The Story: Toaist sifu, Master Gau (Lam Ching Ying- Prodigal Son, Eastern Condors) is hired by the wealthy Mr. Yam to aid and advise him in the reburying his father, thus ensuring Mr. Yam a prosperous life. However, his father was not buried properly and the bad feng shui means that Mr. Yam's unearthed pop will soon turn into a vampire. But, to a Taoist master this is no great problem, he knows the spells and charms that will ensure the vampire is sedated and kept imprisoned until a proper burial. Unfortunately, his two bumbling assistants, Man Choi (Ricky Liu- Mr. Canton and Lady Rose, Inspector Wears Skirts) and Chou (Chin Siu Ho- Tai-Chi Master, Seventh Curse) muck things up and soon there is a rogue, mad vampire on the loose. The vampire immediately attacks Mr. Yam, leaving him dead, infected, and, in an act of buffoonery, the puzzled local police inspector blames Master Gao for the murder and imprisons him.

Things go from worse to much , much worse. Master Gao is locked up with Mr. Yam's soon to be a vampire corpse in the same room. Chou attempts a rescue, but, despite barely saving his master, all is not well because Mr Yam's corpse escapes. There are now two vampires on the loose and after the remaining family member, Mr. Yam's daughter, the lovely Ting Ting (Moon Lee- Zu Warriors, Angel). Compound this by the fact that Man Chou becomes infected and could become a vamp and a sexy forest ghost (Pauline Wong- Peacock King, Rich and Famous) bewitches Chou,...poor Master Gao has his hands very full.

The Film: Mr. Vampire (1995) is a classic work of HK action/comedy/fantasy. And, although a landmark film and a very important footnote in HK cinema, spawning an entire sub genre of vampire and ghost hunting Taoist masters,... it is also not a film I can recommend to your average film fan. Mr. Vampire has many particular details that are very Chinese. I can easily understand why some of its comedy, fx, Taoist and ghost/ghoul folklore would be off-putting to the unfamiliar filmgoer. I think I could pop in Police Story and most viewers could appreciate the broad, simple, comedy and, at the very least, be amazed by the stunts. Mr. Vampire on the other hand, is fairly light on action and heavy with goofy HK comedy and Taoist mythology, so I could see it leaving some Western viewers cold.

While the Chinese vampire, or gyonshi, had been in HK films before, it was really with Sammo Hung's breakthrough Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) that audience saw a brilliant blend of horror, comedy, action, and troublesome hopping vampires. This helped spawn a brief vampire/horror/comedy craze, but the formula didn't prove successful until Sammo produced Mr. Vampire four years later. The film was a smash. Like an HK Peter Cushing, Lam Ching Ying became an instant star/icon and would spend the rest of his career typecast as a Taosit supernatural battling priest in various Mr. Vampire sequels, other films like Crazy Safari, One-Eyebrow Priest, Ultimate Vampire, Magic Cop, and a tv series. Likewise, with somewhat lesser acclaim, director Ricky Lau would find his resume being almost exclusively supernatural horror/action/comedy pictures like Nocturnal Demon, Vampire Strikes Back, Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 and, naturally, the Mr. Vampire sequels.

The uniqueness of HK fantasy and the standout performances make Mr. Vampire a real crowd pleaser. Chin Sui Ho's acrobatic fighting. Lam Ching Ying's stoic, calm and cool hero in the middle of a frenzy. And it is that frenzy that makes it fun, despite all the charms and tricks, they always seem just ahead of keeping the vampires at bay. Pauline Wong's ghostly vixen is the opposite of the benign, cutie Joey Wong ghost that would be seen two years later in Chinese Ghost Story. As she goes from knockout beauty to hamburger faced, anemone haired monster, the battle between her and Master Gao is a real film highlight. The years to come would see so many imitators, and its a pretty fair assessment that the success of Mr. Vampire helped launch the late 80's-early 90's off the wall fantasy craze in HK films. Sort of like Star Wars, Mr. Vampire is the film that gave birth to a hundred imitators that could never quite capture the same amalgam of styles.

