Hey, Buffy, your replacement has arrived. In “Blood: The Last Vampire,” South Korean actress and model Gianna Jun plays vampire-slayer extraordinaire Saya.
Taking a cue from the “Blade” series, Saya is half vampire herself, subsisting on stainless-steel carafes of fresh blood delivered by the American men in black for whom she works.
Saya’s assignment? Infiltrate a U.S. Air Force base in Japan and smoke out the vampire demon Onigen (Koyuki), who killed her father and is said to be in disguise among the schoolgirls.
Before you can say, “A sailor suit on an air force base?” samurai-sword-wielding Saya is battling vampire mean girls in the school gym and saving Alice McKee (Allison Miller), the general’s dim daughter, for the first of many times.
“Blood: The Last Vampire”is a live-action extension of a groundbreaking 2000 anime, available on DVD and boasting a cover blurb from none other than digital-gearhead James Cameron.
The film is a cinematic chimera, featuring French-born director Chris Nahon (“Empire of the Wolves”), British actors in American roles, geographical stand-ins for Japan, and scenes in both badly acted English and subtitled flashbacks.
In the latter, we learn how Saya, who is “400 years old” but looks about 16, lost her samurai-hero father to the vampire demon and was raised by her venerable uncle Kato (chopsocky veteran and Bruce Lee friend Yasuaki Kurata). In one of the film’s best scenes, the aged Kato takes on a host of vampire ninjas in an attempt to save his niece’s life.
The other fight scenes, including a crowd-clearing street fight reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill,” are equally balletic, and the cinematography is riotously colorful and often reminiscent of the best comic-book panel art.
If you can put aside the mediocrity of most of the English-language acting, “Blood” is a horror/kung-fu hoot.
Rated R. At Kendall Square Cinema.
(“Blood: The Last Vampire” contains graphic violence.)
