Sangue

Vampires, fight scenes inspired by the Underworld films and a leading actress who shows her boobs a lot. That's about all you're going to get out of BLOOD, a low budget and derivative little movie that doesn't know what it wants to be. There are gun fights, repetitive sex scenes that seem tacked on to market this as an erotic thriller, a little detective work and, of course, some vampires. These vampires are of the overly familiar and utterly predictable type, although they seem happy to wander around in the daylight to no ill effect.

BLOOD is a low budget movie and it shows. The action scenes incorporate some disappointing CGI effects which make you laugh rather than gasp at the on-screen antics. The worst thing, though, is the script, which fails to make any sense of the disparate story elements. It seems that the scriptwriter is content to emulate throughout, but there's no world-building here, no conviction in the depiction of centuries-old vampires. The romantic scenes are laughable and the cast bad, and all of these detractions end up making this one a bit of a bomb, a Japanese film that copies Hollywood way too much without working out a style of its own.

This Japanese vampire film in centred on Hoshino, a detective working for a cold case unit. He is determined to solve the murder of a maid fourteen years previously before it reaches the statute of limitations. He visits the victim's employer, Miyoko Romberk, and she tells him that she knows the identity of the killer... Ukyo Kuronuma, a powerful businessman. Events lead to two shocking truths; Miyoko and Ukyo are vampires and after needing rescue from Ukyo so is Hoshino; how will he cope now he is destined to live forever?

This is a decent enough film; far from a must see but not terrible either. The story has some interesting ideas, including some fun changes to normal vampire lore; here only a small number of people with the right blood can become vampires. Other pluses are the numerous action scenes, even if some of the wire work is a bit too obvious, and solid enough acting from the fairly small cast. There is some nudity, this is fairly gratuitous and sometimes part of scenes that seem to be there to pass a few minutes rather than add to the story. The music is also rather distracting; sounding like it came from a cheesy TV show from the '80s. Overall I'd say this passes the time well enough but isn't a must see.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

This movie is written by Shigenoro Takechi who also wrote IZO, and directed by Ten Shimoyama who directed Shinobi - Heart Under Blade. Aya Sugimoto used to be photographic idol in the '80s. She shows that she still has what it takes in this 21st century movie.

A detective who's been demoted to cold case files decides to investigate the homicide of a maid that statute of limitation is about to run out. He goes to see the ex-employer of the maid Miyako Rosenberg (Aya Sugimoto), but find out that she's a vampire.

There's no campiness in this movie like they have with vampire movies from Hong Kong. It's rather serious and gruesome. The movie basically boils down to two things. One is view of detective Hoshino as he discovers what it is like to live as a vampire, and the other is the erotic exploits between Hoshino, and Miyako. If these are not interesting topic for you, then this movie is not for you.

In Japan, I believe the attraction of this movie was Aya Sugimoto's beauty. Sugimoto has equally large women fan base as do men, so the movie might have been written to satisfy both male, and female audiences.

If there's one complaint about this movie, it's that the sound effects are not well controlled. Voices are too low or difficult to hear if the sound level is adjusted to the sound effects.

This mix of sex, vampires and martial arts seems like it will be a decent (if clichéd) vampire pic until the appearance of the first "wire-fu" sequence. Some fairly steamy sex and a scene in which a nude girl is bound and murdered establish an adult tone that is ruined when characters suddenly begin to fight like they're in The Matrix or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's as if the director (who also did Shinobi: Heart Under Blade) really wanted to make a martial arts flick with plenty of sword fights, but since he had Aya Sugimoto (star of the erotic Flower & Snake films), he was obliged to throw in some gratuitous T&A. The script is extremely predictable, and the characters (with the exception of Sugimoto's young female servant) are unlikeable and keep spouting the same tired lines about how miserable it is to have eternal life. There are also some dodgy computer effects - when a character gets hit by a car and tossed into the air, you'll definitely laugh (the CG effect was like something out of Shaolin Soccer). The are some good points: the movie is well-lensed (Sugimoto usually picks projects that at least have good production values) and the wire work isn't bad, if that's your thing. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets fast-tracked for a North American release, since it's the kind of thing that seems to sell over here.

Detective Hoshino investigates a 14 year old case of a brutally murdered maid. His investigation leads him to the mysterious Ukyo. He witnesses him killing and then drinking another young woman's blood. Ukyo is a Samurai who has continued as a vampire. His men take Hoshino to be killed at the docks where he is rescued by vampire Miyako. She shares her blood with him to save him and thereby turning him.

This is trying to be a stylish Gothic vampire movie. The film moves way too slowly. The action style is lacking. It would have been cool back in the 80s or 90s. It doesn't look nearly as cool for action of today. The acting is mostly wooden. It's a low budget action wannabe but it fails to live up to its ambitions. The film is generous with its blood flow. However, it is so slow that the tension never gets that high.