It is the early 18th century in Japan. Legend has it that Mt. Fuji is the embodiment of the spirit of Japan. As man starts to commit cruel acts, and forgets the ways of goodness, Mt. Fuji will erupt and send out a terrible, hateful revenge upon mankind. Man’s corruption has gone too far and Mt. Fuji has exploded, and as the lava spews and the ground shakes, Mt. Fuji also unleashes legions of demons into the world, infecting everywhere they go with hatred, misery, and death. One man, Yoshiaki Sakaki, has the power to fight these demonic foes, thanks to his clan’s possession of the Vortex Sword. Created by legendary swordsmith Zennosuke Tachibana, the Vortex Sword carries incredible destructive power, but this power comes at a price as the sword is cursed. Whoever is entrusted with this power wield it at their own risk, as every use of the sword to kill a demon results in the draining of the user’s life force. A sacred candle in the Sakaki Shrine shows how much life is left in the current carrier, if the candle burns down to nothing and the flame is gone, then it means the current holder of the Vortex Sword is dead. Yoshiaki cuts a swathe through the demonic hoards, knowing full well he is sacrificing his own life in the process, but this is the code of the Sakaki clan, who were entrusted with the Vortex Sword so that they might protect the world from this evil. Yoshiaki’s daughter, Sakuya Sakaki, watches on as he turns to face a nasty Kappa Demon but with his energy spent, he falls victim to the Kappa’s attack, and is vanquished. Sakuya runs to her father, and as the code of the clan dictates, he passes on the sword to her before he dies, and she uses it to quickly kill the Kappa Demon, who is gone in a flash of blue flame. In the long grass near to where the battle took place, Sakuya finds a Kappa Demon baby, the son of her first kill. She takes pity on the innocent babe, and decides to raise it as her brother, to further the life span of the Sakaki Clan.

Six months pass, and Sakuya meets with the Lord Yamoto and The Great Elder to discuss what is to be done about the demons that plague Japan. We see Taro, the Kappa child that Sakuya adopted, who was nursed by a human nanny, and in three months grew to the size of a normal ten year old child. Apart from a green skin cap on the top of his head he looks like a normal human, and has in fact become the spitting image of Sakuya’s dead brother. They plan on dealing with the demons by going directly to kill their leader, the evil Spider Queen, and using the mystical Mirror of Eight Layer Clouds Sakuya finds her at the Field of Kasanagi that sits directly below the lava-spewing Mt. Fuji.. The young Lord Yamoto seems to have a great concern for Sakuya’s safety, and so has enlisted the services of two master ninjas to help out when needed – the bearded and good-humoured Hyoeh Mashiragi, and the stern and weathered Shuzo Nigarasu. The ancient Zennosuke Tachibana tells Sakuya of the great power of the Vortex Sword but also the great sacrifice needed for it to be used, however there is an alternative – fresh human blood can replenish the energy if the sword is used to take a life, but it Sakuya refuses to resort to this due to the code of the Sakaka clan. Sakuya will not go alone however, Taro wishes to tag along and she agrees, and so with the sword and Taro’s herbal ointment in tow, they set off. They travel through Edo and on to Hachioji County, where they find shelter from the cold night in an old house. Inside they meet the old lady who owns the house and a suspicious man, who turns out to be the Evil Puppeteer, who has the power to turn young women into marionettes, trapping their souls inside forever. Sakuya believes him to be a demon but he is in fact just a nasty human, the real demon is the old lady who reveals herself as the Demon Two-Tailed Cat! The demon deals with the loony with the puppets, but proves no match for Sakuya and the Vortex Sword. The poor marionette girls are returned to human form and thank Sakuya and Taro as they leave, though this encounter was nothing compared to watch awaits them at Mt. Fuji, where the terrible Spider Queen prepares to unleash her incredible power and bring and eternal darkness to the world.

If ever a film could have done with being a TV series, Sakuya The Slayer of Demons is it, as there is just far too much to cram into a sub-90 minute running time to truly do justice to the story and characters. What could have been a sort of Feudal Japan version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ends up being a fun, but shallow popcorn flick. There is certainly plenty to keep you going in this film, a number of well-designed demons and other characters, and a plethora of neat special effects, not to mention a decent cast such as cutey pie Nozomi Ando as Sakuya. However nobody really gets a fair shake when it comes to character development, Sakuya doesn’t do much beyond kick ass and wear an extremely cute outfit, and the intriguing ninja guys pop in and out of the film and don’t get given much to do except look cool. Taro is in fact the character to get the most to do but he is that most cursed of creature, a Kenny. As is the case with a lot of family-oriented Japanese films (the complete lack of blood or real violence, and the bizarre ‘friendly dancing demons’ segment convinced me this was to appeal to a broad audience) the irritating children play a big part in the proceedings. In the case of Taro he’s the child who is in fact a demon himself and is feared and disliked by many for it, but will find a way to prove his worth and show that demons and humans can live together in peace, blah, blah, blah. In fact his involvement in the final part of the film served little use other than making Sakuya look weak, needing a ten year old boy to bail her out. Also, his constant idiotic wonder at almost everything he sees is incredibly irritating.

Beyond these complaints, however, there is much to enjoy, and this is mainly to do with the designs and SFX created by effects wiz Tomô Haraguch. Having worked on the special effects for many movies, recently including the 90’s Gamera films and the well-received Uzumaki, he takes what appears to be a decent budget and puts it to good use creating a whole host of interesting characters, though to varying degrees of success. Though the Cat Demon wasn’t the most realistic of monsters, it sure was cool to look at, and a good deal of creativity went into some of the (sadly too short) battles between Sakuya and the various demons she encounters. By far the most impressive part of the film is without a doubt the climax, as the Spider Queen grows to gigantic proportions and lays waste to the village in Kasanagi as she attempts to destroy Sakura. The awesome special effects of her electric energy bolts combined with excellent use of miniatures, and the brilliant Spider Queen costume gives, to this scribes eyes, one of the most visually impressive scenes of large-scale destruction by a huge powerful being for a long time. It is both convincing and suitably awesome to watch, and for those into daikaiju it could quite possibly be worth seeking out just to check out the last 20 minutes, such is the visual impact rendered by special effects in a hugely satisfying conclusion.

The problem, however, is that no matter how good the film’s climax is, the rest of the film doesn’t live up to the tremendous display the end of the film shows. Much of the rest feels very truncated, like its been whittled down from a story that was a much longer and with a good deal more depth. Sadly the opportunities that could have made this a far more expansive story – the conflict of interests between killing demons and having a demon for a brother, the implied attraction of Lord Yamoto to Sakuya, the more sinister aspects of the curse of the Vortex Sword, these are sadly wasted. What is left is a visually impressive and enjoyable distraction, but beyond the brilliant final 20 minutes it feels somewhat hollow, and could have been so, so much more.