Razor Blade Smile is anything but the stereotypical vampire story. The writers pulled out all the stops with this tale of cops and fangs.

Lilith Silver (Eileen Daly) is an assassin known as the Angel of Death. She is also a vinyl-clad, atypical vampire.

Lilith gets a contract for multiple targets. The only thing they have in common is the strange ring they each wear. Lilith is instructed to take the rings. The job would be difficult enough just because of the group. They are the "Illuminati" -- "The Lost People." They have been around for centuries but nobody has any specific information on the individual members.

Worse still, one of the hit packets is for New Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Ray Price (Jonathan Coote). At least he will not be difficult to find. An eyewitness to Lilith's last hit has positively identified Lilith and the inspector is hot on her trail, with wooden crosses and stakes in hand.

Razor Blade Smile has the wildest, weirdest camerawork in the vampire sector of the film industry. They use the most unorthodox angles to be imagined. They use bright red blood on black-and-white film. They saturate with color: mono and full-spectrum. They zoom in. They zoom out. They shoot from above and below. They speed up and slow down the film. They move in and out of focus. And they use special lenses and several special effects techniques.

The camera crew on this film definitely earned their pay. It is visually spellbinding and keeps your eyes busy trying to absorb all of the available input. This film has potential as a training aide for video classrooms.

The acting is convincing. I felt Price was a bit weak as the police inspector, but they are reputed to be very low-key and "professionally unemotional," so he may have been playing the role realistically.

The plot is intense and extremely well-written. It screws with your head until the final twist at the end. You will not out-guess this one. It is original and unique. That originality extends to the Gothic bar. I especially loved the coffin table. The whole look and atmosphere is perfect.  

Do not fret if it does not make sense at first. Be patient and continue absorbing the little clues. They give you pieces of the puzzle all the way through, but do not reveal their whammy until the very end. Once the film reaches the climax, all of those pieces fit perfectly in place.

Razor Blade Smile is a horror flick of the "extreme action" kind. It is the first recent vampire film I have seen that I consider to be "gothic" overall. If you like vampire movies, you need to get this one. It will also appeal to almost every action fan. For the women who like a strong woman in the lead, Lilith kicks butt! Get this one. It is unique.