Jake West talks about his film Razor Blade Smile which is coming to a cinema in a city near you soon.

The Chronicles thought it was about time we found out more about this soon to be released blood-fest. So just before Christmas we contacted the writer and director of Razor Bade Smile, Jake West, and invited him out for a drink.

After working directing short films, pop promos, 'Cut Scenes' for interactive games and editing numerous film trailers since leaving film school Jake West has just finalised a distribution deal with Manga to release his first feature film. So he is justifiably happy as he won't now have to find the finance to transfer Razor Blade Smile to 35mm film from the 16mm he shot the picture on. He explains the film was brought in at under a million pounds and when making a feature spec with private investment it's hard to justify the extra expense of shooting on 35mm without the guarantee of a theatrical release. But now through Manga that release is assured. Which means in most major cities in the country there should be a print of the film showing in a cinema come late Spring or early Summer depending on cinema chain's schedules.

Other than a life long love for vampire films and the genre in general, Jake settled on this subject matter for his first feature because "Vampire films are good for low budget productions because they are not extensive in terms of effect work. Blood effects and teeth and that kind of thing are quote 'realistic' to do even if you have not got a whole load of money." He deliberately wrote the script around locations that he knew he would be able to film in... "like the Transilvania Horror Bar, my parent's house, in the streets and on the tube."

The film starts off in the middle of the 19th century when Lilith, our protagonist, played by Redemption model Eileen Daly, is gunned down when intervening in a duel between her then lover and Sethane Blake (Christopher Adamson, who played Mean Machine in Judge Dredd). Sethane Blake is a vampire however and he bestows a dark gift on Lilith and her life doesn't end "...the real fun was about to begin, still how was I to know that?" says Daly's character "back then I was only human!"

The story picks up again 150 years later in the present day. Lilith is undead and well and working as a contract killer a logical decision as vampires have to kill to exist so Lilith may as well as make a living out of it as well. Beats signing on. So here we have a vampire Nikita who will out fight Emma Peel, out dress Catwoman and bust Barbwire's tits. As this is the 90s and we are in a post X Files age there is a conspiracy theory as well involving the sinister masonic like "Illuminati" sect who also have vampires working in their midst. On top of this Lilith the hunter is being tracked by the police in the form of D.I. Ray Price (Jonathan Coote) and a forensic scientist nicknamed the "Horror Movie Man", due to his complete disbelief in anything supernatural, played by the late David Warbeck. Jake says it was great working with someone as experienced as David Warbeck because he always knew who or what the cameras were focused on and how to act around that. A true professional. A great sadness is felt by all those working on Razor Blade Smile, more so as it was David Warbeck's last film.

With the jump to the 1990s Lilith's costume style also leaps forward. Dina Costello, the costume stylist for Razor Blade Smile, dresses our vampire heroine in outfits that would be perfectly at home in 97's release Preaching to the Perverted. "some of the gear we have got on show in the movie is rarely seen outside the pages of magazines like Skin Two and the exclusive confines of certain clubs. I wanted a costume look that would keep the audience's eyes glued to the screen." Dina reports. She has used clothes from the London based fetish designers Murray and Vern and some beautiful jewellery supplied by Kensington Market's Black Rose.

The majority of the film has been shot on location in and around London, Kent and Buckinghamshire using the locations that Jake knew he could work in when he was planning and writing the script. We see the bustling night life of London, the Transilvania H.B, huge mansion houses, spectacular rock formations and forest terrain. " The geography in the film is diverse - not only are we spanning time, but giving people a chance to see an England they rarely see on celluloid." Jake says. He is also fed up with the British looking like the most socially repressed nation in the world. "It's time we regained a sense of cool sophistication like we had in the 60s, the UK was the style capital of the world, hopefully that could one day be the same again. So at least if you like vampires, fetish gear, outrageous set pieces, sex, shoot-outs and blood sucking here is a film that does not hold back."

Liking rubber and PVC garments is one thing but having to wear them all day in the winter, when the film was shot is another. Both Jake and Eileen Daly think low budget film makers should work in the winter as no one stands around as it is freezing cold. Daly comments "It's supposed to be summer but it was really winter and I had the cat suit on. I was working so hard doing kickboxing, shooting and running around that I started to sweat. And the sweat contained within this rubber costume was turning cold, so I had this icy cold sweat swishing around against my body. Ugghh!"

The whole cast and crew pulled together in these adverse conditions and just got the job done, working long hours and putting up with weather.

From the promo trailer shown at Vampyria Jake's experience and expertise as an editor and action director of Cut Scenes for CD ROMs is obvious and if this energy is brought to the rest of the film it should be brilliant. He sites Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson and Robert Rodriguez as some of his film making influences, Raimi and Rodriguez at least are action orientated directors.

This quality was obviously apparent in the script as the first person Jake showed it to, Rob Mercer of Beatnik Films, signed on as co-producer, Rob says he was completely rivetted by the script and left a frenzied message on Jake's answer phone. "Here was something genuinely Original."

The quality of the script has also helped keep the cost of the budget down. On the strength of Jake's writing Philip Cooper and Hamish at Arri Media Film Services donated all the camera equipment free. Some other amazing deals were struck in the form of Kodak who supplied half of the film stock for free. Also Will Jeffery at Maverick Media who not only invested in the film but also supplied his office as one location for the shoot.

Even after a year from doing the main shooting for the film Jake is still hyper enthusiastic about the project. He has not made a vampire horror film for financial gain; he's made it because he loves the horror genre and while he expects the investors in the project to easily get their money back Jake merely shrugs his shoulders at the prospect of himself seeing any of the profits. He just wants us to see his creation. Will we see it uncut though? Or will the censors be busy with their scissors. Jake doesn't see a real problem, although you never can tell. "The censors might have a problem with some of the language, it is a violent action film and the language is in keeping with this so some of it may be fudged."The film is looking at an 18 certificate so the swearing should be safe. The mixture of sex and violence might be another problem though. While there is no hardcore sex imagery in the film it is still quite racey and censors have a dislike of the sex and violence combination and Jake thinks that the sex side is more likely to get cut than the violence. There is a sense of fun about the film which should help ease it past the censors.

Jake hopes he has combined all these elements into a film that is something away from your expectations and which vampire enthusiasts will want to go and see and enjoy. We look forward to the release date.

A further update on Razor Blade Smile in the next issue of the Chronicles.