But, death doesn’t agree with the increasingly also-ran Liu, and she reawakens as nosferatu with a soul, seeking revenge on the mothersuckers who turned her into one of them.

Although “vampire” is never mentioned in his script, writer/director Gutierrez rips off The Hunger, Buffy and Blade (and the entire plot of Kill Bill), playing fast and loose with vampire mythology without bringing anything fresh to the party.

A modest budget is squandered on throat ripping FX, leaving the claret-craving undead sorely lacking in supernatural powers, and poor Lucy Liu going loopy-la on her enemies with a wimpy looking crossbow.

A fun cast, including Carla Gugino as a vampish vamp and Michael Chiklis as a grieving detective avenging his daughter’s death, give this more credit than it deserves, but it still emerges as another blue-filtered, epileptically edited pretend horror movie.

Rent Frostbite or Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction if you’re after a vampire flick pumping with the real red stuff.

Rob Daniel