Now available on DVD with English subtitles from Hong Kong distributor Universal Laser is director Ten Shimoyama’s sensual vampire actioner BLOOD (2009), starring 40-year-old Japanese sex symbol Aya Sugimoto. The disc was apparently released back in December but at least one popular Asian retailer, Sensasian.com, just received it last week.
Police Detective Hoshino (Kanji Tsuda) investigates the murder of a maid at a mansion belonging to Miyako Rozmberk (Sugimoto), a seductive vampire mistress and “cougar” all in one. Ukyo Kuronuma (Jun Kaname), an Edo-era swordsman who was turned into a vampire by Miyako is fingered for the crime but before anything can be done about it Hoshino ends up under Miyako’s spell as well. This leads Hoshino and Ukyo to battle one another for the privilege of staying with Miyako for eternity.
Sugimoto is a former J-pop star whose main notoriety in Japan according to Nippon Cinema is for divorcing her husband of 11 years back in 2003 on the grounds that they didn’t have enough sex. That led her to star in Takashi Ishii’s FLOWER AND SNAKE, a perverse and sexually explicit adaptation of a popular Japanese S&M novel by author Oniruku Dan.
BLOOD trades some of the sex for martial arts action which isn’t surprisingly given director Ten Shimoyama’s previous films which include the underground fight flick BLOOD HEAT (2002) and ninja romancer SHINOBI: HEART UNDER BLADE (2005).
Fight choreography and stunt work was overseen by Keiya Tabuchi, a veteran stunt actor who previously worked on the MIGHTING MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS series and Edward Zwick’s THE LAST SAMURAI.
Related Topics:Blood (2009) • DVD • Keiya Tabuchi • Ten Shimoyama • Universe Laser
