What it’s all about
Demons are among us and there is only one who can stop them. Saya (Gianna) a half-human, half-vampire has been fighting to protect the human race for over 400 yrs. After she has joined forces with a society known as the Council, she ventures to an American military base to hunt down demons. She meets and befriends an unlikely school mate Alice Mckee (Allison Miller) after protecting her from an evil wishing to destroy her. Saya fights against haunting nightmares and vicious demons to ultimately fulfill her destiny, and fight against the strongest evil of them all.
The Positive
I’m not a huge anime film fan and can honestly say I have never seen a single second of the anime series this film was based on. However, I’m one of the many vampire fans out there so I was immediately drawn to the film.
I was not the least bit disappointed with the visual effects. The film was incredibly intriguing as far as the look and sound of it went. The film was just beautiful in a very gruesome way. I have to say the blood was the coolest part. Who doesn’t love coagulated gravity defying blood? Pretty impressive blood fest if you ask me. It was definitely the main focus of the movie.
The choreography was also very nicely done. The fight scenes were very exciting, although a few times I felt like I was watching Underworld (without the vampire story). The film had a lot of the same movement of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, just not quite the same quality of film.
What went wrong?
While the first part of the title was dead on, they second was lacking. I made the mistake of going into the film expecting warring vampires. What I got was more along the fighting demon line of things and not so much on the classic vampire scenes. I don’t think you really would have zeroed in on the fact that they were vampires at all if you wouldn’t have been told from the get go that’s what Saya was, and what she was fighting. Yeah there were a few times the point was made, but not quite enough to carry the title. Just don’t go into it expecting a vampire war and I think it would be much more appealing.
The plot just didn’t develop quickly enough to really grab your attention. There never did seem to be a good climax point. Tension in the movie was kept high, but it was just a little too predictable. To my extreme disappointment I predicted the ending shortly into the film.
Special Features
-Making-Of Features
-Battling Demons: Behind the Stunts Features
-(Blu-ray Exclusive) Storyboard Gallery