Guns, gore, mayhem, monsters, crashes, fights, explosions, shootings, shock cuts, along with some sex - that's just a taste of what awaits in this ready-for-prime-time thriller. The sequel to 2001's vampire-porn hit is as slick and scary as a mainstream shocker. Break out the popcorn along with the lube.

A tribe of the undead haunts nocturnal Los Angeles, living off the blood of transients and hookers. Their leader Draken (Barrett Blade) is on the trail of a clueless waitress (Sunny Lane), who happens to have the "unique" bloodline he needs to preserve his diabolic dynasty.

Sunny finds shelter with Jack Cross (Dillon), the vampire hunter from the first Dark Angels, who has devised an ingenious method involving light to exterminate zombies.

Blade and Evan Stone (also returning from the original) are genuinely chilling as the blood-slurping villains. Dillon has an action-hero aura and a smooth command of the dialogue. Lane, cute and cuddly, totally convinces as the vampires' intended prey. She has the quivering vulnerability of a silent movie damsel in distress.

The sex scenes, while extremely well shot and performed, seem just a tad perfunctory, as if they were something the director had to get through before getting back to the real action.

But that director, Nic Andrews, is one gifted guy. No other porn creator seems better equipped to transition to real-world moviemaking.

He has a great feel for the way film should flow; the editing is superb. The rich, heightened colors of his videography and the slightly stylized sets create haunting images of a world of menace. And the special effects and monster makeup are just about state of the art.

If this sequel lacks a bit of its predecessor's power, it may be because its antagonist is male instead of the undeadly female so unforgettably embodied by Sydney Steele. Blade is a good bad guy, but a good mean girl might have been even better.

Still, this is an impressive achievement and a natural for cable channels in an R-rated cut.

Pre-noms: Best Video. Best Director, Video: Nic Andrews. Best Videography: Nic Andrews. Best Screenplay: Nic Andrews. Best Editing: Nic Andrews. Best Special Effects: Eye Candy. Best Art Direction. Best Music: Derik Andrews. Best Actress, Video: Sunny Lane. Best Actor, Video: Dillon, Barrett Blade. Best Supporting Actor, Video: Evan Stone. Best DVD Extras. Best DVD Menus.

Retailing: The original's a classic and folks will want the follow-up, so stock deep and watch them fly.