Caçadores de Vampiros

This is one movie that needs a do-over. I say this as a fan of the original anime. The leading actress was good, her teacher (Kato) was good, actually, the cast were fine, it was the script that's bad and the CGI was awful. This movie needs some money thrown at it with a better writer. I believe the director had his hands tied 'cause there wasn't enough money for what he wanted to do. I've seen directors make a wonderful movie out of nothing but then, at least the script was sound. Here, the director had no chance 'cause the script sucked and he had no money (haha!) I blame the producer for this. It's their job to bring in good talent. Talented writers, directors, actors, and money.

I hope someone with balls picks this film up and does a sequel that does the original title justice.

The movie started out quite promisingly. But after the first 30-odd minutes, I could tell it was going to be a drag.

The stunts got old really fast, the slowmos got quite irritating (and there were *plenty* of them), the monsters that pop up do so in copious amounts for what seemed like a really small scene, the REAL monsters look like badly made puppets - and the finale was... hhmmmm. Quite a let down. Trite comes to mind. Oh, and a LOT of WTF moments.

Sorry, I'm quite prepared to leave my brains at the door for a good action flick, but this is really not it. I would have to leave my brains on the moon to find this an exciting weekend-type movie.

And I cannot for the life of me figure out how the hell this movie got an 8 rating at this point in time.

In 1970, the four hundred year-old skilled samurai Saya (Gianna Jun) is sent to the Kanto High School in an American military base in Tokyo by the Council, a secret society that has been hunting vampires for centuries. Saya has the appearance of a teenager but is the tormented half-breed creature with the soul of her human father and the powers and need of blood of her vampire mother. She is obsessed to face the powerful demon Onigen (Koyuki) that killed her father. In the base, Saya saves Alice McKee (Allison Miller), who is the daughter of General McKee (Larry Lamb) and commander of the base, from the attack of several vampires. When General McKee is killed by a member of the Council, Alice runs to the hotel where Saya is lodged. They join forces and go to the countryside to chase Onigen.

"Blood: The Last Vampire" is a highly entertaining adventure. The screenplay and the choreography of the fights blend many other movies and there is no originality. However, it works basically because of Gianna Jun and Allison Miller that perform very likable and charismatic characters. In the end, this film is not a masterpiece but I liked what I have seen. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caçadores de Vampiros" ("Vampire Hunters")

I just got back from seeing this movie and was disappointed. I actually knew relatively little about the movie aside from the plot synopsis going in, and still I was disappointed.

The more I think about the movie, the lower I have been setting the ranking. The acting was for the most part okay or sub-par: the main character, Saya, had one look, the sulking schoolgirl. Alice, the white girl side-kick seemed to do well, but have terrible direction, as if her character was never quite in the right mood for the scene.

The action scenes were pretty weak. School girl swings her sword and a demon gets cut in half and super CGI ichor comes out. Whole bunch of demons attack, girl swings her sword and a couple demons fall spurting CGI ichor. I don't need an action scene to be believable, but I do expect it to have life. There was one action scene that reminded me of old school ninja movies (which is actually a good thing) but for the most part the action was dull and little more than a series of decent stills strung together.

The writing was campy and sub-par. A number of scenes caused the audience to laugh because the dialog and scene as a whole just came across as ridiculous.

I think the best way to describe the movie is a Frenchman making an American movie from a Japanese script.

Martial arts, women with swords, and VAMPIRES...what's not to love???!!! Yes the CGI could have been more realistic... Yes some of the acting could have been better... But if you go into a movie like this looking for academy-award winning performances you're barking up the wrong tree. BLOOD The Last Vampire is a fun adventure with good visuals, cool styling, and great fight scenes. Compared to the thin/non-existent plots in the latest blockbusters coming out of Hollywood this summer, BLOOD is almost an Oscar contender. If you're looking to take an exciting journey into a world where demons are among us hunted down by hot, sword wielding, bad-ass chicks...buy some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the ride!