Directed by Jake West
Eileen Daly, Chris Adamson, Jonathan Coote, Kevin Howarth, Heidi james, Grahame Wood, David Warbeck, Mark Caven
This film was probably the last great independent British horror film of the 1990s and certainly one of the last to be filmed on celuloid before the changeover to video for most low budget independent films. Eileen was given the principal role of Lilith Silver, the protagonist of the film, a frequently fetish clad hitwoman and adventurer who also happens to be a vampire. The role required a range of disciplines and included sword fights, gun battles, stunts and extensive fight scenes. Though it should be noted that Jasmin Lee-Barnes doubled for Eileen for some horse riding sequences. Eileen is not only on-screen for, almost, the film's entire running time but provides narration for the film. The film, whilst being at the time, the cheapest ever film to receive a cinema distribution in the United Kingdom (with an initial budget of £12,000) marked a turning point in vampire cinema which had become something of a joke, with the exceptions being the Hollywood blockbusters of the mid-1990s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Interview With the Vampire, and created a number of much more action oriented and serious vampire films. The role of Lilith Silver, a catsuited vampire hitwoman, would influence Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld series and the look of vampires in the Blade films series among others. Her performance garnered much praise in the press at the time and Eileen was awarded several awards for her performance in the film. Eileen and the director Jake West provided a commentary track for the "Special Edition" of the film which attempted to explain how much sitting around with soup and sandwiches is involved in low budget film making.
Awards for Razor Blade Smile include Grand Prize at the Gérardmer Film Festival (2000), Honorable Mention at the Sweden Fantastic Film Festival (1998), a "Vampire Oscar" for Eileen at Vampyria II in London and the film won most of the top awards in the first B-Movie Film Festival (1999), including Best B-Movie, Director (Jake West), Actress (Eileen Daly), Cinematography, and Special Effects.
Britain’s SFX magazine voted the character of Lilith Silver the 37th sexiest vampire of all time.
Box Office 09/01/1999 "...Striking cinematography....Intense editing....Sometimes style is everything..."
