Vampire Wars

Publisher
Manga Entertainment
Director
Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
50 mins
Year
1991

Vampire Wars

By Rob Argent
23rd May 04

I don't know, the number of these vampire films keeps growing, and it seems like I'm out-numbered by them. So, what has this old anime got that the new young blood hasn't? Once again, "a chilling tale of modern day vampires, set loose on a city, free to kill at will", once again, gallons of blood and pretty young things screaming at shadows and open windows. Stop me if you've heard this before.

Taking its ideas from your average Hollywood action thriller, a terrorist attack on a NASA base and a sting to capture an international spy get us off to a smart opening, with guns, shouting and excitement getting your attention. Straight afterwards, the mysterious workings of international agencies are brought in, giving the reluctant hero Kousaburo Kiki an objective without giving anything away. Lots of shots of people hidden in the dark and military terms contribute to the Hollywood theme, but then the vampire element comes into play.

After about twenty minutes the evil vampire clan makes a bold introduction, making short work of their victims and making proceedings a whole lot more interesting. To be honest, I don't think manga or animes should try to imitate American productions - even with a big budget they will still not seem the same. Rather, the imaginative and slightly surreal plots the Japanese creators write are their speciality, and it should stay that way. Even the ending of this anime is a great one, one that most silver screen writers couldn't guess.

During the film, the character interaction is intriguing, with many double-crosses and defections going on, but all in a logical and reasonable way so that it doesn't confuse. In particular, Lassar, the French police officer is amusing, initially a sinister, mocking individual, the next a cowardly pawn. Also, Kiki is interesting as a stereotypical anti-hero, who is never to be trusted. Unfortunately, a number of secondary characters and uninspired fight scenes reveal the lack of originality - the main characters are left to do all of the explaining and explosions. Don't get me wrong; this isn't an overly bad film. There are some good, tense parts, with the vampires being understated and, because of this, actually menacing. The story is well paced and doesn't drag at all. It's just that this has all been done before, with better results.

Overall, Vampire Wars is a standard, run of the mill action adventure, relying on excessive blood and violence to entertain the viewer. At times a good, thoughtful idea appears, only to blown away by the sheer amount of bullets and pseudo Rambo shoot-outs. While this may have been acceptable ten years ago, with the intelligent set pieces of Ghost in the Shell and Blood (itself being a fine slice of vampire fighting anime) now around, Vampire Wars is an old fashioned film in a forward looking world.

This review relates to the dubbed version.

6/10

-- Rob Argent 23rd May 04

Vampire Wars Images