The Soultaker: V.3 Blood Betrayal [DVD]

Features

• Type: DVD
• Studio: Geneon (Pioneer)
• Language(s): english, japanese
• Subtitle(s): english
• Actor(s): Trevor Devall, Jocelyne Loewen, Brad Swaile, Paul Dobson, Lisa Ann Beley, Ellen Kennedy, Kelly Sheridan, Nicole Oliver, Alvin Sanders, Britt Irvin

The revelations pile up in this gothic psycho-adventure, as Kyosuke learns that he really is the son of scientist Tsubaki Tokisaka and hospital director Dr. Richard Vincent. He also learns that Shiro's sister, Yui Kirahara, who controls the all-powerful Kirahara Group, has been hunting Flickers to create the SoulAnubis. This composite monster is supposed to help her find Kyosuke's lost twin sister Runa and fulfill her contract with an unseen, Darth Vader-voiced creature. (Runa unconsciously created the Flickers as a self-defense mechanism.) The dramatic confrontation between Kyosuke and the SoulAnubis--who fights using a combination of violence and guilt trips--is awkwardly directed and hard to follow. Soul Hunter offers a staccato, state-of-the-art mixture of computer graphics, odd camera angles, flashbacks, monochromatic imagery, and still artwork, but the story feels like a retread. Rated 16 Up: Graphic violence, grotesque imagery, profanity, tobacco use. --Charles Solomon