Hellsing: Ultimate Series, Vol. 1

It's X-Men meets Dracula meets The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets The Avengers meets The Da Vinci Code meets a dozen other Hollywood films in this noisy, wacky, anime romp. The Hellsing Organization is the secret protector of the British Empire, fighting an army of undead beings charmingly known as “freaks.” It is run by Sir Integra Hellsing, who despite the male honorific is actually a woman. The top Hellsing agent is the vampire Arucard, who can change himself into a bat and shoot freaks with his trademark Jackal gun. His glamorous sidekick is Seras Victoria, a one-time policewoman he first shot in a botched raid, and then gave an eternal life hickey; now the pair are the toughest vampiric crime-fighting duo this side of midnight. Their chief target is Father Alexander Anderson, a vampire villain in the employ of the Vatican's Iscariot Organization. Extremely derivative (even the subplot of Seras trying to balance humanity and vampirism is familiar from Interview with the Vampire), Hellsing: Ultimate's excess of gruesome visual effects cannot camouflage the lack of genuine action or suspense. Presenting the initial 50-minute OVA of the series on a dual-language disc, rated 16-up, this is not a necessary purchase. [Note: a limited-edition two-disc set of this program, featuring audio commentary, an interview, music video, a figurine, and more is also available for $49.98.] Aud: P. (P. Hall)