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Film Preview: Rise: Blood Hunter

By: Peter Schmitz

Saturday April 28, 2007

Lucy Liu stars
Rise is a supernatural thriller in which a reporter (Liu) wakes up in a morgue to discover she is no longer among the living. She vows revenge against the cult responsible for putting her there and hunts them down one by one. Chiklis plays 'Rawlins,' a haunted police detective whose daughter is killed by the same cult and seeks answers for her gruesome death.

Writer/Director Sebastian Gutierrez reveals, "Rise is a serial killer movie in which our protagonist is the serial killer, and we, the audience, want her to commit the killings." He counters, "If it was just a straight revenge tale, it becomes more of an action movie-I am interested in the emotional moments." He adds, "At the heart of the story there is this emotional core. It's very sad-Sadie's been killed. It's the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. She is trying to understand it, put an end to those that wronged her, and die again. There is this sense of dread, of the wrong that has already happened and you can't correct it-you just learn to understand it-or not."

He offers, "Sadie has become something that she doesn't want to be and she struggles with that for the entire film and tries to do the right thing under those circumstances which you know is a pretty tough thing for her to go through."

Liu continues, "Sadie wants to be alive again, but she can't have that. What is her option? What is her choice? She tries to kill herself-but no, that's not going to work, so she chooses this path. It's a story where people die for a reason."

In Theaters June 1st


As 'Sadie,' a reporter who transforms herself into a killer once she realizes it's the only way she can avenge her murderers, Liu reveals, "She's a normal person that's caught up in this insane situation. She comes on really strong, and then as we watch the movie, we see that she's completely unraveled and must become a soldier and warrior."

Chiklis, known by many for his role as 'Vic Mackey' on the popular television show "The Shield," explains his character of 'Detective Rawlins,' "He's different than any other cop that I've played; he's perhaps the most damaged-he's lost everything that mattered to him-his daughter-to these monsters. He's really hurting and damaged, and wants to exact revenge on those responsible for his daughter's death."

Rise Lucy Liu


Chiklis admits, "My character is very much in a vigilante mode in this film. Yet in connecting with this girl 'Sadie,' there's this undercurrent of hope and even if he's beyond hope, as damaged as he is, he finds hope with her since she's even more damaged than him. Their mistrusting relationship turns into a strange partnership, to almost a relationship where there's this odd, for want of a better word, sort of love between them."

Carla Gugino, who starred in Gutierrez's other two films, admits, "It's always exciting to be on any project where the director has a really strong vision. And with this movie, we have a phenomenal director of photography, John Toll, and an amazing group of actors, so there is a great level of collaboration."

Rise Lucy Liu


When speaking of Academy Award-winning Cinematographer John Toll, ASC, Chiklis agrees, "John Toll is a legend. He's perhaps one of the best three cinematographers alive right now and certainly one of my favorites. I honestly wanted to work with him, too, so that just finished it for me-I was like 'I'm in!'" Chiklis considers, "The appeal of a true noir is that the classic look is from the shadows. This movie isn't about special effects-this is about actors and cameras. This is about light and dark and creepy things in the shadows. Any artist that's in the film business loves films that are shot this way." James D'Arcy, who plays the villainous leader of the cult, muses, "I think it's a film noir that lives in this strange heightened reality. I hesitate to say that it's a horror film or a vampire film because I don't think it does justice what Sebastian has written. There's a much stronger undercurrent than those terms would suggest passing through the film. I'm hoping we're making something that is very emotional and very real."