Before there was a Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was Blade. 25 years ago on August 21, 1998, this unique superhero movie about a vampire-killing daywalker hit theaters, and comic book films were never the same.
Blade has been in high demand by Marvel fans for a new movie, and it’s highly fitting. After all, Blade was the first successful Marvel movie, predating Spider-Man and X-Men, and proving there was an audience for this type of project.
Everything about the movie remains iconic, from Wesley Snipes’ excellent portrayal of Blade, the butt-kicking martial arts fights, and how the film elevated vampires from being gothy romantic whiners back into bloodthirsty freaks! The movie killed at the box office, and earned it two sequels and a TV series. But what stands out the most for many is the opening of the movie – a raucous moment that sets the tone for the entire story, and what’s to come over the next 90 minutes.
The most famous scene in the movie is the Blood Rave, the unforgettable action-packed opener that everyone who’s seen the movie can instantly hum the music for. A hapless human is dragged through a meatpacking factory by his attractive but creepy date, and into an underground dance club like no other.
Everyone is vibing to the pulsing beats, until the unimaginable happens. A trickle of red drips down from the ceiling, erupting into a shower of blood! The throbbing techno music becomes a funeral dirge for our victim, with every raver sprouting fangs and a newfound appetite for flesh. Blade makes his grand entrance by crashing the party, taking out droves of vampires in dramatic fashion, and showing off many of his wonderful toys.
The location of the Blood Rave took awhile to find, but once they secured it, they knew they were about to do something special. The site was a perfect choice – an actual meatpacking facility that had seen better days. The film crew barely had to put any work in to dress the place up! What they did have to do was rig up a sprinkler system to make that crimson rain shower happen.
The scene took three days to film, and was far from easy. According to Snipes, the extras had to stay in their sticky blood-soaked outfits for continuity, the set reeking from the corn syrup used to make the goo.
“Some of them are still traumatized from that experience,” Snipes explained. “The very first take, they knew that something was going to spill on them, but they didn’t know it was gonna’ be like that. And some of the people freaked out! It wasn’t real blood, it wasn’t Carrie, right? But they freaked out and left, they quit. Like, “No more.”
25 years later, a new Blade movie is on the horizon, with Mahershala Ali in the lead role. Unfortunately, the Hollywood Strike has temporarily shut down production on the film, but once things get moving, we’re optimistic this movie won’t be like a vampire and suck.
Blade can be bought or rented from Amazon, YouTube, and other on-demand services.