“Blood: The Last Vampire” is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime cult classic “Buraddo Za Rasuto Vanpaia.” Like the original, it’s mostly in English with a largely American cast. Playing Saya, our half-human, half-demon protagonist of teenage appearance is Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun of “My Sassy Girl” fame, who’s changed her name here to Gianna for her international audience.

Saya’s kind of like a Japanese Buffy, except she’s cold and old (she’s really 400 years of age). Killing demons is her calling, and she works as a vampire hunter for an unnamed organization that cleans up the mess she leaves around the streets (demon brains and body parts). The time is 1970, and she’s transferred to an American army base high school to investigate... well, things. There she meets and befriends Alice, the rebellious daughter of the army base’s General McKee. Demonic mean girls torment Alice, and Saya comes to the rescue. Cue more demons, lots of bloody swordfights, and more and more demons, right up to a fated meeting with the mother of all demons, Onigen.

The cinematography throughout is gorgeous, featuring Wong Kar Wai-esque colors and the nostalgic ghetto neon of 70s shitamachi (low-town Tokyo) soaked in sepia. The opening scene, featuring a dimly lit, lugubrious battle on an old subway train, sets the tone right from the start. Unfortunately the outfits come across like “dress-up-for-a-70s-party” costumes rather than actual clothes from the period, although I loved Saya’s retro Japanese schoolgirl uniform.

While the CGI demons are a bit tame and lame, it’s still a great action film to eat your popcorn to. Gianna wields her katana with natural skill and grace, and I love her primal screams. And Koyuki of course, with her classical “Noh mask” Japanese face, plays the mysterious, beautiful and deadly Onigen to perfection, despite her atrocious English (why on earth does she insist on speaking English to Saya anyway?).

At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with a Korean girl in a Japanese seira-fuku (sailor) school uniform wielding a katana with Chinese choreographed kung-fu scenes.

3 Stars by Johannes Pong.

Directed by Chris Nahon. Starring Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham, Koyuki Yasuaki Kurata. Category IIB, 90 minutes. Opened Jun 4.