NIGHT WATCH

STARRING: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Maria Poroshina

DIRECTOR: Timur Bekmambetov

RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes

RATING: R for language and violent imagery

An epic battle between good and bad is prophesied in this kinetic horror saga. In Russian with English subtitles.

The vampire thriller "Night Watch" packs quite a bite for those desiring a fantasy saga to sink their teeth into.

The Russian-made mythology - the first of a planned trilogy based on the writings of science-fiction writer Sergei Lukyanenko - broke that country’s box office records when it debuted in the summer of 2004.

The story’s a timeless one - the confrontation between good and evil - and here it’s presented with a sense of foreboding that looms like the sea of computer-generated crows who gather overhead.

The film’s $4 million budget - large by Russian standards, minuscule by Hollywood’s - offers razzle-dazzle special effects and an atmosphere marked by Moscow’s ominous and desolate streets and buildings where danger lurks.

"Night Watch" opens with a truce established in 1342 A.D. between the other-world forces of Light and Darkness, which forbids recruitment or killing by either side. It concludes with the arrival of the Great One (no, not Wayne Gretzky) prophesied to tilt the balance. In between, both sides stick to an uneasy truce that threatens to careen into all-out war.

The film’s protagonist is the quietly brooding Anton Gorodensky (Konstantin Khabensky), a Protector of the Light tormented by a pact made with a witch 12 years earlier to abort the fetus his girlfriend carried by another man. That experience brings him into the Other World, inhabited with supernatural beings like himself who are either good or bad.

Anton patrols the Dark Ones at night to uphold the peace, occasionally entering a treacherous dimension called the Gloom. His orders come from centuries-old leader Boris Geser (Vladimir Menshov), one of the film’s many tough-talking, no-nonsense characters.

Andre’s attempts to keep a young boy, Yegor (Dima Martynov), from the clutches of a vampire is a crucial sub-plot. In the film’s funniest moment, Yegor is watching WB’s "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." When a vampire reveals he is Dracula, a dumbstruck Sarah Michelle Gellar answers, "Get out!"

The movie shifts into high gear after Anton recognizes the cursed Svetlana (Maria Poroshina) - a kindly doctor whose presence heralds "the final battle." His pursuit of her leads to a shattering revelation that won’t be resolved until a later installment.

"Night Watch" is the latest fantasy film whose production values and storytelling owe a debt to comic books and music videos. It’s no surprise, then, that director Timur Bekmambetov’s career has been built on commercials and music videos.

Bekmambetov shows considerable imagination and little restraint in using special effects. Time is suspended in freeze frames, or propelled forward in time-lapse fashion. Hand-drawn animation is used in one scene, hyper-reality the next.

But the impressive - if overused - effects are just the frosting. It’s the mythology’s storyline and inevitable climactic battle between good and evil that will leave viewers waiting for more.