Law & Order: Special Vampire Unit!
Hello folks—welcome to yet another installment of my “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” series. These articles are all about movies and TV shows that are so strange that you might want to see them for yourself just to find out for yourself if I’m lying about them! I assure you I am not and today’s review is for a show I like….but wow, is it strange.
The South Korean show Vampire Prosecutor is definitely odd. In many ways, it reminds me of the TV shows Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI as well as Hannibal! The show has an ensemble cast that investigate murders and it’s led by Min Tae-yeon—a prosecutor AND vampire! I have no idea if lawyers actually investigate cases line Min in South Korea, but he certainly does. When he visits the crime scenes he’s able to smell or taste the blood and see in his mind how the murders occurred—a bit like how Will is able to channel the murders on Hannibal. In addition to him, the team is also made up of three others—the detective Hwang Soon-bum, rookie prosecutor Yoo Jung-in and an intern, Choi Dong-man. These folks are a nice addition and the ensemble cast reminds me so much of the Law & Order franchise—as does the way the cases are investigated and prosecuted. And, the heavy use of forensics in the show is like seeing an installment of CSI.
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Now you’d THINK that the show might be a bit like Twilight or Dracula but it’s really like neither. This vampire does NOT sleep in coffins nor does he attack folks nor does he avoid the daylight like ‘ol Drac but he also is NOT a sparkly, angst-ridden guy à la Twilight! He’s unique and quite professional—a lawyer through and through. Plus, now that I think about it, how different are vampires from lawyers anyways? They both are blood-suckers!
If all this isn’t enough, the show is very well made. It’s incredibly stylish, well written and kept my interest. If you like the shows I mentioned above or are really into Asian cinema, it certainly is well worth your time seeking out this unusual show. Finding it isn’t easy. The season 1 DVDs are, oddly, $138 on Amazon! And, only season two is on Netflix (wow…that’s really helpful!!). Fortunately, it IS available through Hulu and Hulu Plus—and might just make it worth subscribing to the service. There’s also a Korean site where you can watch it for free, Dramafever.
Martin’s Grade: A
by Martin Hafer
