- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: TV-MA
- Run Time: 123 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD)
- Studio: Funimation
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 4, 2011
- List Price: $29.98
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Purchase Higanjima:Escape from Vampire Island on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:2/5]
This horror film is proof that absolutely everyone is into vampires these days, even the Japanese and Koreans. The live-action film that plays more like a comedic anime is about a teenager, Akira (Hideo Ishiguro) who leads his group of friends to an uncharted island occupied by vampires to rescue his missing brother at the urging of a beautiful, mysterious woman, Rei (Asami Mizukawa). Once there, Akira and his rag-tag group of friends are surrounded by sword wielding vampires, she-bats, and the lord of the vampires, a ghostly white vampire with an insatiable sexual appetite for Rei.
Sadly, this film fails as horror. It is full of overwrought melodrama, terribly cheesy special effects (the red-dyed corn syrup flows in overabundance) and a lack of character development. It’s not scary at all, just ridiculous.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
It may be an awful film, but Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island sure looks good on Blu-ray. The blacks are deep, detail is sharp and textured, and the image has great contrast.
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
The sound design is also strong for this release. The Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is aggressive, but not mastered at an exceptionally loud level. There is a good dynamic range with strong discrete use of the surround channels and heavy directional use of the front channels. Dialogue doesn’t show any clipping and never gets buried in the mix while there is deep low frequency extension.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Supplements are weak on this release, with only a brief “making of” an original theatrical trailer and other Funimation trailers.
- Making of Higanjima (1.78:1; 480i/60)
- Original Trailer
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
As a campy, vampy romp, this may well work for the sheer humour of how bad it is, but as pure horror, Higanjima is a definite miss. No doubt the October release is timed for the Halloween festivities, but this is one you’ll want to skip in favor of better horror fare.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B00576U9A8[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com
Purchase Higanjima:Escape from Vampire Island on Blu-ray+DVD at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
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