Blood: The Last Vampire
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 12:13PM ;)
Saya (Gianna Jun), a 400-year-old, half-human, half-vampire samurai, working for a secret society called The Council, is sent to a school on an American military base in Tokyo to track-down, and kill, Onegin (Koyuki), the demon that killed her father.
This French-Hong Kong produced live-action version is based on the much-loved 2001 anime of the same name. With a running time of only 45-minutes, the original was created by Production I.G. who were behind the awesome sci-fi saga, Ghost In The Shell, without which we wouldn’t have The Matrix. The 2009 expanded remake of Blood: The Last Vampire attempts to emulate the atmosphere and style of the anime but fails...horrifically.
Director, Chris Nahon (who has done pretty much fuck-all to mention), doesn’t do a bad job. Visually, Blood looks good – the opening sequence on the Tokyo underground, which is taken from the original, has been created to look very similar and initially made me feel that this might’ve been okay. And when it sticks to the source material, it almost holds its own. However, when the script deviates from what made the anime so good, it all falls apart quicker than the demons that Saya slices apart with her sword.
Problem is, Blood: The Last Vampire just doesn’t make any fucking sense. Despite some okay fight scenes, the 2009 script has removed anything that made the original unique to a point where it all feels secondhand – a weird mix of derivative cheap-looking demons, samurai flashbacks of Saya’s back-story that serve only as frame-work to hang an action sequence on and an unnecessary antagonist who looks like a gay Gollum with a stupid child-like whispy beard. Add to that, 90s videogame special effects that looked like Resident Evil 2 (that’s the game, not the film...you fucking boob!) and it might be one of the worst films of last year. Not the best way to start this year really.
Like always, watch the fucking original out of 5.
Blood: The Last Vampire in Action, Horror, Martial Arts
Reader Comments (4)
I went to see this when it came out and have to agree with what you've said, it didn't make a great deal of sense and just came across as a bit silly. It's a shame because it could have been so good. I never have understood how some film makers manage to screw up a seemingly fool-proof idea!
Yup. Piece of junk.
You'd think if they made a movie with "vampire" in the title, that they could at least...
SPOILER
..make it about a VAMPIRE.
Shitty and ruinous poor star wars cousin lame twist.
Hands off the basic premise please?
Glad I had no plans to see this then!
This film is really not good. I saw it months ago but couldn't be arsed to review it. Went on the shit list.