Vampire Hunter D:Bloodust an Anime DVD bridging the Horror, Sci-Fi & Western genres!
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Vampire Hunter D:Bloodust an Anime DVD bridging the Horror, Sci-Fi & Western genres!
Two nights ago, I rewatched VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST (VHDB): the first time being the street date of 2-12-02. This DVD sports a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that is beautiful & breathtaking. The 5.1 audio is also excellent, very aggressive and uses all six speakers for the length of the film. Nice score by Marco D'Ambrosio too.
This is an anime film that is chock full of horror, sci-fi and Western elements.
BUT ENOUGH OF THE STORYLINE ...
Of VHDB's Western elements, director Yoshiaki Kawajiri has stated*, "I like Western movies very much. I think you could feel that at some points of the movie - especially at the horse stable scene. This is a very typical scene in a Western movie. I sneaked in my personal taste there a little bit." Other Western elements include barroom showdowns, lynch mob scenes, lots of horses, and shotgun & pistol play ala The Wild Bunch.
Horror elements include plenty of zombies, werewolves, gargoyles, and vampires, including a female vampire that references Le Fanu's "Carmilla" & Elizabet Barthory. There are also references to Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" and Wilde's "Portrait of Dorian Gray."
Sci-Fi elements, among many, include spaceships & rockets for space travel to "The City of the Night," gothic satellite/space stations, binoculars and glasses that have lenses which provide computerized digital read outs for the wearer/viewer.
Finally, all the Horror/Sci-Fi/Western references aside, this film is gorgeous and combines elements of Art Noveau, Art Deco, and the Gothic. Additionally, the DVD's 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is beautiful & breathtaking. There are static shots of Daliesque desert landscapes, Ballardesque industrial ruins, and gnarled architecture that looks like Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia after a nuclear holocaust. Kawajiri seems to have a thing( almost fetishes bordering on the Buñuelesque), for gothic churches with flying buttresses, bridges with arches, suspension bridges that span long expanses through ravines connecting mountains, as there are myriads of churches, bridges and any kind of architecture that uses arches throughout the film. The 5.1 audio is also excellent, very aggressive and uses all six speakers for the length of the film. Nice score by Marco D'Ambrosio too.
cheers, Tony Block
*taken from the DVD featurette on the making of the film.
This is an anime film that is chock full of horror, sci-fi and Western elements.
Spoiler:
BUT ENOUGH OF THE STORYLINE ...
Of VHDB's Western elements, director Yoshiaki Kawajiri has stated*, "I like Western movies very much. I think you could feel that at some points of the movie - especially at the horse stable scene. This is a very typical scene in a Western movie. I sneaked in my personal taste there a little bit." Other Western elements include barroom showdowns, lynch mob scenes, lots of horses, and shotgun & pistol play ala The Wild Bunch.
Horror elements include plenty of zombies, werewolves, gargoyles, and vampires, including a female vampire that references Le Fanu's "Carmilla" & Elizabet Barthory. There are also references to Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" and Wilde's "Portrait of Dorian Gray."
Sci-Fi elements, among many, include spaceships & rockets for space travel to "The City of the Night," gothic satellite/space stations, binoculars and glasses that have lenses which provide computerized digital read outs for the wearer/viewer.
Finally, all the Horror/Sci-Fi/Western references aside, this film is gorgeous and combines elements of Art Noveau, Art Deco, and the Gothic. Additionally, the DVD's 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is beautiful & breathtaking. There are static shots of Daliesque desert landscapes, Ballardesque industrial ruins, and gnarled architecture that looks like Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia after a nuclear holocaust. Kawajiri seems to have a thing( almost fetishes bordering on the Buñuelesque), for gothic churches with flying buttresses, bridges with arches, suspension bridges that span long expanses through ravines connecting mountains, as there are myriads of churches, bridges and any kind of architecture that uses arches throughout the film. The 5.1 audio is also excellent, very aggressive and uses all six speakers for the length of the film. Nice score by Marco D'Ambrosio too.
cheers, Tony Block
*taken from the DVD featurette on the making of the film.