Film review: Blood: The Last Vampire

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 18:57

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE (18) * DIRECTED BY: CHRIS NAHON STARRING: GIANNA JUN, ALLISON MILLER, JJ FEILD

The original anime upon which Blood: The Last Vampire is based was a big influence on Kill Bill, so it's too bad its live-action, English-language counterpart can't boast similarly inspired direction. It's another derivative tale about a half-breed vampire who uses her skills to battle bloodsuckers as part of a covert government agency (see Blade), only this time our heroine is Saya, a samurai sword-wielding bad-ass with schoolgirl look, played by South Korean film star Gianna Jun. Bearing an ongoing grudge against the demon that killed her human father, she vents her hatred by infiltrating packs of Dracula wannabes, which is how she winds up in an American military academy in south-east Asia during the height of the Vietnam War.

That's not the juicy plot development it should be. Rather, it's the film's excuse to have her befriend general's daughter Alice (Allison Miller), who helps her to expose a government conspiracy determined to cover up the fact that her agency (led by JJ Feild) has gone rogue. At least, that's what appears to be going on. The visuals are so murky and the effects work so shoddy, it's nearly impossible to tell. What's more, by the time we've worked through the umpteenth blood-spurting, CGI-enhanced sword fight, or endured yet another tortuous flashback designed to clue us into the parental issues at the heart of her grudge, it's really hard to care.