THE live-action version of Hiroyuki Kitakubo’s animated feature has a battle raging in Tokyo between humans and vampires, the latter dispatched with spurts of cartoonish, computer-generated blood.

As the fanged fiends take on their demonic form, a miasma of clumsy digital effects allows the bloodsuckers to take flight and soar over the rooftops of their hunting-ground. Perhaps the effects, which almost resemble stop-motion, are supposed to jar with the live action as a clever nod to the retro ’70s vibe.

But you can’t really take any of Chris Nahon’s Oriental bloodfest seriously.

The body count is absurdly high as Saya dismembers every snarling adversary in sight, building to a face-off with the all- powerful vampire matriarch, OnigenOnigen, that doesn’t live up to the promise.

Nahon’s film goes straight for the jugular, but, next to the indisputably epic Blade or Underworld films, this doesn’t quite make the cut.

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE (Cert. 18, 88 mins)
Stars: Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham, JJ Feild, Koyuki, Larry Lamb
Directed byChris Nahon