10 Reasons Why The Blade Movies Still Matter
6. It Was The First Fully Successful Action-Horror Crossover
The 1990s hadn't only been a weak decade for comic book movies; it was also something of a dry spell for horror, a genre which had seemed to go from strength to strength in the preceding two decades.
Blade arrived just as the tide was turning for horror in the wake of Scream, but the two films shared very little common ground thematically or stylistically. Rather than another post-modernist dissection of the genre, Blade was a sincere attempt to blend horror with action; something which filmmakers had struggled to achieve in the past.
1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example, also centred on a vampire hunter with sick martial arts skills; but, while Joss Whedon's TV series would ultimately do that vision justice, director Fran Rubel Kuzui and star Kristy Swanson completely failed to deliver satisfying action sequences. 1994's The Crow was more successful at blending horror and action, but for the most part downplayed its more gruesome and supernatural aspects for a more straightforward revenge thriller.
Blade, however, struck a near perfect balance of Hong Kong-inspired action with grisly vampire horror, thanks to the directorial vision of Norrington, the martial arts proficiency of Snipes, and a world class stunt team including Jeff Imada. Later, Blade II would successfully marry this stylish approach to action with a more old-fashioned, Gothic horror sensibility.
The films made it clear that the previously unlikely bedfellows of horror and action could indeed work perfectly together, blazing the trail for future action-horror crossovers such as the Resident Evil and Underworld franchises.