Blade (1998)

1998’s Blade gives us one of the most iconic opening scenes of all time: a hot girl drags a goofy guy through a butcher shop to the entrance of a secret club filled with writhing bodies undulating to a techno beat. Hot people make out in corners and eye the guy like he’s a lone zebra calf on an open plain and they’re a pack of lions. Suddenly, the club’s sprinkler system goes off—but instead of water, the sprinklers are spraying blood. “What’s the matter, baby?” the girl asks, her fangs bared. Just when you think this guy is going to become vamp dinner, Blade, the Daywalker, shows up.

Wesley Snipes is incredible as Blade, the stoic, self-hating half-vampire determined to protect the human race from the worst of his kind. Blade is a bit goofy at times, sure, but we also get banger performances from Kris Kristofferson as Blade’s comrade in arms and Stephen Dorff as an evil vampire club owner. It’s a classic flick, and I really really really hope we can see Mahershala Ali step into Blade’s leather fit sometime soon. — AM