There are some facts that everyone just knows about vampires. Like they have fangs, drink blood, like to watch Deal or No Deal in the afternoons: you know, the usual stuff. The thing is, even though this film has ‘vampire’ in the title, and the lead Saya (Gianna) is a 400 year old vampire, this is by no means your average vamp flick.

Based on a Japanese Anime film, this live action version follows the original story quite closely. It’s 1970 and Saya is a Halfling: half human, half vampire. Under orders from the shifty organisation known as The Council, Saya sets out to destroy all vampire kind with her samurai sword. The Council send her to a US military base where there have been reports of vampiric activity.

There she meets American student Alice (Alison miller), who soon becomes her first friend in hundreds of years. Before too long, demons are pouring out of the wood work, hell bent on stopping Saya. Beyond them is their master Onigen (Koyuki) – Saya’s evil nemesis, whom she has been tracking all these years. If only she could just confront and destroy her, Saya could finally have peace in her life. If...

Despite the fact that there aren’t any real vampires in this film, it’s far from disappointing. French director Chris Nahon has created a visually stunning world with a nice retro feel to it. It’s not Life on Mars seventies authentic, but still feels suitably not so far back in our distant history.

The film’s real weakness is its script. The dialogue is wobbly at best, with a jelly-like plot to match. Although there are a few flashbacks to make sense of why Saya become who she is, there’s nothing really driving her story to get where she’s going. It’s almost video game-like, with Saya having to defeat enough baddies so she can tackle the end of level boss. So if you’re looking for some emotional attachment, best look elsewhere.

Its real selling point however is its many set pieces. The action scenes are well executed, and Saya does so much slicing and dicing, she should have her own infomercial as the ultimate kitchen accessory. Not quite the behaviour you’d expect from a vampire, maybe she just decided to leave her fangs at home in a bedside glass – she is over 400 years old after all. It’s no surprise to learn then that the film’s action director was the legendary Corey Yeun, who knows a thing or two about fighting sequences.

And even though many of the demons aren’t exactly state of the art stuff, they do exude a retro Ray Harryhausen kind of quality, giving them a charm of their own.

The film should also win some kind of award for having the largest quota of English actors pretending to be Americans, ever to grace the screen. This includes Larry Lamb, who is probably better known for playing Archie from EastEnders, and Colin Salmon.

And although it looks glorious on Blu-ray, it has to be said that the extras on it are barely that.

Still, despite its wafer-thin story, Blood: The Last Vampire manages to hold your attention with its highly polished good looks and stylish cinematic combat. So give your brain the night off and simply enjoy this visual treat. In fact after watching it, you may just wonder why there aren’t more samurai sword-wielding vampire films being made.