Vampire Hunter D (1985)
Animation Production: Ashi Productions
Released by: Urban Vision
By Dreamseer

Introduction

From director Toyoo Ashida and based on the novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, one comes a film that became an instant cult classic during its release in the mid-80s, stunning audiences with its peculiar and unique blend of dark horror and futuristic science-fiction. That film was Vampire Hunter D.

Story

In the year 12,090 AD, the Earth has been plunged into darkness by a fate so terrible that no one even remembers how it all began. It is a world where creatures of the night walk freely, stalking their prey, taking what they want, and disappearing into the shadows just as quickly as they came. Vampires, Mutants, and Demons rule the nights, while humankind struggles to get through the days, with only a few allies to keep them safe.

When a young woman, Doris, is visited by the infamous Count Magnus Lee, she knows that she does not have much time, for she has been bitten, and will become the very thing she has feared all her life, unless the man that changed her can be found and destroyed.

The only man with the skills to do such a job is a Vampire Hunter named D, whose origins are just as mysterious as the name he bares. He is not human. He is a creature that hunts down his own kind, stuck between two sides, forced to endure a world full of beings, human and vampire alike, that do not want him.

With the aid of a terrible creature that exists on the palm of his own hand, and a magnificent sword on his back, D will wage a war on the dark world that, in the end, may leave no one left standing... not even himself.

"I know who you are, my lord..."

Review

My first experience with "Vampire Hunter D" came when I could consider
myself a kid. Back when the only anime I even knew of were "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z", the Sci-Fi Channel was airing weekly animated films on Saturday Mornings, in a block called "Saturday Anime". Vampire Hunter D was one of the first films I saw, and it blew me away. Later, after the release of the Special Edition DVD, I decided it was time to return to 12,090 AD and be reminded of one of the reasons I became such a tremendous anime/tokusatsu fan to begin with.

Vampire Hunter D is a great story which combines a lot of different elements that one normally would not think of as belonging together. It's a vampire film which is set in a distant, post-apocalyptic future, where the severely advanced can be seen hand-in-hand with the severely ancient. There are some scenes that looked like they were ripped from some kind of western, while others played out more like a dark fairy tale. The film is filled with freaky mutants and monsters of all types, ranging from the grotesque to the beautiful, or perhaps both at the same time!

The main plot is simple, but effective. Doris is bitten by a vampire and needs D to help her find the one that attacked her before she becomes a vampire herself. Along the way, D must resist the almost insatiable temptation to embrace the affections of Doris, who is entranced by him. D struggles with the fact that he is not human, and that he feels he could never fully be a part of her world, nor the world of the vampires. It might sound like a familiar formula nowadays, but at the time, it was quite original, and is still an interesting premise, especially after you learn the whole truth about who he is.

There was one gripe I had with the film. Now, I don't mind a little nudity, but when a character's naked breast just happens to bounce out of her shirt when someone tries to remove a cross from around her neck, I start to think they might have gone just a bit too far. I mean, it's not a huge deal, but it was just a little off-putting.

In any case, the action was never something that was off-putting. I have to say I was a bit shocked during my first viewing of this film, because the action sequences are just so brutal. I wasn't the huge anime enthusiast I am now, so it was really surprising to see D basically slice a mutant in half with the single swipe of his sword, and the thing falling to the ground in two pieces. Suffice to say, if you like action that is super-hardcore, you won't be disappointed with Vampire Hunter D, because it has enough to satisfy your appetite. It features some interesting combatants as well. There are strange witch-like creatures, giant monsters with exploding stones, mutants with spinning blade-weapons, and a whole host of others that are just too freaky to describe.

Final Thoughts

I found "Vampire Hunter D" to be intensely enjoyable, and is the type of anime I can watch again and again without being bored. Anyone that enjoys films with a healthy heaping of action and horror, sprinkled with sci-fi and supernatural drama will most likely enjoy it too. And after you finish with this baby, take a look at the sequel. "Vampire Hunter D" gets an A- from me.

"Back to the abyss... OF OBLIVION!!!"

I'll See You In My Dreams

Dreamseer