After outfitting the disastrous “Alone in the Dark” with elements of “Blade,” one might expect director Uwe Boll to be closer to his element in the vampire thriller, “Bloodrayne.”

Unfortunately, the vampires of “Bloodrayne” are unbelievably weak, like most everything else in the movie.

Rayne (Kristanna Loken) is a dhampir, a legendary result of vampire-human union. Rayne carries a heavy grudge against her dad, Lord Kagan (Ben Kingsley).

To this end, Rayne teams up with vampire hunters Sebastian (Matthew Davis), Vladimir (Michael Madsen) and Katarin (Michelle Rodriguez) to prevent Kagan from laying claim to three mystical artifacts.

“Bloodrayne” is a little more accomplished than its predecessors. The plot does strive for an element of intrigue, and there is certainly a mythology surrounding characters and history, even if Boll fails to explain it to the audience. Like all of Boll’s infamous films, “Bloodrayne” is based on a video game. And like all of Boll’s past failures, the story of the film is a departure from the story of the actual game. The story suffers as a result and the film ends in uncertainty in a attempt to reconcile the century-long gap between the movie and game.

Of the film’s main cast, only Loken exerts any charisma. Kingsley shuffles through his lines quickly, in a possible attempt to limit his screen time. Madsen comes off as oddly stolid and stone-like in the film, and everyone else seems lost in poor dialogue and unexplainable motivation.

There are a few shining lights in the back of the cast. Billy Zane, portraying Katarin’s vampiric father, doesn’t seem to care one way or the other, and his nonchalant performance brightens a film otherwise marred by complete self-absorption. In addition, Meat Loaf appears randomly, finger-painting with blood on Romanian prostitutes, proving vampires have the mentality of preschoolers.

Many critics compare Boll’s work to Ed Wood, director of such cheese as “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” But this is an unfair comparison; Wood’s work is a treat to watch, while Boll’s work is not.