Japanese teaser for ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’

Earlier this month a Japanese teaser trailer for Chris Nahon’s BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE appeared online courtesy of Yahoo! Japan. The film is a live-action adaptation of director Hiroyuki Kitakubo’s fantasy/action anime film of the same name originally released in 2000. Nahon’s film stars Korean actress Gianna Jun (MY SASSY GIRL) and features the action direction of Hong Kong’s Corey Yuen.

From looking at the teaser, the film looks quite eye-catching which isn’t particularly surprisingly given Nahon’s visual treatment of the Jet Li actioner KISS OF THE DRAGON. As the director was already accustomed to working with Yuen on that film, chances are we’re in for some high-quality martial arts action. Jun may not have anything on Li but Yuen is the best in the business when it comes to getting non-action stars to look good doing action. His specialty is women when you consider some of his best films including YES MADAM, BLONDE FURY, SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT, MOON WARRIORS, and SO CLOSE.

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE concerns Saya, a 16-year-old girl in a fetching schoolgirl outfit hired by a shadowy organization known as Red Shield to hunt down and kill vampire-like monsters with a samurai sword. The premise should sound ridiculous but I’ve watched just enough anime and Japanese superhero shows for the whole thing to seem no stranger than Wesley Snipes’ BLADE movies. There is definitely a trend in Japanese pop culture involving the hiring of underage girls in uniforms to do work normally performed by the likes of Navy SEALS and superheroes. YO-YO GIRL COP is another example that has become a feature film.

BLOOD opens in Japan on May 29th. It’s coming to the U.K. on June 12th courtesy of Pathé and Universal Pictures has plans to release it in the U.S. sometime this year.

Tags: Blood: The Last Vampire (2009), Corey Yuen, supernatural, swordplay, upcoming, vampire, Videos