Editorials
How The West Was Won Over By ‘Vampire Hunter D’ [Horrors Elsewhere]
The ‘80s is considered the “golden age” of anime for good reason. This significant era saw the rise of both theatrical and straight-to-video releases, and bigger budgets not only allowed for higher production values and more elaborate art styles, it gave creators the opportunity to dabble in less prevalent genres. Mecha sagas and space operas were already common by this point, so when a horror-western showed up in Japanese theaters days before Christmas in 1985, naturally people’s interest was piqued.
When Vampire Hunter D was picked up for a U.S. release in the early ‘90s, one distributor billed it as “the first animated horror film for adults.” This was a huge selling point in those days because the West was shifting away from mature animation, and the Disney Renaissance was in full swing. Meanwhile in Japan, the economic prosperity of the ‘80s had led to more sophisticated, diverse, and lavish anime. Something like Vampire Hunter D proved anime was undergoing a seismic transformation.
While horror first started cropping up in ‘70s TV anime — Devilman and GeGeGe no Kitarō are notable examples — its more unadulterated state originated in the following decade, starting with Vampire Hunter D. The ‘85 film typifies anime creators’ method of artistic patchworking. D’s first outing draws inspiration mainly from classic European horror, but the influence of westerns is also unmistakable. Anime as a whole has a tendency to pair horror with other genres rather than delivering it plainly. With animation being a desirable vehicle for manifesting ideas not always feasible in live-action storytelling, it only makes sense to integrate other elements and genres.
The first volume in Hideyuki Kikuchi’s long-running series of light novels serves as the basis for Toyoo Ashida’s film. Set 12,000 years in the future, the story shadows D, a drifter who roams the post-apocalyptic badlands collectively called the Frontier. His unique abilities as well as an enduring compassion for those in need make him the best vampire slayer around. What also makes this maverick better than his rivals is the fact that he is cut from the same cloth as his immortal enemies. When passing through a small village, D (voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa) helps Doris Lang (Michie Tomizawa) after she is bitten by the area’s most powerful vampire. The journey to then save Doris from becoming the bride of Count Magnus Lee (Seizō Katō) is fraught with monsters and other uncanny obstacles.
The demographic dial of Vampire Hunter D is eagerly set to “mature,” seeing as the film is garnished with graphic violence and, to a lesser degree, nudity. Admittedly, though, the brutality here has nothing on Ashida’s next feature, Fist of the North Star. The battles in D are admittedly tame when compared to today’s anime, yet for the time period, this was gruesome. An ample supply of bright red blood, the detailedly drawn innards of monster fodder, and grotesque facial reactions all make this film seem more vicious than it actually is.
Kikuchi has gone on record to say he was not satisfied with the ‘85 film, although it did give his books more attention. His disappointment has a lot to do with the aesthetics; the technical quality is not on the same level as other ‘80s anime films and OVAs (original video animation) due to a limited budget. The novels’ artist Yoshitaka Amano had some input in the film, but the final product does not reflect his signature style. The characters are instead streamlined without a trace of Amano’s elegant touch. In its defense, Ashida’s adaptation benefits from the most striking color saturation, and gorgeously painted vistas and scenery.
D would not see the big screen again until 2000 when Kikuchi’s third novel Demon Deathchase was turned into Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Both the author and Amano have praised this film, seeing as it better reflects their shared vision of D’s exploits. This time around, the solitary dhampir is hired to rescue a woman, Charlotte Elbourne, who has supposedly been abducted by the vampire Meier Link. Charlotte’s brother has also gone ahead and paid a band of human slayers to save his sister. The race to retrieve Charlotte ultimately leads D and the hunters into an encounter with one of the most powerful and notorious vampires to ever exist.
The overwhelming reverence for Bloodlust is not unjust; it is the most polished anime representation of Vampire Hunter D so far. The film, which premiered in English before the Japanese soundtrack was ever recorded, was well worth the long wait to see D ride again. The ‘85 adaptation has its merits, but Bloodlust is a totally different beast. Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri acknowledges the sheer size of D’s universe, something unrealized in the previous film, and achieves a master level of worldbuilding. The gothic innateness of the novels is realized through the sprawling ruins and monumental architecture. Then, Madhouse’s production values are the definition of opulent; Yutaka Minowa interprets Amano’s highly stylized illustrations with an understanding while still expressing Kawajiri’s desired design. Overall, the attention to detail is meticulous.
Narratively speaking, Bloodlust is less focused and more all over the place than the last film. D’s mission to save Doris Lang was straightforward enough, whereas Kawajiri takes even greater liberties with the source material. He evokes utter chaos for entertainment’s sake. The end result is nothing short of astonishing, not to mention incredibly cinematic and, at times, heartfelt. Kawajiri supplements Kikuchi’s writing in the best way imaginable.
These two films are worlds apart in execution, yet they equally demonstrate the major appeal of Vampire Hunter D. Kikuchi’s heroic daywalker was many people’s first exposure to anime, and needless to say, they crave to see more of D’s animated adventures.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Editorials
Not Another ‘Scary Movie’: Revisiting Forgotten Parody ‘Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th’
After Scream (1996) made a killing at the box office, as well as won over critics and audiences, a lot of folks in the movie biz thought they could do the same thing (and yield similar results). That thing, of course, being a slasher. Most of these opportunists wound up being pretty straightforward; they were low on humor or commentary. Yet others, like Scary Movie (2000), saw the potential for spoofing Scream, and acted on that impulse with both haste and excitement.
