Hellsing Ultimate: Volumes 1-4 Collection [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]

Remember when vampires had fangs? Remember when they were known as terrifying monsters that stalked the night, instead of moody teenagers that sparkle in daylight? It's time to drive a stake through the lovesick heart of contemporary vampire nonsense. Satisfy your bloodlust with Hellsing Ultimate, the definitive action-horror anime.

The rogue vampire Alucard is the Hellsing Organization's deadliest instrument in its mission to protect the British Empire from satanic ghouls and Nazi freaks. He is not alone in his assault on the occult; the master has a servant. Policewoman Seras Victoria accepted Alucard's gift of dark salvation after falling in the line of duty, and now the remnants of her human soul struggle against her growing vampire urges. Together, they haunt the shadows as a sinister force of good - and tonight the foggy streets of England shall flow with the blood of their evil prey. The Hellsing Ultimate OVA (2006) continues the popular vampire broadcast series Hellsing (2001), both of which were based on a manga by Kouta Hirano. Deadly vampires and ghouls are stalking England, which means Sir Integra Hellsing and her minions must take them out. The overwrought duel between Hellsing's super-vampire Arucard and Father Alexander Anderson, a bio-engineered vampire in the service of the Vatican's murderous Iscariot Organization, gets put on hold when the Valentine Brothers, Jan and Luke, lead an all-ghoul army in an assault on Sir Integra's stronghold. Arucard, the newly recruited "Draculina" Seras, and Walter the Butler defeat the invaders amid buckets of blood. Hellsing and the leader of the Iscariot Organization discover the force behind the attack is the Millennium Brigade, a cadre of Nazis who moved their research program involving the undead to South America after World War II--with the assistance of the pope. As the first half of the OVA ends, the Nazis launch an attack on Britain--incongruously setting off in zeppelins. Ultimate is a veritable gore fest, serving up even more violence than the original program. Characters are dismembered, bodies torn apart, eyes gouged, and corpses devoured. But it's not a particularly original series: the shooting effects are copied from Terminator 2, while the ghouls recall The Night of the Living Dead. These first four episodes waste more blood and bullets than a Charles Bronson film festival. The filmmakers seem to be out to offend everyone and they largely succeed, climaxing with a Nazi officer declaring, "I love holocausts." (Rated TV MA, appropriate for ages 18 and older: graphic violence, violence against women, sadism, grotesque imagery, tobacco use, extensive profanity, potentially offensive religious imagery, ethnic slurs) --Charles Solomon