Foreign movies aren’t for everyone. Especially when they are in a language you don’t know, thus reducing you to reading subtitles. I don’t mind reading a little bit while watching a movie and have been able to enjoy some great films that otherwise I likely would never have seen. You may think that there is some double standard I am holding here, that foreign films I have seen and think are good are only good compared to other foreign films. For my movie review purposes I keep only one set of standards. That being said a large majority of these movies are better than some of the ones in American theaters. I’m happy to report that my most recent foray into foreign films has been worth the effort. As you saw with my review of the French film, La Meute, I found it to be a refreshing horror movie. The same situation goes for Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island. It is a very refreshing take on the current vampire trend in movies as of late.
The movie is based upon the popular manga by Koji Matsumoto which shares the name of the movie; “Higanjima.” This is likely the reason that the vampires in this movie are such a departure than the ones I am used to seeing. The movie stars Ishikuro Hideo as Akira. He has a strong supporting cast of Watanabe Dai as Atushi, and Mizukawa Asami as Rei. I personally haven’t seen them in anything else but maybe our resident Asian film expert Alex has and can chime in the comments below.
I’ve seen a lot of anime in my day and most of those if not all were based off of mangas. So when the movie started off with main character, Akira, being chased by bullies for really no reason I wasn’t surprised. He escapes the bullies with help from the mysterious and beautiful Rei. She tells him the story of her home island that is now ruled by vampires; hence, Vampire Island. Also Akira’s brother Atushi mysteriously disappeared with his fiancé over a year ago and Rei says that he is on said island.
Eventually Akira and his buddies join Rei and head to Vampire Island to help rescue Atushi and save Reis people. Shortly after arriving on the Island its clear that Rei has set Akira and his friends up to be food for the hungry vampires which had previously been Reis people. Akira and his friends escape and end up uniting with Atushi. From there they 
unite with a small group of non vampire rebel villagers. There Akira is helped to reach his full potential as a swordsman, thus making him the most talented fighter there. In addition to that his courage and leadership persuade the rebels to attack the vampires rather than hide out in the forest. This results in an epic ending battle.
To me it was as if an anime was brought to life. It was a bit melodramatic at times but then again so are animes. Overall it flowed well and was exactly how I’d picture an anime to be if it were adapted to live action. It is head and shoulders above other animes that have been adapted to live action like Dragonball Z. Even the small amount of CGI in the movie looked good. I think as realistic as CGI can get.
The head vampire, Miyabi (Kôji Yamamoto) was played and presented perfectly. Yamamoto did a great job embodying his character. I couldn’t picture the character looking any other way. I haven’t seen the manga but I bet that what I picture in my head based on his portrayal is what Miyabi looks like in the manga. The same praise can be said for The Master of the rebels. He had deep voice, was much larger than anyone else and until the arrival of Akira and was the strongest fighter. In fact it was he who trains Akira to reach his full potential. Exactly how I would picture an anime Master of rebels in live action.
Besides really bringing to life a manga, the representation of the vampires was very refreshing to see. Much better than the lame sparkle in sunlight vampires from Twilight. The vampires on Vampire Island were a lot like their human counterparts. They fought with swords and other non-gun weapons (the reason for no guns is explained in a realistic way). They were able to appear in sunlight without bursting into flames and didn’t sleep in coffins. Really the only way they were different from the humans were that they were paler, drank blood, and didn’t die very easily. In fact the only way to kill them was to decapitate or smash the vampire’s heads. Even then the strongest vampires seem to be able to recover from such attacks.
The movie comes full circle and leaves the door open for a possible sequel, which is something I’d definitely see. Even with my account for my bias toward anime I think that anyone would enjoy watching this movie. It has good action, a unique story line and good acting. Those aspects easily out weigh the need to read subtitles and some melodramatic moments.
Rating: Non typical vampires in a great one of a kind story line backed by strong acting performances. (7.5/10)
Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island is now available on DVD thanks to Funimation
Recent Comments