Production Year: 2000, 2009 - Horror, Action/Adventure - Director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Chris Nahon - Original Language: Japanese, English - Classification: 15 years and over, 18 years and over - Starring: Youki Kudoh, Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham more
On an American military base in Japan, a new kind of vampire emerges: Teropterids. They are monstrous shape-shifting creatures that can only be killed with special swords. A... more
animated film tradition. In a few short enigmatic scenes, we learn of the young girl Saya who is working for nameless government agencies and is sent, after one of ...
animated film tradition. In a few short enigmatic scenes, we learn of the young girl Saya who is working for nameless government agencies and is sent, after one of ...
Vietnam War. But a greater threat exists within the walls of the heavily guarded compound: Vampires. A team of top-secret undercover agents dispatches a mysteriou...
Blood - The Last Vampire
A shadowy government organisation that tracks down and eliminates evil creatures ... more
dispatches its most deadly agent to take an undercover assignment. Beautiful assassin Saya (Gianna Jun ? UNINVITED, MY SASSY GIRL) is placed in a school and is ordered to infiltrate the academic institution in order to unmask a demon who is also studying there.
Blood - The Last Vampire
A shadowy government organisation that tracks down and eliminates evil creatures ... more
dispatches its most deadly agent to take an undercover assignment. Beautiful assassin Saya (Gianna Jun ? UNINVITED, MY SASSY GIRL) is placed in a school and is ordered to infiltrate the academic institution in order to unmask a demon who is also studying there.
Blood - The Last Vampire
At the Yokota Air Force base in Japan, a nervous American military is on the brink of the ... more
Vietnam War. But a greater threat exist within the walls of the heavily guarded compound: Vampires. A team of top-secret undercover agents dispatches a mysterious young woman to destroy them...she is the last remaining original.Featuring brilliant character designs, top-notch animation and a stunning musical score, Blood: The Last Vampire is a breakthrough in digital film-making, taking anime to a whole new level.
Blood - The Last Vampire
On an American military base in Japan, a new kind of vampire emerges: Teropterids. They ... more
are monstrous shape-shifting creatures that can only be killed with special swords. A mysterious girl named Saya is the last original, the only person capable of dealing with the menace of these monsters. Posing as a student at the base's school, Saya races to hunt down the beasts before they turn an ordinary Halloween bash into a bloody massacre. Production IG, known for their pioneering digital effects, describes BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE as a full digital animation movie, which means that even though many sequences were animated using pencil and paper, the artwork was digitally scanned. Inking and coloring were completed by computer, as were several other special effects. Hiroyuki Kitakubo was chosen to direct the project because of his digital experience (he oversaw the movie sequences in the GHOST IN THE SHELL game for the Sony PlayStation.) The film is also notable for the participation of screenwriter Mamoru Oshii, who helmed GHOST IN THE SHELL and has written a novel that takes place in BLOOD's universe. Despite its resemblance to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, BLOOD succeeds in creating its own gloomy, chiaroscuro world.
A review by donnabroom on Blood - The Last Vampire (DVD) March 1st, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
Breath - taking .
Disadvantages:
Some may feel it is too short .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Blood: The Last Vampire, (B:TLV), arrived on my doorstep this morning from Tesco DVD rentals, (www.tescodvdrentals.com). I was very excited when I spied the distinctive red and blue envelope as knew one of them contained B:TLV. I couldn't wait to watch this film as I had read so much about it, good and bad and I just had to find out about it for myself.
Blood: The Last Vampire is an "Anime", (Japanese for animation), film by Production IG and Manga. Anime has come to mean any Japanese animation in Western countries. Manga is a very popular Japanese brand who produce comics and TV/Films. For more information on Manga go to www.manga.com but be warned it is an ugly site. A lot of people incorrectly refer to all Anime as Manga in the same way that people call vacuum cleaners "Hoovers".
Being animated some people may feel that this is a children's movie: they couldn't be more wrong. The majority of Anime is aimed at adults; you can show things in animation that you couldn't get away with in live action either due to physical limitations or moral and ethical issues.
B:TLV is rated 15 but this is, as always a guide. Many 12-13 year olds could watch this with no problems but then some 15 year olds would be disturbed by it. If you have children watch it first and then decide if your child is mature enough to watch it. It does contain a lot of gore and the whole film is coloured in quite a disturbing manner.
B:TLV tells the story of Saya, (referred to in the film as the "last original vampire"). Saya looks like a young girl but is really a vampire who spends her time killing "Chiropterans" often wrongly called "Teropterids". Chiropterans are shape shifting, vampiric demons with hollow bones and skin that can change shape at will. They apparently change shape through "a distension of their blood vessels", (www.bloodthemovie.com). The Chiropterans survive by drinking human blood.
Saya works for a mysterious organisation who hunt down and kill these demons. They seem to desperately need Saya but she displays no loyalty to them or anyone for that matter.
It is set mostly on an American air force base in Japan in 1966, (a year after the start of the Vietnam War), in a school for the children of the American soldiers.
