I was ready to love this movie.

Okay, I'm lying. When I read the synopsis that came with the screener I wanted to hug my infant son and cry.

But when I popped it in and it was totally likable and actually...intentionally funny, I started to fall in love.

You see Richard is pretty much done with his cheating whore of a wife (with Kato Kaelin, no less) and calls an infomercial to get vamped up and take revenge on his wife. All the while, it's being told in a great noir vibe is set. I was diggin' this. So he gets turned, but also dies. Before hand, though, he cuts his cheatin' wife out of the will so she doesn't get dime one. Well, this bites him in the ass at the funeral, since she can't afford to pay to have him buried..so, cremated it is!

Five years go by and the worthless bitch didn't bother to pick up his ashes. A couple of satanists spill some blood in the morgue and his ashes fall into the blood and somehow Richard lives again. Nice effects here, too, keeping with the Angel vibe before they started ripping it.

Oh, the above scene also included my 2nd favorite (next to Matt Damon in Eurotrip) cameo. Dennis Haskins! (Mr. Belding, c'mon!) He plays a freakin' satanist! It's awesome! Short sentences!

From here, Richard starts his quest to find out what exactly to do from here...unfortunately that includes the usual 'origin' type story, which I find boring. I actually almost fell asleep, but to the film's credit I had a big lunch and was laying on the bed while watching the movie.

This is about where the movie takes a less interesting turn and proclaims that Richard is the 'vampire with a soul', the 'chosen one'. Wow. Really?

It also pushes the successfully done Angel perfect blend of action and comedy..only not as consistent. The jokes are either really great and work beautifully or the fall on their faces. Same with about half the cast. Director Jeff Rector did a great job in the lead as Richard, and some of the supporting cast (especially the great cameos) did great...but then it leaves the shoddy work from the rest of the cast. 100% of the 'evil' vampires were totally unintentionally laughable simply because they were over the top and retarded. The big blonde wrasslin' looking motherfucker playing the head vampire was the biggest offender in the movie. I swear this joker came straight from the MORTAL KOMBAT: ANNIHILATION SCHOOL OF ACTING.

However, the special effects were damn fun, the music worked, and overall it was good fun until the last act. Oh, and there's one awesomely bad 'NOOOOOO!' from Jeff Rector that almost seems like they used a sound bite from Episode III. I laughed.

It hit dvd store shelves today (2/19), and I'd advise a rental or netflix it. If you're really heavy into Angel and low budget movies, I'd plop down ten bucks for it...if it had some great special features.