Review of Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) by Richard B — 31 Aug 2009

This title comes from the Production I.G studio (Ghost in the Shell) so guess what? It looks and sounds great. It is probably worth checking out if you get the chance just for the lush visuals. It doesn't really seem like a real feature film though. It's only 40 odd mins long. There's no real plot, there's no attempt at developing any characters with any real depth, and there's absolutely no human emotion to be found anywhere. It hints at some kind of religious and political subtext but it never attempts to really explore those avenues. There is obviously a wider story going on underneath but you won't find it in the film. Apparently there's both a manga and anime series so maybe those ideas are explored within those. They certainly aren't here. It's literally 40mins of someone running around chopping up demons with a sword (and at one point a spade). Let's be honest. A bit of mindless eye candy can be a lot of fun. Oh yeah, some of the english language voice acting in places is terrible too.

As a proper film this probably deserves 2 stars just. If you want 40mins of straightforward gorgeous looking action as distraction this will fit the bill. If you're an animation enthusiast or a student of cinema then technically there's a lot to be admired here and it really is worth checking out just for the 5 star animation and visual style. I believe a certain Quentin Tarantino visted the Production I.G. Studio to learn about the techniques used in this film. He was obviously impressed as he personally asked them to do the anime segments in Kill Bill. You can see why.