Vampire Hunter D Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2003-07-26 (updated 2010-06-30)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

Vampire Hunter D, one of the first anime movies brought to the US by Streamline Pictures, is wildly popular for no particularly good reason, but it does hold its own as an old-school anime gore flick with a fair amount of style. The classic plot also has a bit of an epic horror feel to it, and manages to move its way through the plot steadily, being neither hurried nor boring. The audio features your choice of a decent Streamline dub with a bit of dry humor or a better but less humorous Japanese track.

Its main strengths, however, are its dark, gothic style (with distinctive Amano character designs), and post-apocalyptic setting blending cyberpunk and medieval fantasy. It's not a spectacular movie in any way, but if you enjoy a good bloody horror action flick, you'll no doubt enjoy Vampire Hunter D, and there's enough gothic style (with a cyberpunk twist) to go around for fans of that sort of thing as well.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2003-07-26 (updated 2010-06-30)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

This in one of the first anime movies brought to the US by Streamline Pictures, and although it's wildly popular for no particularly good reason, it does hold its own as an old-school anime gore flick with a fair amount of style.

The story, which has a bit of a classic epic horror feel to it, is basic but reasonably well done, and I can at least give it credit for being unhurried without getting boring. D is the archetypal quiet, aloof hero (Clint Eastwood with a big sword, hunting vampires), and although there isn't much to the rest of the main characters, the evil vampires do have some personality--I rather liked Magnus Lee's dispassionate elder vampire style in particular.

What Vampire Hunter D really has going for it is not its story but its style: a fine example of a classic anime horror movie with a nice touch of gothic style. Being an older movie, the visuals show their age, but are still distinctive. The older style also means that the art is rougher and more detailed, than most modern movies; lacking a large budget, the flip side is less smooth animation, although it isn't so static that it's a liability. There is of course also an abundance of spraying blood and monster hacking, which look about as good as you'd hope.

Perhaps most noteworthy, though, are the character designs by Yoshitaka Amano (famous for his art designs for the Final Fantasy game series, among other things). The art doesn't quite live up to the potential of his concepts, but the characters still have a sharp, refined look to them. Overall, while the film isn't visually spectacular, it generally maintains its classic horror movie feel quite well.

There are two small things that set Vampire Hunter D out from the pack of generic bloody vampire flicks, though: It's setting, and D's left hand. The setting isn't laid out in great detail and doesn't feel particularly well-realized, but there is just enough of a cyberpunk touch to this dark future world to make things interesting. And D's hand? Well, he has a little issue with some sort of parasite attached to his hand, and it occasionally offers some snide remarks to offset his too-cool demeanor. Neither of these things are taken as far as I'd have liked (the sequel does much more with both), but they're still nice touches.

The acting in the dub is classic Streamline, with recognizable actors and generally good performances. Magnus Lee's voice is probably the most distinctive of the dub cast, while Michael McConnohie is a little too dry as D. The acting in the original Japanese version is somewhat better (certainly less cheesy), but it doesn't have quite as much character as the English take, and I liked the touch of dry humor added in the dub. The soundtrack is interesting--a lot of strings, and perhaps a bit underpowered for the broad themes of the movie, but still attractive and for the most part appropriately creepy.

In all, this is a classic horror story told as a classic anime movie. It's not a spectacular movie in any way, but if you enjoy a good bloody horror action flick, you'll no doubt enjoy Vampire Hunter D, and there's enough gothic style with a cyberpunk twist to hook fans of that sort of thing as well.

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Related Recommendations

To start with, there's the sequel, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, to track down, which is better in almost every respect. In terms of style (in that it's an old style bloody action movie), VHD bears some similarity to Fist of the North Star. In terms of bloody swordplay and nasty beasties, Ninja Scroll looks good and probably took a lot of cues from this one; a few of the monsters (like the wasp guy) in that movie are suspiciously similar to ones (the spider guy) in this one. Others that might be appealing are Amon Saga (not as violent, but by the same character designer and somewhat similar), Ninja Resurrection (much, much more violent and somewhat sillier), and if you're really stretching for a modern take on the same sort of lone wolf character, Golgo 13: the Professional, and Golgo 13: Queen Bee might be worth a look.