Animated; Closed Captioned; Bio/Filmographies; Dolby Digital 5.1 Re
Combining romance, gothic horror, science fiction, and bloody action into a dazzling anime production, VAMPIRE HUNTER D (2000) takes the vampire mythos to a new level. This movie is not a remake or a continuation of the 1985 movie of the same title. That movie was loosely based on the first of Kikuchi Hideyuki's VAMPIRE HUNTER D books, set 10,000 years in the future. VAMPIRE HUNTER D (2000) takes its cue from the third book in the series, though there are significant deviations in plot. Here, the charismatic vampire, Meier Link, arrives in town in the middle of the night and spirits away a beautiful woman. D, the child of a human and a vampire, is hired to retrieve her. Racing against time and against another group of bounty hunters who were also contracted to perform the rescue, D fights a bizarre cast of Meier's henchmen, each of whom has his own unique and horrific way of killing. Both of the VAMPIRE HUNTER D films benefit from the participation of fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, whose character designs for both films drip with the eroticism and decadence of a Gustav Klimt painting. Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri adds his talent at dreaming up gruesome enemies, which was also evidenced in his previous work, NINJA SCROLL.
One change from the novel (the title of which can be translated DEMON DEATHCHASE) is that the bounty hunter team are brothers and sisters. Also, the abducted woman's name is never revealed in the book.
The English dubbed version was completed and screened before the Japanese language version.
"Before you go to sleep, say your prayers and hope for pleasant dreams. When darkness falls and all is quiet and peaceful and you are asleep, the undead awake. The undead prowl in search for blood. No one is safe. There is no way out. There is only one hope. One man who rides alone. He is the vampire hunter. In a world of hidden dangers, in a time of great unrest, he is both darkness and light." (from trailer downloaded from Internet)
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Quotes/Excerpts:
"You're not so bad after all. You just dress bad."--Hand spirit to D
"Cause I'm a Dunpeal. I don't get to have a life, unlike you."--D to Layla
"It's zombie time!"--Bounty hunter to the undead
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Reviews:
"...Striking visual ideas and an intriguing concept....VAMPIRE HUNTER D is a handsome, well-executed film..."
-- Dave Kehr, New York Times
"...Rendered in a staggeringly fluid animation style that puts the old flick to shame..."
-- Marc Bernardin, Entertainment Weekly