To tell you more would spoil the story for you; however do not watch this expecting a great plot. There is a story there but a lot of it is implied and it would be easy to miss. There are a lot of answered questions but for me that is part of the story and I like it.
The animation is a combination of computer generated graphics, (CG), and hand drawn animation. Production IG refer to this film as fully digital. Some of the animation was done by hand but it was all scanned, coloured and inked by computer. Visually this film is beyond stunning. The scenery is so beautiful and realistic it really takes your breath away. If you have seen Ghost in the Shell, (the two films are made by the same people), you will know what I mean. The characters are more primitively drawn and less realistic but personally when I am watching a gore-fest like this I prefer the people to look less realistic.
B:TLV was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo who is from Tokyo. Kitakubo was a storyboard writer for Ghost in the shell and also over saw the movie clips in the Ghost in the Shell Playstation game and was an animator for Akira. He has also worked on many other Anime films and TV series in many capacities.
His direction of B:TLV was fantastic. It was so dark and it truly drew you in and kept you enthralled for the duration of the movie. The atmosphere was built from the opening scene and only truly spectacular direction can engross you the way B:TLV does. The only person I could compare him with would be Tarrantino; they have the same attention to detail. You should really check out the posters littered around the school!
The colours used for the majority of this film are dark and foreboding but that changes near the end and the colours become so bright and vivid.
I love the animation of the Chiropterans; they are gruesome and disgusting looking. They reminded me a lot of the vampires in Nosferatu. I want to say more but I can't without giving away too much! Let's just say some of the characters changes are really chilling!
Youki Kudoh was the voice of Saya and I must admit I was surprised to find out she was Japanese. Her voice sounded very American and it was a lot quieter than the rest of the film. I had to have the volume quite loud just so I could hear what she was saying. Youki plays Pumpkin in the film "Memoirs of a Geisha".
The film is only 57 minutes long including credits which I know disappoints a lot of people. For me it is one of the plus points of the film. Because it is short it keeps you interested the whole way through, you do not get bored like in longer films. I literally drink films up, I see all the little details that many people miss the first time round, so a short is perfect for me.
There are a lot of loose ends but again this is something I like. Instead of knowing everything you are left wondering, you imagine the history behind Saya and the Chiropterans, you wonder why she shows compassion for these monsters while at the same time ruthlessly hunting them and killing them. There is enough information if you watch closely, maybe you should watch this twice to pick up all the little things that are there to make up for the short running time.
This was intended to be a series of three episodes but due to money running out they just used the middle sequence to make a film. I think it worked so well but I know many others will disagree.
The special features are all on the same disc and they are:
Scene Selection: This, (as the name suggests), lets you jump straight to a scene. The film is split into 8 scenes = Blood on the tracks / Base threats / The feast of Samhain / Improv / Dance with the Devil / Line Trap / RH factor and credits, (the credits at the end are all in Japanese).
The Making Of: This is in Japanese with subtitles. I have to admit I did not watch the whole thing as I just couldn't keep it up. It seemed like the production crew chatting about ideas they had and the original premise for the film. It is beautifully directed as well. You should watch it at least until you see the guy in the dog jumper. Just watch the jumper!
Trailers: There are 8 trailers in all; one is a montage of anime set to rock music! Yay! I really like that. This is followed by the trailers for 7 films. I am pleased to note that Blood: The Last Vampire wasn't one of them. I really enjoyed watching the trailers and I will defiantly be watching some of the films they showed off. The voice over was great as well.
Hyperlink: There is a link to the website on this disc if you pop it in your DVD drive, (if you have one), and a screen saver, (which is cool), and some background images as well. I think this is a nice touch.
Photo Gallery: The photos are just a random, (and frankly bizarre), selection of stills from the film. I am starting to think that Hiroyuki Kitakubo is a bit mad!
Auto Set-Up: This film has two audio options; Stereo or 5.1 surround sound.
Subtitles: Subtitles are available in English, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Portuguese.
I hired this film but I have done a bit of research with regards to price.
I would recommend this film whole-heartily. If you are expecting a 57 minute visual feast you will not be disappointed. I also think for the price you can't go wrong.
Amazon, (www.amazon.co.uk), sell it for £8.97 + £1.42 p&p. Play, (www.play.com), sell it for £7.99 including delivery. You can of course pick it up on eBay but be careful. The prices on eBay are between £1.00 + £2.00 postage and over £15.00!
Advantages: Mostly super-presentation, interesting concept, plenty of extras Disadvantages: Under-developed plot, film only 42 minutes long, characters aren't memorable
...the genre a little closer. Blood - The Last Vampire was the next DVD I bought.
A manga animation, Blood is a curious film set in 1966, just before the Vietnam war started. Events focus around the young, mysterious girl Saya, who we first see travelling on an underground train, staring peacefully into space. Things begin to get a little more interesting however when she slaughters the other passenger in her carridge with her not particularly well-hidden ... ...in the viewers head.
