Vampire Hunter D (1985) – movie review

For someone who loves horror and anime, it is a shocker that I have never seen this movie. But it was about time.

The movie is a 1985 Japanese horror OVA film produced by Ashi Productions, in association with Epic/Sony Records, CBS Sony Group Inc. and Movic.

It tells the story of a young woman who gets attacked by an ancient vampire count called Lee (Which I am hoping is a reference to Christopher Lee) who because of his boredom is seeking a new wife. She seeks the help of a traveling vampire hunter only known by the name D in order to save herself from turning into a vampire and becoming his bride.

A fairly straightforward plot but it offers a lot of variety and fleshed out characters. For example, one of my favorite characters was the count’s daughter who is obsessed with her status as an aristocrat. A status that has a lot of power in the world of this anime and is one of the main plot points of the movie. Clearly wealth and status have a lot more power than meets the eye, not just the battle between good and evil. It is much more than just a regular vampire flick, and it is a shame that there was not much of exploring of the world and its lore.

That is one of the only issues that I had with the film itself but considering there is another one out as well as visual novels it is not its fault. The movie itself is very good, and although the artwork is dated the art style itself is fantastic and it enriches the world greatly. It is just one part of the bigger story.

Overall it is a fantastic classical anime that any horror fan would enjoy.

Final verdict: 8/10

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