Blood: The Last Vampire

I'm a sucker for Vampire pictures so I had to look into French director Chris Nahon's new feature, about a tormented "teenage" girl (sweet 16 but going on 400) who hunts Vampires. "Blood: The Last Vampire," is an adaptation of an anime film of the same title released in 2000 by director Hiroyuki Kitakubo. Set in Japan the story follows Saya, our half-human, half-vampire geriatric teenage protagonist as she confronts vampires who've infiltrated the population at a US Air Force base. Producer Bill Kong ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hero") brings the Hong Kong magic, kick flying, and excessively elegant fight scenes that have become all to familiar. Being more of a Vampire purist, I prefer stories rooted in Christian/anti-Christian European lore. New twists are great but I hesitate to embrace a merging of two genres that are just fine on their own in my book. Vampire movies succeed on the...

I’m a sucker for Vampire pictures so I had to look into French director Chris Nahon’s new feature, about a tormented “teenage” girl (sweet 16 but going on 400) who hunts Vampires. “Blood: The Last Vampire,” is an adaptation of an anime film of the same title released in 2000 by director Hiroyuki Kitakubo. Set in Japan the story follows Saya, our half-human, half-vampire geriatric teenage protagonist as she confronts vampires who’ve infiltrated the population at a US Air Force base.

Producer Bill Kong (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero”) brings the Hong Kong magic, kick flying, and excessively elegant fight scenes that have become all to familiar. Being more of a Vampire purist, I prefer stories rooted in Christian/anti-Christian European lore. New twists are great but I hesitate to embrace a merging of two genres that are just fine on their own in my book. Vampire movies succeed on the seductive charisma of the villains, the conflict within the heroes, and the empathy for both. Too much explosive action and girls in little sailor outfits can kill that. Crouching character, hidden development.

Still, it looks like it could pull off enough story and be a wild ride. I mentioned Nahon after Memorial day upon discovering his prior collaboration with what is now the band, The Do. They didn’t compose the music on this one though, instead Nahon has enlisted composer Clint Mansell. Mansell’s work includes “Pi,” “The Fountain,” Requiem For A Dream,” and “The Wrestler.” Basically all of Darren Aronofsky’s films. This should be interesting.