Taglines: The night… has an appetite.
The Forsaken movie storyline. Genre writer / director J.S. Cardone crafts his own history of the vampire legend in this teen horror outing that takes place primarily in desert locations, à la Near Dark (1987) and Vampires (1998). Sean (Kerr Smith) is traveling across the desert to attend his sister’s wedding when he picks up an unusual hitchhiker, Nick (Brendan Fehr).
A vampire hunter, Nick soon has Sean embroiled in a battle between himself and a band of the undead creatures led by Kit (Johnathon Schaech). Caught in the middle of the supernatural shenanigans with Sean is Megan (Izabella Miko), who had been nearly turned into a vampire herself by Kit and his followers. Sean and Megan develop a romantic attachment, which encounters a further obstacle when Sean is infected with the vampire virus; only Kit’s death can prevent Sean from permanently becoming one of the nosferatu.
The Forsaken is a 2001 American horror film written and directed by J. S. Cardone, and starring Kerr Smith, Brendan Fehr, Izabella Miko, and Jonathan Schaech. The film follows a young film editor on a cross-country trip who comes across a hitchhiker and a disoriented young woman in the Arizona desert who are connected to a cult of vampires.
About the Story
Sean (Kerr Smith) is driving cross country to his sister’s wedding when he picks up Nick (Brendan Fehr), a hitchhiker who happens to be a vampire hunter hunting a group of vampires led by Kit (Johnathon Schaech), one of the Forsaken; a group of French Knights of the First Crusade who made a pact with the fallen angel Abaddon to live forever.
There were nine knights: eight were turned into vampires and became known as the Forsaken; the ninth was a sacrifice to Abaddon to seal the pact. Of the eight, four are dead, one is in Europe, one in Africa, and two in the United States (including the one Nick is tracking, Kit). Nick was bitten and “infected” by a vampire but, thanks to an antiviral drug cocktail, the vampire “virus” is kept at bay.
Each of the Forsaken carry a unique strain of vampirism and killing the Forsaken kills the entire bloodline; killing all the vampires descended from it, and stopping anyone just bitten from turning, which is why Nick is hunting this particular Forsaken. He believes him to be the one that his bloodline is descended from and that if he kills him, he will be cured before he turns (as the drug cocktail eventually will lose effect).
At first Sean is less than willing to indulge his new acquaintance, but then they find Megan (Izabella Miko), a girl Sean finds he is attracted to, bitten and left for dead by the vampires. Nick also proves he is telling the truth by killing a vampire, Teddy (Alexis Thorpe), by exposure to sunlight.
When Sean is bitten by Megan, their only hope is to kill the Forsaken responsible before they turn. Forsaken can only be slain on hallowed ground, so the three head for a Spanish mission 60 miles away – chased by the vampires and their day driver Penn (Simon Rex). After a battle on the road, Penn is killed and the car is running out of gas as its tank was shot so they are unable to reach the mission.
They stop at a gas station where an old woman, Ina (Carrie Snodgress), lets them in after seeing Megan. She shows them a newspaper connecting Megan to a bloodbath in Arizona; when Megan wakes up and is coherent enough to talk, she explains she was a victim of the vampires’ bloodbath (led by Kit) and after Kit bit her he left Teddy to kill her, which she did not do for some reason. Kit and Cym (Phina Oruche) then catch up to them and lay siege to the gas station.
The Forsaken (2001)
Directed by: J. S. Cardone
Starring: Kerr Smith, Brendan Fehr, Izabella Miko, Johnathon Schaech, Phina Oruche, Simon Rex, Alexis Thorpe, Carrie Snodgress, Julia Schultz, Jamie Marsh
Screenplay by: J. S. Cardone
Production Design by: Martina Buckley
Cinematography by: Steven Bernstein
Film Editing by: Norman Buckley
Costume Design by: Ernesto Martinez
Art Direction by: Trevor Murray
Music by: Tim Jones, Johnny Lee Schell, Kid Rock, Nickelback
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence / gore, language and sexuality.
Distributed by: Sony ScreenGems
Release Date: April 27, 2001
Views: 155
