Blade (1998 film)
Blade (1998) is a vampire movie adapted from a comic book. It stars Wesley Snipes (as Blade) and Kris Kristofferson (as Abraham Whistler). It was directed by Stephen Norrington. Snipes plays the character of Blade, a half-man, half-vampire who becomes the protector of humans against the vampires. It spawned a sequel, Blade II released in 2002.
The movie features Traci Lords, the former pornographic actress, as Racquel, a vampire who is shown covered in blood in one notable scene.
Origins
The character Blade was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan and was a supporting character in the 1970s comic Tomb of Dracula. In the comic, Blade's mother, was bitten by vampire Deacon Frost while she was in labor with Blade. Thus, Blade was born as a Dhampir, a human with vampire genes. In the comic, for most purposes, Blade was a normal human, except he wore shaded goggles presumably to protect against bright light (a vampire weakness). Blade's initial mission was to avenge his mother's death and in his quest, he would fight many vampires including Dracula. Due to his mecurical temperment, Blade had a strained but steady relationship with Quincy Harker, Rachel Van Helsing, and Frank Drake, vampire hunters dedicated to destroying Dracula. Blade eventually encountered Hannibal King, a private detective who had been turned vampire by Deacon Frost. While initially distrusting King, the two teamed up to destroy Frost and forging a lasting friendship between Blade and King.
In later comic series, Blade, along with King, and Drake became a frequent ally of Doctor Strange and assisted in the casting of the Montesi formula which destroyed Dracula and for a time all vampires on Earth. Blade, King, and Drake later formed a private detective agency called Borderline Inc (aka Nightstalkers) They battled various supernatural villains such as the Darkholders, Hydra's DOA, the Lilin, and Varnae.