The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

This 1993 TV show based on a manga serial by Takashi Shiina was extremely popular in Japan when it first aired, although it's difficult to understand why. The blond, miniskirted title character is a venal exorcist or "Ghost Sweeper" with a typically mismatched crew of assistants. In the opening episodes, Mikami is pitted against the resurrected Nosferatu, a super-vampire from the past. She initially refuses to kill him because she might damage the valuable "divine stone" on the end of the spear she received from a long-dead samurai. Director Atsutoshi Umezawa tries to achieve the over-the-top freneticism of Slayers with hysterical vocal performances and staccato editing, but he mixes in grotesque visuals that might have been lifted from Devil Man. The results are too silly to be frightening but too gory to be funny.

Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery and alcohol use.