Blood - The Last Vampire (2001)

50% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
69% of users liked it
(23,318 ratings)

This anime feature blends digital computer animation with the more traditional drawn animation cells. The moody artwork complements the story of Saya, the last true vampire, who must find and destroy an evil group of blood-sucking creatures that are hiding, and killing, within a U.S. compound in… More This anime feature blends digital computer animation with the more traditional drawn animation cells. The moody artwork complements the story of Saya, the last true vampire, who must find and destroy an evil group of blood-sucking creatures that are hiding, and killing, within a U.S. compound in Japan during the Vietnam War. This DVD presentation also includes a "making of" featurette and a trailer for the film. The voice of Saya is provided by Youki Kodoh, who starred in 1999's Snow Falling on Cedars. ~ Jessica Frost, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Genres: Action & Adventure, Horror, Animation, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Aug 17, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Mar 22, 2005
Studio: Manga Video

Critic Reviews

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
A moody, mysterious fright film with a painterly beauty.
Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News
Another example of animation that shows just how deep something as seemingly superficial as a cartoon can get.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
The story ... is the sort of convoluted and often incoherent mess that is typical of the genre no doubt, rabid anime fans are better equipped to decipher its intricacies
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Is much more effective at evoking a paranoid mood than at telling a coherent story, and the jerky action sequences are among the film's weaker visual elements.
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice
With its dour insularity and clingy fidelity to realism, this overhyped slashfest fails to rise above the extravagant pointlessness that plagues inferior anime.
Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique
This 48-minute Japanese animated film earned accolades back in 2000 for being ground-breaking in its technique...but once you get past that small achievement, Blood: The Last Vampire is mediocre at best...
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Comes across as a prologue teaser for a yet-to-be-established franchise.
David Keyes, Cinemaphile.org
...in the wake of an astounding battle scene that literally sweeps the breath out of its viewers, the end credits begin to roll, and we're left wondering, 'that's it?'
Marty Mapes, Movie Habit
Blood: The Last Vampire, which clocks in at under 60 minutes, is not only watchable, it's not half bad.

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

EightThirty .

21/04/2010 (DVD) Not the best 'Anime' but its still pretty cool. They made a real life film feature to this and it was interesting to see both versions. I'm not sure why they chose to do a realistic film for this 'Manga/Anime' when there is stacks of better… More
21/04/2010 (DVD) Not the best 'Anime' but its still pretty cool. They made a real life film feature to this and it was interesting to see both versions. I'm not sure why they chose to do a realistic film for this 'Manga/Anime' when there is stacks of better 'Manga/Anime' than this, but I must admit they did a good job on the real-life action movie in my opinion. Anyway, the animation is great and the colors are nice and dark with gushing blood and gore.
Justin Y

Coming from the creators of Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire is one entertaining film with one major flaw. It is too short.At only 45 minutes, this vampire tale is interesting and entertaining enough to leave the viewer… More
Coming from the creators of Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire is one entertaining film with one major flaw. It is too short.At only 45 minutes, this vampire tale is interesting and entertaining enough to leave the viewer wanting more. Believe me when I say that there is room for more. Nevertheless, the main character of Saya is the only character to follow, as there is no other to take the stage. There is just no time for the development of any other character. Not even a villain. In fact, a good portion of Saya is left to question, which goes back to the run time yet again. The conclusion with the picture of Saya is a nice touch though.There is a lot of killing and action. That is all this basically is since there isn't enough time to develop a full blown story. This is a shame. Still, this film has a lot to offer.The animation itself looks wonderful. Even though this is done in 2000, the digital effects look good even today. The characters are reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell and the surroundings and objects have a little of that CG look to them.The voice acting isn't too bad. The dialogue is a mixture of Japanese and English and it is written this way. The Japanese sounds good, however the English is somewhat of a disappointment. Youki Kudoh providers her voice for Saya and her bland deep sound fits with her personality.Blood: The Last Vampire is good for what it is, however there is much more potential that is still to be revealed.
Antony S

Rather excellent work from Manga studios. Blood features some dazzling animation, particularly in the parallax scrolling, and has a suprisingly decent American voice cast. The only issue I have is that it is short, very short, most notably as the plot seems to get propelling during… More
Rather excellent work from Manga studios. Blood features some dazzling animation, particularly in the parallax scrolling, and has a suprisingly decent American voice cast. The only issue I have is that it is short, very short, most notably as the plot seems to get propelling during what turns out to be the last act! A sequel or mini-series please, it would be ace.
Duncan R

The animation is beautiful, but it's really light on character development, or an actual story for that matter. It could've been worse, but frankly, it could've been a helluva lot better, too.
Adam M

The original Japanese anime that the recent film was based on. I watched this about a year ago but wanted to watch it again as i've seen, and enjoyed, the live action version. Firstly, this is alot shorter, only 45 minutes long. But in that time it manages to cram in plenty of… More
The original Japanese anime that the recent film was based on. I watched this about a year ago but wanted to watch it again as i've seen, and enjoyed, the live action version. Firstly, this is alot shorter, only 45 minutes long. But in that time it manages to cram in plenty of action and plot and is just as good, if not a bit better, than the live action film. I'm not really a fan of animated films but this looks and sounds great and is a must see if you enjoyed the recent interpretation.
Marion R

I just watched this and it was so short, I sorta wanted to know more about the main character.