Bill Kong on Blood

Neither dumbed-down nor slicked-up, the live-action adaptation of Blood: The Last Vampire is shockingly close to its ultraviolent, super stylish animated inspiration–and then some. Not only is there just as much gore and killing as in the original anime, but there is arguably more style and actually more question marks.

Amazingly, there's no origin story for the protagonist or any explanations about her powers or habits as a vampire, and the conclusion is a psychedelic, jaw-dropper that will elicit head scratching by mainstream moviegoers. But genre fans will appreciate the not-for-dummies treatment as star Jeon Ji-hyun (My Sassy Girl) delivers the goods as the sword-brandishing, schoolgirl-outfit wearing blood drinker, and martial-arts director Corey Yuen provides powerful, acrobatic, and stylish action scenes.

It might seem unlikely that Hong Kong producer Bill Kong, who is best known for arthouse projects like Fearless, House of Flying Daggers, Lust Caution, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be behind a shameless genre film like Blood. But after talking to the amicable businessman, it makes perfect sense.


GR: One thing I really liked about Blood was how you made it R-rated, with heads being sliced open and the bodily fluids of demons splashing everywhere. Most cinematic adaptations of anime are toned down for kids but yours wasn’t like that.
BK: The original anime was very bloody, and I thought that the only way to make it was to go over the edge. We wrote it to be more of a culty film.

GR: Also, it didn't really have a traditional beginning or end and the vampire part was never even explained. It seemed to assume that the viewer would understand those things and be knowledgeable about the genre.
BK: For such subject matter, you have to be very faithful when adopting another person's work. Also, we thought that it wouldn't be very smart to answer all the questions, because that would make a terrible movie.


GR: You've made more than a few stylish movies with female characters that kick butt. Are you a fan of that kind of cinema? Did you just grow up with movies like that?
BK: No, no. It just happened that when I watched the anime, it touched me. That’s all. Other things do touch me, too.

GR: What was it that touched you about Blood?
BK: The character. I thought she was fascinating, and the open-ended plot led to a lot of imagining.

GR: Could you somehow relate to Jeon Ji-hyun's role as a lonely, ruthless assassin?
BK: No, but I can imagine a vampire killer in New York. It’s a great story that goes back 400 years ago. What happened? Why didn't she age?

GR: The movie actually takes place in the early '70s, and there are scenes with flower children and hippies. Do those parts remind you of your youth at all? Can you relate to that culture?
BK: Yes. I’m not afraid to admit my age, and I find certain nostalgia in it.

GR: You were a rock 'n' rock guy back then?
BK: Yes, yes. I grew up in that age.


See Blood on the big screen when it opens on Friday, July 10. Read the rest of the interview in Giant Robot 61, which comes out in August. The conversation touches on the business of art, the rise of Pan-Asian cinema, Kong's work with Ang Lee, and his being deemed a "Hero of Asia" by Time magazine...