Blade (1998)

Some heroes are born in darkness, forced to fight the very thing they're part of. Stephen Norrington's "Blade," written by David S. Goyer from the Marvel Comics character, stars Wesley Snipes as a tortured half-human, half-vampire warrior. His mother was bitten by a vampire while pregnant with him, and he was born with vampires' strength and speed but none of their weaknesses, able to walk freely in daylight, though he needs a special serum to suppress his thirst for blood. Armed with silver stakes, garlic-loaded shotgun shells, ultraviolet lamps and a gleaming sword, he hunts them with help from his gruff mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). The film opens with a spectacular vampire rave in a hidden nightclub, where blood rains down from the sprinklers. Beneath the city, vampires secretly control much of the world's wealth and power, ruled by an aristocratic council of pureblooded elders (led by Udo Kier). But a ruthless, ambitious young vampire, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), who was turned rather than born a vampire, defies the elders and deciphers an ancient prophecy that will let him summon a terrifying blood god and enslave humanity, and he needs Blade's unique blood to do it. Blade must stop him, with help from a hematologist (N'Bushe Wright) he saves after she's bitten by a vampire in a hospital, and who searches for a cure. Along the way, Blade learns a shocking secret about his own past. Donal Logue plays Frost's wisecracking henchman, and it all builds to a fierce sword battle. Sequels followed in 2002 and 2004.