Review: Blood: The Last Vampire

Ammon Gilbert, Jul 14, 2009
Blood: The Last Vampire is like watching a live-action comic book full of sword fighting martial art action and copious amounts of blood splatter. Parts reminded me of Kill Bill in its anime-style approach to violence, with plenty of throwbacks to old school kung fu movies. But where Blood falls flat in becoming the next great action movie featuring humans, demons, and vampires, like a female version of Blade, is in its silly characters, uneven performances, shoddy pacing, and crappy CG effects. But does it deliver a good time? Yes. Yes it does.
There's a war that has been going on for thousands of years between humans and demons that only an elite group of humans known as the Council know about. In 1970 Tokyo, Japan, the Council's only effective weapon in taking out these demons is Saya, an apparent 'half-vampire' that has the skills to pay the bills in the killing demons department. Saya is working with the Council because they can help her track down and kill Onigen (Koyuki), the most powerful and oldest of the demons. Saya's latest tip into where Onigen is located leads her to the Yakota U.S. Air Force Base, where the general's daughter Alice (Allison Miller) stumbles onto Saya's war and tags along because she has nothing to lose. Sword fights, gallons of fake CG blood, and a pile of dead demons ensue.
Even though I've never seen the original anime film that Blood was based on, I still enjoyed watching Saya (Jeon Ji-hyeon) slice through the scenery in a number of entertaining action sequences. There's something about a chick in a traditional boarding school uniform chopping off demon heads and other body parts while jumping through the air that I find extremely entertaining. All the cool action helped me look past the horribly fake CG-blood used for every inflicted sword or bullet wound. If you're easily distracted by bad visual effects, then you may want to steer clear of Blood. The lame effects also impeach on a couple of demons that were a cross between characters from a cartoon and a video game, though similar in style to other big Hollywood movies like Underworld.
In terms of story, Blood was surprisingly complex and complicated. I got what was going on for the most part, but there was a ton of stuff that was briefly glossed over that needed more explaining. For example, the title talks about the last vampire, and yet was there a vampire in this movie? They openly discuss demons, but I don't know if the term 'vampire' ever came up. I can only assume that Saya was a vampire because of her addiction to drinking pre-jarred blood, yet she was able to walk around in daylight and see her reflection in mirrors, but we never see her vampire fangs. While there was some explanation of her origin, it mostly focused on her training to become a demon killer. The ins and outs of her so-called vampirism was briefly touched on and never fully explained.
The performances were uneven to say the least. Some actors gave it their all, and others were simply too over-the-top and dramatic to the point where it was almost laughable. Miller's performance as the general's daughter fell into the overly dramatic category, screaming hysterically throughout and uttering some of the dumbest lines ever uttered on the big screen. Fortunately Koyuki's sexy and sinister take on Onigen was spot-on, as was Ji-hyeon's portrayal of Saya. She held an air of innocence on top of that badass persona of hers that was perfect for the role and created a heroic character that I could root for.
Blood: The Last Vampire is a mixed bag: a low budget action-horror movie with a ton of second rate effects that delivered the goods in terms of stylized action sequences, copious amounts of blood splatter, and a kick-ass female lead. If director Chris Nahon would have focused more on developing the characters and tightening the script instead of putting all the effort into fake blood effects, it might have been a better movie. And while most of the action sequences were exceptionally fun to watch, the final confrontation between Onigen and Saya was not nearly as epic as it should have been. If you liked Blade and Underworld, and you're looking to kill some time, then Blood isn't a bad way to do so. As long as you can look past the shoddy special effects and the overly dramatic acting.
Grade: C
Ref:http://www.film.com/movies/blood-the-last-vampire/story/review-blood-the-last-vampire/29135029