|
|
|
|
Centuries ago, an underground council was formed to hunt down supernatural forces
that walk the Earth preying on humans. It’s 1970 and the Vietnam War is still going on,
while a series of unexplained deaths are occurring on an American Military airbase in
Tokyo. A member from “The Council” Michael Harrison (Liam Cunningham) sends in
Saya (Gianna), a 400 year old samurai sword wielding assassin, a half human-half
vampire hybrid, who goes undercover as a 16 yr old school girl at the airbase. During
her short visit, Saya forms a friendship with a young girl named Alice (Allison Miller),
who she rescued from two blood thirsty demons. Not long after Saya and Alice find
themselves in the midst of demon outbreak, which Saya suspects is caused by a
powerful demon called Onigen (Koyuki), the very demon that Saya has been hunting
for centuries to seek revenge on for her father Kato (Yasuaki Kurata), who was
viciously murdered by Onigen´s forces. With her best friend by her side and her
samurai sword slightly drawn, Saya finally finds herself face to face with the demon
bitch who started it all.
|
| |
|
|
Blood: The Last Vampire is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio
of 2.35:1. The transfer throughout the film looks pretty darn good, the image is very
sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The only
bad thing I can comment on was the amount of poor CGI effects used, which was the
only thing that dampened the films creditability when viewed on a high definition
television.
|
| |
|
|
The audio is presented in two options to choose from, you have the English: Dolby
Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 surround sound, both options have English subtitles for the
hearing impaired and also when the characters speak in Japanese. During the fighting
scenes, the surround sound and sub woofer is boosted to make the film come to life.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Madman Entertainment has included the following extras. The Making of Blood: The
Last Vampire (35:31) is a remarkable behind-the-scenes featurette which focuses on
the wirework and martial arts in the movie. You also interviews from the cast and
crew, who all discuss their character and the production of the film. This featurette
will truly open your eyes on how much time and hard work the cast and crew actually
put into making a film.
Madman’s Eastern Eye label have also included the original trailer for Blood: The Last
Vampire, Tokyo Gore Police, ICHI, The Machine Girl, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning,
Godzilla: Showa Classics.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Chris Nahon’s Blood: The Last Vampire is film adaptation of a 38 minute Japanese
Anime film with the same title that was released in 2000 by director Hiroyuki Kitakubo.
Even though Blood: The Last Vampire was set in Japan, the film was actually shot in
China and Argentina and let it be noted that even though the title of the film has the
word “Vampire” in it, the word “Vampire” was not once used in the film as they are
referred to as Demons.
To describe Blood: The Last Vampire - it’s basically like watching a 91 minute
fireworks show. Every now and then you’ll find the film exciting, on edge and
overwhelming, then other times dull and boring. The screenplay was very well written
and the action scenes were brilliantly choreographed, though the film really doesn’t
offer any originality whatsoever, as we have seen it all before in other films. Plus the
overdone CGI effects do not really help things at all but that’s just a personal opinion
as I hate watching films with a lot of CGI in them. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a
good film, as I truly found the film extremely entertaining to sit through. I guess I got
myself hyped up thinking I was going to watch a film like Blade (1998) meets
Underworld (2003).
Blood: The Last Vampire is one of those films you have to check out for yourself to
decide if you want to own it. So you just might want to play it safe and rent before
you buy, just in case this film isn’t what you expected it to be. But if you’re a lover of
Asian cinema and a fan of the Vampire genre, then yeah this film will definitely be
high on your want list.
|
|