Blood - The Last Vampire has oodles of potential, but almost all of it's short-comings stem from it being an extremely short film, lasting just 42 minutes before the end credits role. Lots of questions are left relatively or completely unanswered - how exactly the demons came about, what eventually happens to them, why they even appeared in the first place...You are left in the dark as to these questions and many of the characters ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Excellent animation, atmospheric Disadvantages: very short
There's only one reason why I haven't given this film the maximum score. The animation is stunning, the atmosphere created is superb, and, although the storyline isn't the best I've ever seen, it's still engrossing and held my attention right until the end of the film. However, the film is extremely short - at only 45 minutes including credits it's barely half the length of most films. As a result it feels like the first couple of episodes of a longer ... ...roll. More character development would have strengthened the film, as well some more background to the story.
Blood: The Last Vampire is an anime film - a Japanese-style of cartoon. Don't let that fool you into thinking it's aimed at children though; there are anime films of all genres and aimed at all ages. This film has a 15 certificate, which in my opinion is about right - it's a horror film with a fair amount of blood, and so is not suitable ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Wonderful animation, superb characters, sparkling plot Disadvantages: Gut-wrenchingly short, very minor sound issues
...irrelevant searches ]
Blood for me was one of those films you pick up because you're in town, it's cheap, and you have no sense of control. Five minutes and seven pounds later, you own another DVD to cram somewhere onto your bulging film shelf.
I'm not sure to this day why I picked it up; I have a loathing of vampires that borders on the maniacal and yet, when I secluded myself in my favourite armchair with a few snacks and a drink, I was captured ... ...times.
Drama strikes though, and Blood is only 45 minutes long, which should honestly be a crime in this civilised world. I quite happily would have watched for another 45 minutes; another hour, another two hours. I might even have watched for the rest of my life if someone hooked me up to a Galaxy chocolate IV drip.
The 'special effects', or in this case the animation was simply top-notch, second to none. Appleseed and Final Fantasy: The Spirits ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: 2 good and 2 great episodes, excellent visuals, extensive selection of DVD extras, decent English-dub Disadvantages: Episodes and extras not quite as strong as in Volumes 2 & 3, a little heavy going for some tastes
...for more were answered in the form of a 26-part TV series, each episode having a running-time of around 25 minutes. Question marks remained over the ease with which such a complex franchise could be broken up into bite sized episodes, and the films legendary director, Mamoru Oshii (Patlabor, Avalon) was no longer at the helm - directing reigns had been handed over to Kenji Kamiyama (Blood: The LastVampire). Stand Alone Complex has since been split into 7 DVD's and the topic of this review, the rather-bulkily monikered Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 1st GIG Volume 1, contains the opening 4 of those 26 episodes - and it's with these I'll start.
Set in the year 2030 A.D. GITS: SAC is in many ways like a futuristic cop-show, with the added quirk of it all being animated. These opening 4 episodes gently reintroduce the characters who...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Classification: 15 years and over, 18 years and over
Production Year: 2000, 2009
Running Time: 1 hour 9 minutes
Official Website: http://www.pathe.co.uk/
Consumer Advice: Contains strong bloody violence
Video Category: World Cinema Feature Film, Feature Film
Country Of Origin: Japan, Hong Kong
Plot: A group of Vampires are found within a heavily guarded military compound and a team of top secret agents are dispatched to destroy them... Also features a documentary 'The Making of Blood - The Last Vampire.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): MANGA ENTERTAINMENT; ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT; ARVATO SERVICES, PATHE, PATHE VIDEO; 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 17/09/2001
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: MANG 4077
Barcode: 5022366407748
Screenwriter: Mamoru Oshii
Director of Photography: Miki Sakuma
Author: Mamoru Oshii
Voice: Youki Kudoh
Art Director: Yusuke Takeda
DVD Description
On an American military base in Japan, a new kind of vampire emerges: Teropterids. They are monstrous shape-shifting creatures that can only be killed with special swords. A mysterious girl named Saya is the last "original," the only person capable of dealing with the menace of these monsters. Posing as a student at the base's school, Saya races to hunt down the beasts before they turn an ordinary Halloween bash into a bloody massacre. Production IG, known for their pioneering digital effects, describes BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE as a full digital animation movie, which means that even though many sequences were animated using pencil and paper, the artwork was digitally scanned. Inking and coloring were completed by computer, as were several other special effects. Hiroyuki Kitakubo was chosen to direct the project because of his digital experience (he oversaw the movie sequences in the GHOST IN THE SHELL game for the Sony PlayStation.) The film is also notable for the participation of screenwriter Mamoru Oshii, who helmed GHOST IN THE SHELL and has written a novel that takes place in BLOOD's universe. Despite its resemblance to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, BLOOD succeeds in creating its own gloomy, chiaroscuro world.
Languages
Main Language: Japanese, English
Dubbed Language: English
Subtitle Language: Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish
Technical information
Special Features: Original Japanese Trailers, Image Gallery, DVD ROM, Manga Previews, Web Links
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English Japanese
Animated: Animated
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Listed on Ciao since : 06/08/2002
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