One of the best films i have seen

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Best movie of this year hands down!

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This film starts well and the cast are all good apart from the token lunk that every vampire film seems to have. Atsuo Nakamura (Mr Sagawa) visits his girlfriend Yukiko Kobayashi (Yuko) in a remote house that she lives in with her mother Yôko Minakaze (Mrs Nonomura) and the previously mentioned lunk Kaku Takashina (Genzo). One problem, though, the girlfriend is now dead. Or is she? After 8 days, Atsuo's sister Kayo Matsuo (Keiko) goes to look for her brother who has now disappeared. She goes with her partner Akira Nakao to the house to find some answers.The story seems refreshing at first with some moments that make you jump, an excellent campy soundtrack and a very effective Yukiko in the lead spooky role. She's scary. Unfortunately, we needed more of her, and by the end of the film, things wrap up rather speedily with an explanation and some gore thrown in. Old ground, I'm afraid, although we do get a different version of vampirism than we are accustomed to. It's OK to watch but only on occasion as, annoyingly, a lot of the nighttime scenes just morph into a black screen. What's the point of that? We can't see anything!! The doll element could have been worked on to provide more intense scares and paranormal theories. I don't mean blow-up dolls – there aren't any of those kind in this film, neither are there any of those weird people who like dressing themselves up as dolls. I watched a documentary about them and that was way more frightening than this film.

Very well shot and creepy tale that seems to be somewhat unoriginal at first, albeit, still able to induce a few jumps by me, which is a bit unusual. Gradually, though, this becomes less familiar and whilst occasionally verging on the silly, still enough solid horror element to hold one pretty spellbound in its grip. The most unusual and intermittent soundtrack helped keep up the unease and indeed, ramp up the scares. The final denouement almost degenerates into farce but once again the direction is so sharp that we are still persuaded. Good performances all round and a particularly energetic one by the guy playing the mute servant. Lovely old western style house too, which, I assume is why we had none of the usual shoe removing. Effects were simple yet effective and the dead girl always very good indeed. Well worth catching and I must watch out for the other two in the series.

Keiko (Kayo Matsuo) and her friend try to find her missing brother after he disappeared on a trip to visit his girlfriend Yuko (Yukiko Kobayashi). They don't get very far as Yuko's mother claims the brother ran away after finding out Yuko had been killed in a car wreck the week before his visit. But Keiko finds signs that she might be being lied to - namely, a doll that her brother had purchased and, oh yeah, she sees Yuko's corpse walking around at night. This Toho production is a unique Japanese take on vampires. Fans of suave vampire types will be disappointed as this film's count is very different. The film does benefit from some great scary and atmospheric bits though. I also wonder if Tobe Hooper ever saw this as several things remind me of his later SALEM'S LOT (1979), most notably the design of the vampire (pale blue face with gold glowing eyes) and the rotting depiction of the vampire's lair. Toho produced two more vampire films after this in LAKE OF Dracula (1971) and EVIL OF Dracula (1974).

NO SPOILERSIf you like Hammer style Vampire films.Give it a shot.TOHO has three Dracula films.This one, Lake Of Dracula and Evil of Dracula.All three are excellent in their original language versions.Now, don't expect "Victorian Era" vampire horror here, like in the Hammer films.This is Japanese after all.All three films have great atmosphere and some very creepy scenes.I write this review for this particular one because it has no other reviews.And it deserves one. TOHO is better known for its giant monster flicks(Godzilla etc.) I would assume most would shy away from a TOHO "Vampire" flick.Don't!! Its well worth your time.Very much out of character for TOHO and a darn good effort on their part.Its a shame many horror fans don't know of this or the other two titles.Its just one guys opinion that these films belong in any "Vampire" film lover's collection.