The Era of Vampires (2002)

Director:

Wellson Chin

Writer:

Hark Tsui (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Action

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Gas Explosion | Snakebite Poison | Kung Fu | Chinese Mythology

Cast

Ken Chang	...	Hei
Michael Chow Man-Kin	...	Fat
Suet Lam	...	Kung
Kwok-Kwan Chan	...	Choi
Anya	...	Sasa
Rongguang Yu	...	Master Jiang (as Yu Rong Guang)
Horace Lee Wai Shing	...	Dragon Tang
Chun Hua Ji	...	Master Mao Shan
Kuan Tai Chen	...	Zombie Wrangler (as Chan Koon Tai)
Lik-Chi Lee	...	Butler
Wang Zhen Lin	...	Young Maser Jiang
Zou Na	...	Ling
Yut Fei Wong	...	Undertaker
Mei-Yee Sze	...	Clothing salesman
Kin-Yan Lee	...	Geomancer

Also Known As:

Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters (Hong Kong: English title) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and gore. (also English dubbed version)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Japan | Netherlands

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Film Workshop

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

Offers nothing new to the genre... but is passable entertainment.

When four hunters of the undead—Thunder, Wind, Rain and Lightning—are separated from their master during a battle with a King Vampire, they continue their hunt for the bloodsucker, using a magical Taoist compass to lead the way. Eventually they arrive at the home of Master Jiang, who is celebrating the marriage of his son to the beautiful Sasa.

When the groom turns up dead the next day, having been bitten by a snake, the foursome are employed to find the reptile. Master Jiang informs Sasa that she need never be parted from her husband, because the family tradition is to preserve dead relatives with wax and store them in vaults below the house; she can visit him anytime she likes!! Meanwhile, it transpires that Sasa had been married off by her brother just so that she might be able to find the whereabouts of a hoard of gold hidden somewhere in the house and pass the information on to him.

With that plan scuppered, Sasa's brother employs a 'zombie wrangler' to reanimate the waxy corpses under the house. With Master Jiang busy rounding up the zombies, he hopes to search the place for the hidden loot.

Unfortunately, for everyone involved, the King Vampire shows up at the end to cause additional mayhem and chaos and it is up to the four heroes to save the day.

Whilst this is no classic of the genre—the plot is far too messy—it does contain many elements which will prove to be of fun to fans of 80s Hong Kong vampire movies: the martial arts are of a reasonable standard, with some impressive swordplay and a bit of nifty wire-work, there is some fairly cheesy gore, and the reanimated bodies do the old hopping routine we all know and love. Best of all is the King Vampire, who has supernatural powers that enable him to suck blood at a distance and fire flames from his mouth.

My main gripe with this film is that everything is just too dark. I found myself straining to see what was going on for most of the running time. I can ignore some dodgy CGI and iffy make-up effects, but I'd like to be able to see what the hell is going on.

Despite the advances in film technology, Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters remains an average production that does nothing to improve on the films that it emulates. Don't watch this with expectations too high, and you might find yourself enjoying it.