©1991 Kasai Kiyoshi / Toei Video Co. Ltd. / Promise Co., Ltd.
©1998 Manga Entertainment Ltd.
Released in North America by Manga Entertainment
English dubbed UPC: 0-44005-56093-0 $19.95
Subtitled UPC: 0-44005-80753-0 $24.95
Approx. 60 min
Now available

VAMPIRE WARS is the touching story of a terrorist/spy, the young girl he protects, the CIA and French Secret Service agents who're trying to capture her, and the vampire who keeps killing all of them. Perhaps a better title for this film would've been "The Terrorist, His Ward, Her Kidnappers, and Their Killer."
Almost any other title would've been better than VAMPIRE WARS, since we are only granted sight of one vampire and a handful of his minions. The wars mentioned in the title happened long ago. Vampires turn out to be bio-engineered, immortal aliens stranded on Earth and their enemies are mechanically engineered, immortal aliens whom we never get to see. There are no reference to crosses, stakes, garlic, or any other traditional vampiric lore except blood drinking. This is in one sense refreshing, but neither are we treated to any non-traditional vampire atmosphere in its place.
In fact, since the story centers on Kuki Kosaburo (the terrorist for hire), this film comes off like a GOLGO 13 flick. There's a lot of violence, too much spy melodrama, and a pointless and totally incredulous sex scene.
At least the animation was passable. Not quite the quality we've come to expect from a title billing itself as a movie (as opposed to an OVA or TV series), but it didn't hurt the eyes. The action scenes were smooth, and the violence wasn't too extravagant. I was not particularly fond of the character designs, but they're of a type that seems popular these days.
The funny thing is, this really felt like it was part of a longer series. I won't spoil the ending for you, because apparently I haven't seen it either. The movie stops with almost nothing resolved, many strings dangling, and points the characters in an interesting direction just before rolling the credits. (It was just starting to get good!)
All in all, this one's a renter. Vampire aficionados will be very disappointed with this film, while some GOLGO fans might be pleasantly surprised.