Blood - The Last Vampire
(2000)
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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. |
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Universal nabbed Hammer's gore theatrics along with their resident scriptwriter, Jimmy Sangster, in the effort to beat the House of Horror at their own game. The result is enjoyable hokum with, for the era, some edgily gruesome torture chamber scenes. Thespian legend Sir Donald Wolfit goes predictably over the top as Doctor Callistratus, who needs blood to stay alive and uses victims from his insane asylum for the grisly transfusion purpose. Hammer heroine Barbara Shelley adds the glamour, while Victor Maddern wears the daftest make-up imaginable as Carl, the scarred cripple servant of the mad doctor. Serviceable shocks pepper the crisp period atmosphere, neatly laced with an ever-present sense of doom.