trust their un-lives to the care of a retard I wouldn't trust with a flyswatter. All told, the vamps themselves offer nothing that we haven't already seen a dozen times over.

Many people have accused the Forsaken as being little more than an hour and a half commercial for its own soundtrack. Admittedly though, there ARE some pretty kick-ass tunes in this flick. However, they are kind of out of place and Cardone's attempt to cash in on the 'kewl' factor is more than just a little obvious.

I think my biggest issue with the Forsaken is its main character Sean. I just could not get behind this guy at all. He's a little dweeb that thinks his smart-ass mouth and his Dawson's Creek track record will save him from the hell of cinematic obscurity. He pretends at being a take-charge sort, but ultimately you want to slap the shit out of him and tell him to shut the fuck up. I never felt a sense of danger for the character since I knew that no matter what; he was going to emerge from this flick as the hero. At least he didn't wind up getting the girl and riding off into the bloody sunset. That would have REALLY chapped my ass.

I also felt the climax of the film was a little too picture-perfect. Come on now, what are the chances of these guys seeking refuge at a diner that just HAPPENS to be built overtop an old cemetery (Hallowed ground). The writers got lazy at this point and were obviously stuck for a means by which to bring everything to a close. I get the impression that the third act of the script was churned out on the toitey five minutes before principal filming.

I was also hoping for a more spectacular death scene with Kit. I have no initial qualms with it, but they went the distance by telling us that a true Forsaken (not a feeder) could ONLY be killed on Hallowed ground. So that gave me the impression that we were in store for a really spectacular death scene. No dice. Although the car-ramming bit was pretty cool, Cardone punked out and went with the traditional death-by-sunlight ending. Nothing wrong with death-by-sunlight, but after five hundred vampire movies, it proves to be a bit under-whelming.

The Forsaken whores itself as being comparable to From Dusk Till Dawn and the Lost Boys. That is really an unfair accolade. Kit and his crew wouldn't last three minutes at the Titty Twister and David's brood from Lost Boys would chew them up and use their empty skulls as Tupperware. They would rip off Kit's penis and beat him across the face with it. The Forsaken is a halfway decent flick, but please don't expect a cult following to emerge from this film.

Great Lines:

"What if in the newspaper tomorrow you read about some slacker road kill animal that has been killed on the road by a motor vehicle with a picture of my face staring back at you! Could you live with that?" --Nick trying to convince Sean to give him a ride.

"We're a bunch of fast-food munching MTV freaks humping the great American dream. The generation before us sold their innocence for 200 satellite stations. It's been downhill ever since. They had Mickey Mouse, Easy Rider and the Beatles. We got South Park, The Blair Bitch and Ricky Martin. All right, they had "Be here now!" We got "Shit happens." If that doesn't put things in perspective, what does? We're Microsoft Neanderthals addicted to surfing netland, shitting in our nests. Every time I think about giving a rat's ass, I just picture Monica making millions from sucking Bill's little red rooster. Just rockets me right back into reality." --Nick's views on life.

Overall Rating: 6 out of 10 severed heads

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