Also Known As: Chin gei bin (Hong Kong Title), The Twins Effect (Original English Title)

Run Time: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

Over the years the world has seen its fair share of movies and television series about vampires and those that hunt them. Many have been a smashing success. With the popularity of features like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Underworld , who wouldn't want to capitalize from this huge fan base? Director Dante Lam, along with Jackie Chan and other international superstars have produced the Vampire Effect, a film that dips into the sci-fi world of vampires and vampire hunters. The plot is fairly simple; the vampire hunters must stop an evil vampire Duke from his reign of terror. The Duke is killing off all the Vampire royalty in order to obtain the power from the Day-For-Night book, which will give the Duke unsurpassed strength.

The Vampire Effect associates comedy with high paced kung fu and vampire slaying action. The comedy in this feature is somewhat lax, stupid, and focuses on the idiosyncrasies of life. The entire movie feels like a Jackie Chan film, with comedy that is somewhat awkward and absurd. Witty catch phrases are also abundant and provide a quick laugh. While the absurd comedy in this feature is certainly entertaining, the greatest attraction to this feature is the action. The Vampire Effect promises some very intense fight scenes, with high flying kicks, swordplay, and even still-frame action as seen in the Matrix.

Jackie Chan makes a cameo appearance in this film, during which he does some fairly crazy things that should put a smile on your face. Despite having a big name like Jackie Chan, the real stars of this film are the international pop stars Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung. In Hong Kong, Choi and Chung are a very popular musical duo, known as the Twins. Originally, the English title for this film was The Twins Effect, which was directly attributed to Choi and Chung. This film was a very big hit in Hong Kong during the summer of 2003. The film's hype was based upon the two singers-turned-actresses. However, the popularity of this musical duo hasn't spread to the United States and Columbia TriStar has renamed the title the Vampire Effect to better associate the American audience with the actual film.

The Vampire Effect is a somewhat cheesy film that is plagued with acting that would never win an Oscar, but still tends to be very good. The plot of this film is somewhat stupid and highly repetitive, as it tends to be a mock of Buffy. The overall atmosphere given by the Vampire Effect will have you eyeballing your television screen, while laughing and being awed by the fantastic kung fu action.

The Vampire Effect is an excellent film, filled with comedy and action. If you enjoy watching Hong Kong kung fu films you'll love seeing Choi and Chung locked in battle with the evil Duke vampire and his minions. The Vampire Effect promises to keep you on the edge of your seat with amazement and a few laughs.

The DVD

Video: The Vampire Effect is presented in an attractive anamorphic 1:85 ratio widescreen format. The picture quality is very clear and crisp, with slight compression artifacts and a minor grain in the picture. Similar to films like Underworld and The Matrix, there are significant portions of the feature that are presented with low light. During these periods the quality remains very good. This international film includes three captioned languages, English, French, and Spanish. There are a few spelling errors, but for the most part the English subtitles match the English dubbed audio track word for word. The subtitles appear in yellow and cover the lower portion of the screen.

Sound: The audio in this feature is presented in its original language of Cantonese, along with English. Both audio tracks are presented in 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound. The English audio track is dubbed and sounds slightly awkward, as the dubbed audio never seems to match the individual speaking. Overall, the audio is very clear, with all dialogue easily heard.

Extras: The extras included with this feature are trailers for The Medallion, Underworld, Returner, Tokyo Godfathers, and Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters.

Final Thoughts: This film has crazy kung fu action like the Matrix, the grace and audacity of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and a touch of comedy you can expect from Jackie Chan. The Vampire Effect will make you laugh, cry, and leave you wanting to kick something! Well, maybe not all three. Either way, if you're looking for a film with action, comedy, and a tiny bit of romance, the Vampire Effect is a wonderful solution. I highly recommend this DVD.