Vampire Hunters

OK, let me start off by saying that if I hadn't read the other user comments for this film, I wouldn't have taken the time to write this, as I'm busy and if I commented on every film I liked, I'd never get any work done. I read the comments here, in The LA Weekly and on other internet sites- and they were, to sum up, some of the stupidest, snobbiest HK film reviews I've EVER read. Do not, repeat: DO NOT believe the hype.

Now, unlike alot of other Hong Kong film fans, I don't care for contemporary action films with cops, drug busts, car chases, etc. I DO like old school 70's Kung Fu; ala Chang Cheh and Liu Chia Liang. I also really like the Hopping zombie/ghost/vampire sub-genre of HK 'horror'. Now, in case you aren't familiar with these- they feature 'vampires' and 'zombies' that return from the grave (Usually due to some sort of improper burial) and hop about (Or in the case in Vampire Hunters- fly about). They are usually opposed by priests- Taoist priests- who use Taoist magic to defeat them. The seminal film in this genre is the mid-eighties comedy/horror masterpiece 'Mr. Vampire'.

Now, Tsui Hark's 'Vampire Hunters' plays alot like a much more serious version of Mr. Vampire- basically, the comedic elements usually found in these films are almost non existant in 'Vampire Hunters'. This alone makes it one of the only HK vampire films to play like 'action horror' instead of 'horror comedy'.

Now, this distinction alone makes Vampire Hunters worth a look.

So ask yourself: Do you want just a good, action packed film? The kind of film you're going to want to hold up to The best 1980s and 90s John Wu stuff? Maybe Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger'? Or even non-HK action like James Cameron's Terminator 2? Well if you just want great action, there's like, A THOUSAND good action films out there, ok? If you want something more, something you just DON'T SEE anywhere else- something like, Oh, I dunno... maybe... CHINESE VAMPIRES versus TAOIST WARRIOR PRIESTS???

Well, check out Tsui Hark's 'Vampire Hunters'. It's merely a decent 'action' film and not the best edited, paced, well written or anything else kind of film out there.

But, the sum of it's parts simply does not equate the fun action/horror fantasy of the whole. So- if you're a 'norm' who thought Erin Brokavich or maybe the Ocean's 11 remake was good, well stay FAR AWAY from Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters, it's not for you, you won't get it, understand it's appeal or be able to appreciate it.

If you're the kind of person who likes the idea of a Mr. Vampire/Chinese Ghost Story double bill, well, strap yourself in- cause Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters will satisfy your desire to escape from reality for an hour and a half or so.

The Era of Vampires is an interesting idea. Take the typical wuxia martial arts film and add a horror element in the form of vampires. On the surface this sounds great. Extraordinary fighting visuals with dark and supernatural tone. The inborn grace and elegance of vampires seems like an excellent fit for wuxia.

Unfortunately we end up getting very little of that. Partly because the vampire they end up going with is radically different from a typical Western vampire. It's more of a force of nature, an unstoppable monster that rips into pieces everything standing in its way, visually more of a zombie lord than an aristocratic vampire. And it is utterly terrifying. I actually really like this take on one of the oldest monsters in our collective mythic lore. Fantastic horror villain, even if it means that the fights are not as grandeur as they would have otherwise been.

What really fails this movie is the lackadaisical nature of the script. You don't really identify with any of the characters, the side plots are either clichéd or have nothing to do with the other plots, the backstory is convoluted and the world building doesn't really work. Plus the whole film is shot way too dark. Oftentimes you have problems making out what's happening, making the fight scenes even less stellar.

That being said, there are some good fights and as stated, the vampire is very impressive. Making this a film that's fine to check out if you're really into wuxia or you want to see a radically different take on vampires. It's not really a good film, but it has its upsides.

Before the movie was over (and before checking out the entry for the movie on this site), I had a strong suspicion that the Columbia/Tri-Star DVD of this movie I was watching was cut down from a longer print. After all, the same studio had butchered "Who Am I" a few years earlier. And a check of the "Alternate versions" link confirmed this for me. This cut played like a book missing its first few chapters, making it difficult for a long time to piece who was who and what the situation was. I also suspect some character development was cut out, since there is really nothing differentiating the four heroes from each other. Columbia/Tri-Star... STOP CUTTING HONG KONG FILMS!

However, I must admit that even if the missing footage was put back in, the movie wouldn't be that much better. It's a pretty dull affair. The action scenes aren't very impressive in what they depict, and are sometimes edited in an incomprehensible way. The vampire villain looks unbelievably cheesy - in fact, despite the expensive use of CGI for a few effects, the movie looks like it was made on a tight budget. There's a sterility in the air, a stiffness that suggests the filmmakers weren't able to let loose and fill the movie with wonders and wackiness.

Master Mao Shan is separated from his four best warriors, Wid, Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, during the midst of a battle with the undead. So they decide to go undercover as servants in order to search for a vampire who they believe is nearby. That's the main plot, but there's many sub-plots and a tad too many characters. But the action scenes are pretty good. And while this is among my least favorite Tsui Hark films, that's more a statement of how much I enjoy his movies than an indictment of this one. Truth be told, I'm kinda hesitantly reviewing this title as the Tristar version is cut by numerous minutes, making the ending more optimistic, so if you ever pick up the un-edited version get in touch with me to tell me how different it is. And if I ever see the original version I,of course, will revise my review accordingly.

My Grade: C-

DVD Extras: Trailers for "Cowboy Bebop", "National Security", and "Time and Tide"

Good heavens. Why must every Hong Kong film since CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON be compared to it? That's like comparing Tim Burton's ED WOOD to Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE because they're both in black-and-white! They're both great movies, but it's ridiculous to stand them next to each other because they're so vastly different. To me, Tsui Hark constructed a BRILLIANT homage to the "hopping corpse," and "demon" movies of the 1980's and early 1990's while adding some great kung-fu sequences. I see hints of SWORDSMAN, I feel bits of MR. VAMPIRE, I hear parts of IRON MONKEY, I smell A CHINESE GHOST STORY, and it's all done quite well. Wu-shu, taoist warriors, hopping corpses, a creepy nod to HOUSE OF WAX, and silly jokes? Great fun to me! Art-house, said one reviewer? Don't know what art films YOU'VE been watching lately. This movie didn't try anything tremendously fancy or new, it took a lot of things we've seen before and turned out a movie that was more than the sum of its parts. Bad humor? Different humor. Hong Kong humor is usually quite different than American humor...I'm sure a lot of people missed when RAIN, CLOUD, THUNDER, and LIGHTNING (ridiculously stereotypical "hero" names) were renamed "Kung," "Hei," "Fat," and "Choi." Put those four words together and it says "Happy New Year" in Cantonese. Amazingly funny to us? Probably not. Good for a lengthy chuckle for chinese native? Definitely. Low-budget? Again, have we been so spoiled by movie producers throwing vast wads of cash at American films -- often to cover the fact that a movie is BAD -- that we can't appreciate a film that doesn't try to overachieve, but does what it can with what it has? How quickly people forget CLERKS, EL MARIACHI, etc. But then again, DESPERADO was so much better than EL MARIACHI, yes? Because it had BIG EXPLOSIONS and SEX! It's time people set CROUCHING TIGER up on its own shelf and stop comparing it to movies it bears no similarities to. Wanna say that Zhang Yimou's HERO was an overblown attempt to recreate CT,HD? Go for it, you'll be right. Wanna miss the fun of VAMPIRE HUNTERS entirely by refusing to watch it as its own film? Your choice, and ultimately, your loss.