Year: 2000
Actors: Hideyuki Tanaka, Ichiro Nagai
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Formats: DVD
Price: £5.49
Mini Review
“Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is an anime horror adventure set in a not too distant apocalyptic world where vampires are being hunted to extinction. The plot concerns a young girl called Charlotte that has been captured/eloped with one of the last remaining vampires. The hero of the movie “D” is a Dunpeal, half human, half vampire. He is hired to defeat the vampire and return Charlotte to her family for financial reward. Seeking the same reward are the Marcus brothers, a small group of humans with a speciality for vampire/monster hunting missions.
Verdict
First off I have issues in classifying this movie as a horror movie. It’s more of a gothic/dark themed cartoon rather than anything intended to scare the audience. I’d describe this movie as more of an action/adventure that just happens to have a vampire as a protagonist. It lacks the soul of a real horror movie. Having said that it doesn’t take anything away from the enjoyment. The obvious distinguishing feature of “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is that is an anime. This drastically limits what can be done in terms of horror. There’s no make-up and limited possibilities of realism that add to the haunted house movies. The medium also relies heavily on the audience to get in to the story line.
As a movie “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” does work for the most part. It tells a story (or at least part of a larger one). The hero is frustratingly aloof for my liking though, he has a slow way of speaking and we are no further in understanding his character at the end of the movie than we were at the start. Perhaps this is intentional as we are seeing a very short time span of an immortals life. I find him quite forgettable though as a lead character.
The animation does work very well. Whilst some scenes look quite cheaply made (although they weren’t) others look great. It’s clear that the emphasis of the animators time was focussed on the showdowns near the end of the movie. Having seen only around 10 anime movies I’d still only put “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” in the middle in terms of animation quality.
This is a movie that I like quite a bit but would find difficult to recommend for several reasons. Firstly, if you expect scares or any traditional horror features they just aren’t here to be found. Secondly I think that the anime medium may put some viewers off the idea. Having said that “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is certainly an interesting movie and a world removed from Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula. If you are looking for some gothic monster action that is a little bit different, this could be the movie for you. I’ve posted the trailer below for your amusement.
Pros: An nice anime alternative to mainstream horror.
Cons: Lack of scares, slightly weak lead character.
The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 talking hands out of 10.
Should our review not be enough for you try these links.
Wikipedia: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Happy hauntings, Jiblet.
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