Despite some rough background art, the character designs (with contributions from original illustrator Yoshitaka Amano) are always sumptuous; D, peering from underneath the brim of his art, is like a bounty-hunting Marc Bolan.

Above all, it's a very gothic piece of work. Long, sullen shots of decrepit manors and foggy moors make this one of the most atypical -- and interesting -- animated films to hit Austin in a long while.

Designed in slashes and sharp, angular images and directed with abrupt explosions of lightning-fast action, it’s violent and bloody in the mode of a samurai adventure.

The film has a good understanding of what ultimately makes any worthwhile horror film work: its atmosphere.