A Tale of Revenge?
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. 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.”
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.”
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.”
Liu agrees, “My character has an objective and she needs to see it through. ‘Rawlins’ comes in because of his own objective of trying to figure out who killed his daughter. They sort of clash, but then it turns into a partnership.”
Gutierrez further elaborates on the nature of his two lead characters’ relationship, “It’s very volatile and goes through a gamut of things—from antagonist to sexual tension to father figure to not trusting each other to trusting each other—there are all sort of things that happen between them.”
He simplifies, “Our protagonist is left for dead at the beginning. In its simplest level, once she realizes she can’t die the way that other people can die, she decides to stop them from doing this to anybody else.”
To Be A ‘Vampire’ or Not To Be A ‘Vampire’?
Writer / Director Sebastian Gutierrez describes, “The word ‘vampire’ is never mentioned in the script. You never see things that you see in certain vampire movies—like somebody biting somebody’s neck and blood coming out. The vampires look like regular people; they are not paler.”
He smiles, “But there are a couple of vampire conventions that we couldn’t get rid of. Like sunlight is not so fun for them—but I don’t think they melt in the sun as much as they get a really bad migraine.”
Liu concedes, “It’s atypical because there’s no fangs, there’s not garlic around the neck, there’s no cross.”
Gugino admits, “It’s about playing with some of those clichés, but not making them obvious by turning them on their head which is cool.”
James D’Arcy, a British actor known to American audiences for his turn in “Master And Commander,” plays ‘Bishop.’ He compliments, “Sebastian has done a fantastic job creating this world where he’s avoiding as many of the clichés as possible. We never call anybody a vampire, there are no teeth, nobody sleeps in coffins.”
D’Arcy continues, “The script is rooted in some kind of reality. It’s obviously somewhat unbelievable in that it’s about vampires, but actually at the heart of the story there is something that I think anybody can relate to.”
A Little Movie with Big Cameos
One of the unique aspects of the Director Sebastian Gutierrez’s script is the interesting roles that exist in it. As ‘Sadie’ goes on her journey, she runs into some intriguing, amusing and strange people. Thanks to Gutierrez’s reputation in Hollywood, casting those roles, even the smallest, wasn’t difficult. He considers, “Maybe it’s because I’m a writer that I’m usually very compassionate to my characters. This movie is in no way cruel, even though violent and horrible things happen in the movie. Even the alleged bad guys have a good side.”
Robert Forster, who many know from his Oscar-nominated performance in “Jackie Brown,” will appear at the very beginning of the movie in a brief, but key scene. Audiences will also encounter Cameron Richardson, known to many for her role in “Point Pleasant,” who joins Forster in his scene.
Samaire Armstrong, whose best known for her roles on Fox’s “The O.C.” and HBO’s “Entourage,” appears as ‘Jenny,’ one of Bishop’s victims who tragically learns that his line, ‘Sex and murder are the only pleasures left to man,’ is not meant to seduce her, but rather to warn of the pending doom.
In addition, Nick Lachey, whose past acting credits include guests appearances on the WB’s “Charmed” and a cameo in 2005’s “Bewitched,” makes an appearance as ‘Dwayne.’
Writer/Director Gutierrez commends, “Nick is very funny as ‘Dwayne’ in this sort of endearing, not so bright, not the sharpest tool in the shed, kind of guy.”
Another key cameo is Goth icon, Marilyn Manson, who ironically doesn’t play a ‘vampire’ as many of his fans would think, but rather acts as a ‘bartender.’ Manson muses, “I thought it would be ironic to be in a vampire movie and not be a vampire.”
A film buff himself, he adds, “When I read the script, I thought it was great. The genre is handled in a way that’s clever and new.”
Gutierrez comments, “I think it was really fun for Manson to play somebody that is not one of the weirdoes of the movie—he’s actually a regular guy. I’m not sure if his fans will recognize him since he’s not in his full makeup, but he’s playing a character and he’s really good at playing a character.”
As for his look in the film, Manson reveals, “I had just finished my tour in Russia and had grown a beard, so when I called the production and told them, they were very excited because it would be something different. Plus, I wanted to be something different, not what people expect. I take off the lipstick, too.”
Regarding the existence of vampires, Manson smirks, “Do I believe in vampires? Maybe not the fangs so much, but there are vampires out there… They’re called lawyers and managers!”
“Rise” Rises to the Occasion
Carla Gugino who plays ‘Eve,’ a member of the vicious cult, suggests, “I think this is an incredibly entertaining movie. It’s sexy, it’s thrilling and there is also a lot of pathos. There’s guilt and redemption—some very major issues in life are in this movie.”
Michael Chiklis proposes, “Horror films and thrillers will always be a popular genre because it has to do with human nature—especially for the youth—since it’s about facing your fears—that’s something that’s part of being a human being.”
As a non-linear tale, Director Sebastian Gutierrez promises, “The pace of the movie is very fast-moving—all sorts of things happen. And because it’s out of order, it’s sort of nightmarish. Sadie has these claustrophobic moments that she keeps coming back to and we understand where the story is going, but it doesn’t start at the beginning—it keeps going all over the place.”
Rise: Blood Hunter (2007)
Directed by: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Lucy Liu, Michael Chiklis, Carla Gugino, Cameron Richardson, James D’Arcy, Mako, Samantha Shelton, Margo Harshman, Kevin Wheatley, Robert Forster, Allan Rich
Screenplay by: Sebastian Gutierrez
Production Design by: Jerry Fleming
Cinematography by: John Toll
Film Editing by: Lisa Bromwell, Robb Sullivan
Music by: Nathan Barr
MPAA Rating: R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity, language, and brief drug use.
Distributed by: Destination Films
Release Date: June 1, 2007
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