Writer of the novels Hideyuki Kikuchi is on record saying that the look of this film is “cheap” and I think that’s somewhat misleading but not always inaccurate either.īecause Ttere there are some animation techniques used throughout that are probably in there to cut some corners, including the use of a lot of close-ups, but the direction is still pretty ace overall, especially with that creepy opening sequence.Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト Banpaia Hantā Dī: Buraddorasuto) is a 2000 dark fantasy vampire adventure anime film produced by Madhouse, Filmlink International, BMG Japan, Movic, Good Hill Vision, and Soft Capital. No spoilers – but this guy is a real highlight too □ Fans of 1980s electronic music will doubtless dig it too, but there’s still the sense of a simulated orchestra at times so it’s not ’empty’ either. The OST was another element that I really enjoyed – it’s somewhat minimalist and even quite pensive at times (for a horror OST). Until reading up on Vampire Hunter D for this review I’d also never realised quite how much the US was involved, with Sony Records and CBS acting as partners to Ashi Productions, which is perhaps part of why D eventually had a theatrical run in the States a few years after original release (and well before the ‘modern’ anime boom in the west.) Personally, I’d have loved to see more of his internal conflict but that’d fit better in a series than a single feature I guess. However, length of the movie aside, I think it’s worth a look not only for its place in anime history, but because I really liked the ‘hard-to-pin-down-a-precise-era’ look to the character design (and some great creatures too) along with a handful of twists that kept things engaging – not to mention the titular character D himself, who’s a stoic but dependable hero. (And it’s still engaging both now and when I first saw it as a teenager, though what I enjoyed most on first viewing probably wasn’t so much the cross-genre stuff as the more predictable horror/action elements I suppose: fights! exploding monsters! mysterious heroes! Etc etc).Īnyway – getting back to the actual review, as with so many of my write-ups, I can’t really speak to the quality of the film as an adaptation but if you’re interested in the genre, and if you prefer your vampires to be arrogant nobles a la the classic European style (rather than ‘animals’ or ‘sparklers’ as per some more modern texts) then you might like Vampire Hunter D.Ĭertainly give it a shot if you only have time for a film-length anime too, since it won’t take long to watch it with a running time of around 80 mins. So many of the story beats do read like a Western actually you’ve got ranchers under threat, blackmail, dodgy law-keepers and a hired gun who has drifted into town to save the day… classic stuff, but when it’s set against a futuristic/retro backdrop with Vampires and mutants, I think I see why the film really stood out when it was first released. Vampire Hunter D ( D Banpaia Hantā Dī) 1985 Looking back to another classic for this review – this time it’s Vampire Hunter D which is very much a ‘monster hunting other monsters’ film but while there are definite horror aspects present, the Western and post-apocalyptic/sci-fi elements are probably just as clear.
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