Mr. Vampire aka Geung si sin sang (1985) Horror Movie Review

by John C Richardson
(England)

Release: 1985
Directed by: Ricky Lau
Written by: Ricky Lau and Chuek-Hon Szeto
Starring:

Ching-Ying Lam as Master Gau
Siu-hou Chin as Chou
Ricky Hui as Man Choi
Moon Lee as Ting-Ting (as Choi-fung Li)

Imagine Jackie Chan and Peter Jackson are in a car crash, as horrifying as that sounds. Their brains are smashed together with incredible force, and the resulting entity has sat down at a word processor to write a script. Now you're somewhere near the right mindset to watch Mr. Vampire.

The literal translation of the Chinese title is 'Mr. Stiff Corpse,’ which really doesn't do the plot justice. Everything centers around a Chinese funeral home circa 1920, where a Taoist priest, Master Gau, raises two protégés - the handsome, athletic Chou and his opposite Man Choi.

When a grave has to be moved, Master Gau and company discover the corpse hasn't expelled its last breath and has instead become a vampire. Once it's loose in the town, mayhem ensues and it's up to the strange trio to put the vampire to rest once and for all.

Aside from frantic slapstick, kung-fu fighting and a romantic sub-plot featuring the delicious Moon Lee, the film has some truly horrific moments. Viewers of an uncut version will be privy to a real chicken having its throat cut and a live snake having its gall-bladder removed with a lock knife. This kind of grotesqueness is uniquely experienced by Westerners watching another culture's cinema. Cinematic animal cruelty was acceptable in 80's Hong Kong, as the DVD extras show. The delightfully feminine Moon Lee has a good giggle at the time she and her co-stars torture the doomed chicken before its final take.

The cultural divide here is also the reason Mr. Vampire is so fascinating to watch. Chinese vampires drink your blood, just like Blacula, but by using their long fingernails to pierce your neck. They don't emerge menacingly from moonlit verandas into your bedroom - they bounce and smash down your front door like a battering ram. Did you know that Chinese vamps have reflections, but if they see one, it repels them? As I said, fascinating, and I've only briefly touched on the mythology that's inherent in this film.

Ricky Lau's Mr. Vampire is the sort of film that could only have come from 80's Hong Kong. This blend of horror, kung-fu, comedy and romantic farce isn't seen so much these days, except perhaps in Thai cinema, e.g. SARS Wars, and this makes Mr. Vampire a diamond of a film.

5 out of 5