Bloodwank Regarded as oftimes somewhat of goth-fodder and less worthy of consideration, the romantic vampire film, especially in its more modern incarnations has seen some bad times. Tale of a Vampire certainly satisfies the goth-fodder side of things but it's a surprisingly fine film nonetheless. It stars Julian Sands as Alex, a cultured, melancholy creature of the night who falls for Anne, an employee new to his preferred library for research. She shares his melancholy search for companionship, with the bonus of being the spitting image, indeed perhaps some reincarnation of his long lost love Virginia. The film takes a slow approach with luxurious atmosphere, one of its most notable features is the cinematography of Zubin Mistry and its transformation of London exteriors into a gorgeous nightworld, a phantasmagorical realm of blue hues, streets that fair gleam in the rain and puddles that seem like deep pools. A place of dark beauty, where past and present can twine, fantasy, romance and the real, in visual contrast with sad and sylvan romantic flashbacks of a brighter palette. A dreamlike ambiance pervades the film, as well as the aforementioned shifts in time and reality there are moments where characters shift gears imperceptibly, connecting tissue of relationship dialogue elided as the plot moves on emotional inevitability rather than laid out structure. Writer/director Shimako Sato clearly isn't aiming to snag fans of tight plotting or fast pace here, but captures perfectly her mournful themes. Julian Sands does well in his role, not terribly expressive but imbued with tired, sad intelligence and bracing flashes of violence. Suzanna Hamilton is even better as Anne, lonely, fair aching for love but still dignified, moving stuff, whilst a spot of antagonism is provided by a suitably sinister Kenneth Cranham. There's even some nice bloodshed in this one, not a whole lot but certainly a couple of unexpectedly brutal moments, its certainly not afraid to get its hands dirty every so often. There are minor flaws in the pacing and construction here I think, Cranham's character appears too late, potentially interesting side roles come to naught and there are bits and bobs of plotting and thematics that are introduced and then fall by the wayside but in general I was more concerned by these problems after watching the film, whilst sat there in front of it I was largely captivated. Tricky to throw out a full on recommendation with this one, as many will no doubt find it sappy or boring, but if macabre romance and beautiful visuals tickle your fancy, this is well worth a look.

darkwolf_kjp I watch lots of scary movies (or at least they try to be) and this has to be the worst if not 2nd worst movie I have ever had to make myself try to sit through. I never knew the depths of Masacism until I rented this piece of moldy cheese covered in a used latex contraceptive. I am a fan of Julian Sans, but this is worse than I would hope for him.On the other hand the story was promising and I was intrigued...for the first minute and a half while the credits rolled and I had yet to see what pain looked like first hand. Perhaps there are some viewers out there that enjoyed this and can point me in the right direction, but then again I know of those viewers who understand if not commemorate me, especially when we had to turn the video off, and that simply is NOT done with our watching (we had to make one exception obviously). If it were up for a remake, I'd give it a chance so long as they had at most 1% of the original incorporated into it. That's all.

Paul Andrews Tale of a Vampire starts with immortal Vampire Alex (Julian Sands) reminiscing about the way things used to be, about his one true love Virginia (Suzanna Hamilton) who he lost many years ago. Alex then picks a cat up & drinks it's blood... Alex is currently writing a thesis on religious marters, those burned at the stake for their beliefs & that sort of thing. Alex regularly frequents a library full of the reference & old manuscripts he needs but the library only has one employee at the moment Denise (Marion Diamond) so she plans to advertise for an assistant when Anne (Suzanna Hamilton again) walks in & offers her services despite the job not being formally advertised yet, seeing it as a stroke of luck Denise gives Anne the job. Alex instantly recognises the resemblance Anne has to Virginia & starts to get close to her, taking her to dinner, walking her home & having strange cryptic conversations with her. Anne knows something isn't right about Alex & her fears are seemingly confirmed when a man named Edgar (Kenneth Cranham) suddenly shows up & explains to Anne that Alex is a Vampire & that he must be destroyed...This English production was written & directed by Shimako Sato & I saw some nice ideas & elements in here that were ultimately lost amongst the sedate pacing. The script really is about as threadbare as one could imagine, the whole first forty minutes of Tale of a Vampire is nothing more than Anne getting the job at the library & meeting Alex, that's it. Alex is a bit of a dull Vampire, all he does everyday is sit in a library reading books which in the end has no real relevance to the story & pine over Virginia. On the positive side Tale of the Vampire is a quite emotive film & I ended up feeling for the character's, I started to feel somewhat sorry for everyone involved & a little sad for Alex at the downbeat climax. The story of Virginia unfolds through flashbacks that Alex has so that subplot punctuates the slowness of the main story at times. Tale of a Vampire is a different sort of Vampire film, it's very story & character driven, there's no big action or horror scenes even though it is gory on occasion & it's not very traditional in the sense that Alex never grows fangs, he's not afraid of the daylight & he doesn't sleep in a coffin. There are only two or three main character's in Tale of a Vampire & the dialogue is kept to an absolute minimum which may be a problem for some as it definitely doesn't help the pace of the film.Japanese director Sato has created a visually stylish film, because of the minimal dialogue & story Tale of a Vampire relies heavily on it's imagery. The cinematography & lighting are both great & Tale of a Vampire is a nice looking film with some cool shots, lighting & angles. Having said that where did that kid who falls from the sky with a sword stuck in him come from? Anyone whose seen it will know the scene I'm talking about, I couldn't work out what was supposed to have happened in that scene. Set in London the dark back alleys make for a grimy setting & give the film a nice familiar & modern but sinister & creepy atmosphere throughout although there aren't many libraries like that in London, if any. There is some nice gore, most of it involves fountains of blood pouring from wounds, someone has their throat slit, people are stabbed with swords & old piping, cats are mutilated & someone has their head bashed against a wall which results in gallons of blood spurting everywhere.Technically Tale of a Vampire is top notch considering the budget it must have had, the photography, production design, special effects & music are all impressive & it's generally well made throughout. The acting was OK, I liked Sands as Alex, the way he looks & his subdued lonely performance worked well. Hamilton as Anne didn't do much for me but she was alright.Tale of a Vampire isn't a film for everyone, it's a challenging piece of film-making. Sure it's just about as slow as a film can be but the way it's filmed & put together I found it watchable & I actually cared for those on screen for a change.

CerebraX If your idea of vampire films involves buckets of blood, fast-paced action, a ton of ultra-violence, a fair bit of sex, then more blood, this film will not be for you. You will be bored stiff, and will find little satisfying in this film.However, for those people who can appreciate something more than that, and value the more subtle approaches to filmaking, then this is definitely worth a look.This is an art-house style movie, with a good, and suitably heart-wrenching story, directed, filmed and lit in a stunningly beautiful, and thoughtful way.Acting is superb throughout, but its the sets, the lighting, and the film work itself that make this film shine. And it does. I didn't find it boring, or even particularly slow paced. I had enormous empathy for the situations of both main characters, and was pleased that the ending avoided all the cinematic clichés of the past 50 years.You could view it as depressing, and in many ways it is, but I don't mind that in a film. If I want inane one-liners, and throw-away vampire entertainment, I'll watch Buffy, or Blade. If I want something a bit more intelligent, thought-provoking, and different, then this is it.I happily award this film 10 / 10 - I haven't enjoyed a film as much as I did this one for quite some time. i will be buying it on DVD.