Blade is a karate-kicking, sword-wielding vampire hunter with a cool sense of fashion and a muscle car to die for; but this bloody movie is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach.

Eric Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a vampire hunter of a special kind -- a "daywalker." When his mother was pregnant with him, she was attacked by a vampire. The bite infected him and he was born with several vampire traits: strength, speed, regeneration and blood thirst.

Blade devoted his life to eradicating the things that killed his mother. He joined forces with Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who handles the scientific research and weapons development.

A vampire that Blade sent to the morgue comes back to life and bites Dr. Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright), a hematologist. Blade takes her to Whistler for treatment. Since the vampires will be coming after her, she decides to stay with Blade and Whistler and work on developing a cure for vampirism.

Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) was not born a vampire. He was bitten and transformed. He desires to take over the world and become the head vampire. He decodes the vampires' secret records and discovers how to resurrect La Magra, the Blood God, by using the "Spirits of Twelve," which he assumes to be the 12 vampires of their leadership council. As Frost works to put his plan into motion, Blade fights the clock (and Frost's minions) to stop him.

The special effects in Blade are stunning! This movie is loaded with them. The makeup is also some of the best in the business. The exploding vampires are great and Pearl, the Recordkeeper, is repulsive in every meaning of the word.

Talk about action! Snipes puts his fifth-degree black belt to extensive use with kicks, jumps, floor spins and even a few contortionist moves. He is matched, move-for-move, by a multitude of high-kicking bad guys.

The story is well-written and interesting. It has a few new twists on the vampire legends and is different enough from the other vampire movies to command the attention of almost every vampire or horror fan.

The acting is fantastic. Dorff could not be more ideal as the power-crazed, less-than-pure vampire. Snipes gives Blade an air of mystery and duality throughout the movie. It cannot be easy to live up to people's expectations when you try to bring a comic-book character to life, but Snipes does an excellent job. (Yes, Blade is brought to life directly from the pages of the comic books written by Marv Wolfman for Marvel.)

Blade is one of my favorite vampire stories and I have the trilogy. Blade II was released in 2002 and Blade Trinity in 2004. Snipes picked up a cult following for Blade and I am sure all the fans will agree with me that we would like to see more.

If you have not seen Blade you have missed one of the best in the vampire sector. This is a must-have for horror collections. Martial arts fans will find this one exceptionally enjoyable as Snipes kicks lots of vampire butts.