First of all, I'd like to say that I went into this picture with zero expectations and came out with a slight fondness for it. It certainly isn't a the top of the list of great horror films, but in a year that has seen schlocky, uninspired trash like Valentine, The Forsaken has some moments worth noting.

Brendan Fehr plays a B horror movie trailer editor (how's that for post modern) who agrees to drive a car cross country for a little extra cash. On his travels, he picks up hitchhiker Kerr Smith who lets him in on some startling information. It seems that there are vampires in this particular neck of the woods. Fehr doesn't exactly know how to react to this until he is inadvertently bitten by a young woman that they meet in a bar. Now, Fehr is in a race against time as he struggles to find and destroy the vampire that has left him infected before he himself, changes into a full fledged bloodsucker.

Obviously, The Forsaken is very reminiscent of other vampire pictures such as Vampires, Blade, and most notably Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark. Still, I thought the picture had some inventive special effects and really admired it's darkness.

Writer/director J.S. Cardone keeps the movie moving along at a quick pace although it becomes very disjointed in the final act. There's is nothing too impressive about the performances. Fehr and Smith give the flick a Dawson's Creek sort of vibe while Jonathan Schaech hams it up as the leader of the vampire pack. This is just mindless entertainment and usually it worked.

Throughout the movie, they constantly refer to the vampire bite as a virus, as if it the film makers are trying to make this some sort of metaphor for Aids. It's all pretty silly, but The Forsaken has enough scares, gore and creative special effects to keep it from being a total waste.