Starring: Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Liam Cunningham, JJ Feild, Koyuki, Larry Lamb. Director: Chris Nahon.

The live-action version of Hiroyuki Kitakubo’s animated feature steps back in time to the 1970s, when the Vietnam War continued to dominate newspaper headlines.

Against this backdrop of conflict, a very different battle rages in Tokyo between humans and vampires, the latter dispatched with spurts of cartoonish, computer-generated blood.

As the fanged fiends take on their demonic form, a miasma of clumsy digital effects allows the bloodsuckers to take flight and soar over the rooftops of their hunting-ground.

Perhaps the effects, which almost resemble stop-motion, are supposed to jar with the live action as a clever nod to the retro ’70s vibe.

More than likely, it’s sloppy workmanship and Chris Chow’s meandering screenplay isn’t much better.