VAMPIRE HUNTER D (1985) – Episode 289 – Decades of Horror 1980s

“I’ve lived for almost ten thousand years. Believe me, you have no idea what that means: boredom. Everlasting and hideous boredom.” It’s good to be bored once in a while, but ten thousand years? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss Vampire Hunter D (1985), their third horror anime.

Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 289 – Vampire Hunter D (1985)

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Gruesome Magazine is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of Decades of Horror 1980s and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Synopsis: In a post-nuclear holocaust world in the year 12,090 AD, the 10,000-year-old vampire Count Magnus Lee chooses Doris Lang to be his next bride. She hires a mysterious half-vampire, half-human vampire hunter known only as D to protect her from the powerful vampire lord and escape her ill-fated destiny.

• Director: Toyoo Ashida
• Writers: Yasushi Hirano (screenplay); from the 1983 novel, “Kyuuketsuki Hantaa ‘D,'” by Hideyuki Kikuchi (writer) & Yoshitaka Amano (artist)
• Original Character Designer: Yoshitaka Amano
• Selected Cast:
  • Kaneto Shiozawa as D (voice)
  • Michie Tomizawa as Doris Lang (voice)
  • Keiko Toda as Dan (voice)
  • Seizô Katô as Count Magnus Lee (voice)
  • Satoko Kifuji as Countess L’armica Lee (voice)
  • Kazuyuki Sogabe as Rei Ginsei (voice)
  • Motomu Kiyokawa as Dr. Sam Feringo (voice)
  • Yûsaku Yara as Greco Rohman (voice)
  • Ichirô Nagai as D’s Left Hand/Narrator (voice)
  • Kazuko Yanaga as Older Snake Sister (voice)
  • Yoshiko Sakakibara as Younger Snake Sister (voice)
  • Yasuo Muramatsu as Mayor Rohman (voice)
  • Kan Tokumaru as Sheriff Luke Dalton (voice)
  • Kazumi Tanaka as O’Reilly (voice)
  • Shinya Ôtaki as Gimlet (voice)

The 80s Grue-Crew make their third venture into anime horror with Vampire Hunter D (1985). Previously, they covered Akira (1988) and Wicked City (1987), episodes 220 and 230. Based on Hideyuki Kikuchi’s 1983 novel illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, Vampire Hunter D presents a distant future populated by vampire noblemen, dhampirs, vampire hunters, werewolf hunters, and a multitude of creatures, demons, and mutants, all of which have a variety of strange powers. The film is filled with beautiful imagery and draws inspiration from the lore of Hammer Films and the visuals of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. The world created has enough flesh to support over 40 subsequent novels, so there is plenty of content for this film. Check out the film if you haven’t already, and check out our talkabout!

At the time of this writing, Vampire Hunter D (1985) is available to stream from Shudder, AMC+, and HIDIVE, as well as multiple PPV sources. It will be available on physical media as a Blu-ray formatted disc from RLJ Entertainment, scheduled for release on August 12, 2025.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, is The McPherson Tape (1989), aka U.F.O. Abduction, an early found footage film. The Grue Crew plan to be joined by Michael Steinberg, founder of the Found Footage Critic website.

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