The fumbles, for me, were the fact that it lays on the comedy a bit too thick for my tastes. Extended sequences like the rube in the city gag of Master Gau and Man Choi not knowing how to drink coffee at a restaurant, Man Choi and Chou using a Taoist spell to embarrass Inspector Wai in front of Ting Ting, and Chou getting rice from a dishonest shopkeeper (a cameo by Wu Ma) fall flat unless you are really into HK comedic sensibilities. Although the various knockoffs may have worse comedy, fx, or story, something they often got right was mood and setting. One of the things that made Spooky Encounters such a hit was its effective use of lighting, dark environments, colored filters, enhancing the horror mood. The horror aspect of Mr. Vampire is not as distinct. The look of Mr. Vampire is exceptionally bright; the sets are very detailed and the bright lighting helps render the sets, but doesn't help with the horror tone. Likewise, the makeup (and this is an age-old complaint with the film) is very low budget, with the line between the Main Vamp mask and the actor's (Yuen Wah) eye very apparent and distracting. While the action does satisfy, I could have used a little more, a better balance between the various elements in stead of a focus on shenanigans.

The DVD: Hong Kong Legends, Region Two, PAL DVD. HKL's restoration job falls somewhere in the middle- not one of their best, but certainly not one of their worst. Some of the films elements are less than perfect, but this is easily the best Mr. Vampire release to date and the one that has set the bar for any other releases. Picture- Widescreen 1:85:1. Now, despite its awesome restoration efforts, the one place HKL has failed on a few occasions is with proper aspect ratio. I'm sure its possible that Mr. Vampire was filmed widescreen and not letterbox, but still, the ratio seems just a tad off. Not monumental, but one gets the feeling they are missing some picture. Still, the action is centered and the clean, dirt free restoration is a godsend. Sharpness is good. The print is a little bright, weakening the colors and contrast. By far this is the best version of Mr. Vampire you are likely to find. Sound- Original Cantonese or English dub tracks, with optinoal clear English subtitles. Sound is still a little harsh and tinny. Track doesn't have the same 'oomph!' and push that they gave Spooky Encounters but it is decent enough. The subtitles are great, devoid of the glaring mangled English of older releases. The dub is pretty loud, with typical bad voice acting (HK comedy should never be dubbed; it really suffers.) and they have chosen to rename Man Choi, "Malcom" on the dub track.

Extras- Chapter Selection--- Lam Ching Ying Tribute (10mins). Interviews with Sammo Hung and Chin Sui Ho about working (and in Sammo's case a close friend and mentor) with the late icon.--- Trailers. UK promo and original theatrical.---HLK Previews for Zu Warriors and Operation Scorpio--- Interviews: Chin Siu Ho. Clocking in at 42 mins, Chin Siu Ho gives great insight into the making of the film, production, Lam Ching Ying, the affect the film had on his career, his limited knowledge of Chinese mythology, and much more. A real treat. Also, Moon Lee, coaxed out of her retirement, gives a nice 18 min interview detailing her film history, the making of Mr. Vampire, her subsequent action career, and what she has been doing since her retiring from the business... Both interviews were great, and my only complaint is that the film footage really drags the interviews out, you see virtually the same sequences (even one scene twice in Siu Ho's case) and considering the films low action quotient, the interviews didn't need to be padded out with extended scenes of the fight footage.--- Commentary by HK film expert Bey Logan. Once again, Mr. Logan does a fine job, covering the stars, the genesis of the film, the hype before its release and how it eclipsed the hype, as well as Taoist and Chinese mythology. Having met Lam Ching Ying and being an acquaintance of Sammo, he is able to provide info about him, as well as the rest of the cast, including an interesting side fact (he previously metioned on the Miracles DVD) that, in his post acting career, Billy Lau, who plays the inspector, was once his wife's optometrist.

Conclusion- A real must for fans and HK aficionados. Once again, Hong Kong Legends does a good job cleaning up a classic, with good extras, giving genre films a well-deserved treatment that they don't often get.