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In the early days of Republican
China, a landowner hires priest Lam Ching Ying to disinter and move
his father's corpse: but in the process, the corpse turns into a
vampire with a powerful thirst for the living. The situation worsens
when one of Lam's disciples falls in love with a beautiful ghost,
and the other is turned into a creature of the night himself by
a vampire bite.
Fast-moving and fun, Mr. Vampire is a film which everyone who is
even remotely interested in Hong Kong cinema must-see. Launching
both the career of Lam Ching Ying and the Hong Kong horror film
in general Mr. Vampire is eighty-five minutes of non-stop action.
Perhaps a little loud and fast paced for many people's tastes (Hong
Kong cinema has never been noted for it's subtlety) Mr. Vampire
has dated very well for a film made over fifteen years ago. Containing
many elements that have been ripped off in countless Hong Kong vampire
films (many of which have starred Lam Ching Ying) both the action
and comedy scenes are wonderfully staged. Mr Vampire also contains
an obvious tongue in cheek tone and has been marketed as a comedy
therefore making it more accessible for the western viewer - many
of whom will not get the hundreds of nods to Chinese ghost story
mythology. The true genius of this film lies in both it's ability
to add a number of little 'hooks' into the story (eg. the vampires
cannot find a human if they are holding their breath) and scare
while at the same time being laugh-out-loud funny. The best subplot
involves a lovelorn ghost (Pauline Wong)whose themesong is a haunting
childlike rhyme: "Her piercing look / Shing bright like the
stars / Sure enough to make one choke / The lady ghost looks for
a lover / Who would take a bride so shady".
Mr Vampire is the quintessential Hong Kong horror movie. Director
Ricky Lau manages to deliver exactly the right amount of laughs
and scares on a budget. Vastly superior to any other Hong Kong horror
film Lam Ching Ying made a living from his performance in this film
alone. A film which can be enjoyed by both young and old, Hong Kong
movie fan or not.
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