Tokyo Vampire Hotel

During violent clashes in the neon-coloured streets of Tokyo, young Manami is abducted by what turns out to be a gang of blood-craving, gun-slinging vampires. She is brought to a picturesque hotel in which a large group of people are held hostage, shocked to learn that the world outside the confines of their hotel is now being blown to pieces. The prisoners are then ordered to either mate or die, as they are going to be food supply for the vampires in the years to come. Meanwhile, a conflict is building between the vampire clan at the Tokyo hotel and a rivalling clan based in Romania, and it turns out that Manami will play a crucial role in this conflict.

Tokyo Vampire Hotel is director Sion Sono's innovative contribution to a well-established genre. Originally made as a mini-series for Amazon, it has also been edited down to a feature film version for cinemas. A vehicle for Sono's own baroque style and constant flow of ideas, the film is a well-crafted, refreshing, almost anarchistic vampire flick. The Japanese cult director boldly plays with the conventions of the genre, and delivers a work that almost aggressively denies comparison with its American counterparts. Truls Foss

Sion Sono (b. 1961) was born in Toyokawa, Japan and attended the Hosei University. He has been dubbed “the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today” and “one of the most idiosyncratic artists of his generation” by The Hollywood Reporter. His films include the violent horror drama Suicide Club (2001) and the comedy Love Exposure (2008), which won the FIPRESCI Prize in Berlin.