A few months after the Wayans’ comedy first hit theaters, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th landed on the USA Network, as part of the channel’s “Shriek Week” programming. That straight-to-cable (then home video) destination is possibly why many people still don’t know about this one. Or they simply chose to forget. Whatever the reason, only one of these two horror parodies came out on top—and it’s certainly not the movie where Coolio channeled Prince, and Tom Arnold saved the day.
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th previously went by the name of I Know What You Screamed Last Semester. That Trimark acquisition then settled on a wordier title, just so it could avoid the litigious wrath of Miramax Films. Folks may or may not remember that Columbia Pictures was sued over the “implied connection” between I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Scream. So, yeah, there was no way that this competing Scream parody wasn’t going to be kept on a tight rein.
A Heavy Reliance on Late ’90s TV References
Simon Rex, Julie Benz, Majandra Delfino, Harley Cross, Danny Strong, Tom Arnold and Tiffani-Amber Thiesen in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th.
Naturally, there would be similarities between Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th and Scary Movie—their scripts are built on the backs of the same two movies. It goes without saying that the other big slasher of the 1990s, I Know What You Did Last Summer, was as much of a target as Scream. However,the film pads itself with more TV references than Scary Movie did.
Half the cast coming off of (and in some cases, returning to) a WB show could be a reason why. Dawson’s Creek is particularly zeroed in on, based on how there’s a central character named “Dawson Deery“, and how the teen drama’s teacher-student affair plotline is satirized to the nth degree. As if there weren’t enough nods to television, Baywatch, VH1’s Pop Up Video, and even those cheesy Mentos commercials all serve as joke prompts.
Shriek director John Blanchard and writers Sue Bailey and Joe Nelms all hailed from television, so it’s understandable that they would stick close to home. The movie’s humor in general makes more sense, in light of learning that Blanchard worked on SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and MADtv. The writers, on the other hand, were each fairly green, with Bailey being the most experienced of the two; she wrote and produced the game show BattleBots. Nevertheless, they, plus Blanchard, churned out a passable, joke-a-minute movie. The whole thing is staggeringly of its time, but no one here was aiming for longevity.
Having seen enough of these kinds of movies, we know to expect jokes of the low-hanging fruit variety. That’s the parody’s whole prime directive. From the characters having names like “Screw Frombehind” and “Doughy Primesuspect”, to stereotyping that feels taboo nowadays, this is a movie from a different era of comedy. Its coarse, corny, and unapologetic sense of humor won’t sit well with everyone in these more enlightened times. In which case, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th can be treated as a time capsule.
Does Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th Humor Still Hold Up Today?
“You may already be a victim”—Someone receives a most peculiar threatening piece of mail in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th.
Although Shriek doesn’t live up to its own claims of being so funny that you’ll die of laughter, its bawdier parts could still lead to some nervous laughter. For instance, after this movie’s parallel to Drew Barrymore’s Scream character is done in—not by the killer but by a bug zapper—the movie throws a newspaper next to the victim’s fresh corpse. The headline? “Popular slut killed! Football team mourns”.
We then move on to the wacky and inappropriate goings-on at Bulimia Falls High School, home of the Hurlers. At this nexus of constant absurdity, indecency, and surrealism, students are seen fornicating on the lawn, cheerleading squad applicants are advised to be comfortable with partial nudity, and terrorists openly prepare for an anthrax attack. It can be a tad jarring to watch, especially if you didn’t grow up witnessing this style of comedy firsthand. Hell, even if you did, you may still have a “what the hell were they thinking?” reaction.
It’s not just the aggressively edgy humor here that can make you chuckle—the slapstick, the sight gags, and the ribaldry all have a decent chance of landing. The movie’s own villain, whose hockey mask was instantly transformed into a crudely Ghostface-esque one after coming in contact with an open flame, commits more cheap laughs than kills. His and his victims’ chase sequences, most of which are cartoonish in nature, left this writer grinning. The Scooby-Doo fan in me also totally ate up that clever unmasking joke.
Final Thoughts on This Forgotten Horror Parody
Shriek If You Know What Did Last Friday the 13th
Now, the jury is still out on whether these comedies are to blame for the death of the first slasher revival. There is more to consider than some parodies. At the very least, the likes of Scary Movie didn’t exactly encourage big studios to put their money on a trend that was being derided to death (and not as profitable as the spoofs). These sorts of movies also felt unnecessary at the time, given how their principal inspiration is already a deconstruction of the genre. But like anything else that quickly becomes popular, mockery is unavoidable.
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th is indeed a movie nobody asked for, much less needed. As a sample of pre-millennium humor and cultural attitudes, it’s not always precise. But as I’ve laid out, your mileage may vary. Horror parodies typically don’t have the best track record, so managing one’s own expectations here is recommended.
Upon rewatching, I for one laughed a bit more than I did back then. Only this time, I responded to the jokes that my younger self didn’t notice or find all that amusing. So it just goes to show that the movies don’t change—we do.
Harley Cross and Majandra Delfino must unmask the killer a number of times in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th before learning their true identity.
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