VAMPIRE HUNTERS
© 2003 Columbia TriStar
Disc Grade: B+
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: R
Stars: Ken Chiang, Michael Chow, Lam Suet, Alan Chan, Anya, Yu Rongguang, Horace Lee, Chen Kuan-tai, Lee Kin-yan, Lee Lik-Chi, Wong Yat-Fei, Chi Chuen-Hua
Writer: Tsui Hark
Director: Wellson Chin
Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2002
Retail Price: $24.95
Extras: anamorphic HD widescreen; Cantones & English Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Surround; English and French subtitles; trailers
Buy it now!
VAMPIRE HUNTERS
By: Brian ThomasDate: Monday, August 25, 2003
Innovative Hong Kong producer/director Tsui Hark has become sufficiently famous that his name is over the title of this supernatural action epic, which is known overseas as THE ERA OF VAMPIRE. Wellson Chin (INSPECTOR WEARS SKIRTS, 24 HOURS GHOST STORY) is the actual director, though on a Tsui production, one expects that a great deal of collaboration took place. Vietnamese born Tsui, who earned his filmmaking education in Texas and New York, has been transforming the state of Hong Kong cinema every few years since the early 1980s, when his ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN revitalized the whole HK film industry.
In the 17th century, Master Mao Shan (Chi Chuen-Hua) leads a team of warriors charged with the task of, well, hunting vampires. China is suffering a plague of restless corpses that re-animate as zombies, and once these flesh-hungry corpses taste human blood, they transform into powerful vampires. Of course, these are kyonsi Chinese vampires we're talking about, though these aren't the mere hopping corpses of the MR. VAMPIRE films. These rotting monsters are damn nasty, able to suck the blood out of a human like big magnets. The Master leads troops to destroy one such monster and its tomb, but loses most of his men in the battle.
Separated by an explosion, the Master's top students Wind (Lam Suet), Thunder (Ken Chiang), Rain (Michael Chow) and Lightning (Alan Chan) go searching for him. By figuring that the Master would be likely to continue hunting vampires, they end up undercover as chefs for a weird wedding celebration. They should know something's amiss with the wedding upon learning that the young master Jiang's previous six brides all died shortly after the ceremonies. Prospective in-law Dragon Tang (Horace Lee) isn't much concerned over this fact he's sent his sister Sasa (Anya) to marry young Jiang only to gain access to the wealthy Jiang household, with plans to ransack it. But when the groom and Tang's men are all killed by vampires the night before the wedding, it becomes obvious that all are in danger.
Old Master Jiang (Yu Rongguang) asks the quartet to stay on to help run the household, and they readily agree both to hunt for the vampires, and because Thunder has a crush on the widow Sasa. Having learned that the Jiang house holds scores of wax-preserved mummies (the family is famous for their undertaking techniques), Tang hires a zombie wrangler (veteran action star Chen Kuan-tai) to awaken the corpses, plotting to take advantage of the resulting tumult to make off with Jiang's gold. Of course, as always happens when raising the dead, they bite off much more than they can chew.
Vampire movies have become popular again in Asia the past few years featuring both the European breed and the more ancient kyonsi in part due to successful imports like BLADE. Here, Tsui, Chin and company up the ante quite a bit by creating vampires more horrifying than any seen in a Hong Kong production before. Mixing in elements of Chinese "poison monster" folklore, the king vampire here is a repellent petrifying and worm-ridden corpse that can fly, tunnel underground, and whose touch and breath are tremendously corrosive. The monster vacuuming blood from living victims is a terrifying sight, and such effects are abetted by the kind of atmosphere often seen in Filmworks titles like A CHINESE GHOST STORY, with the fog rolling in so thick over ornately carved palaces that it looks like they're on fire.
Thanks to a few moments of humor and quiet affection that crop up now and then, the heroes are an appealing bunch, though more attention should have been paid to giving the Vampire Hunters more personality. As it is, the students seem to blend together, and the old master is typical of that kind of character though it's nice to see Chi Chuen-Hua playing a good guy for a change. The action scenes are generally impressive, though it's sometimes hard to tell what's happening. More distinct music would also have been welcome. J.M. Logan, an American special effects expert (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION, the CRUSADER video games) who is also a composer, provides only pedestrian haunted house themes where someone like James Wong would surely have provided something more memorable. In all, it's not the kind of breakout hit that the kyonsi subgenre needs to become known in the West, but it's sufficiently moody and action-packed to satisfy fans.
A generally decent job has been done by Columbia TriStar's usual crew with the English dub track, though one odd moment comes when a bandit (Tsui Hark in a cameo?) is given a Mexican accent. However, the Cantonese track is more true to the performances and the English subtitles provide a better translation. The disc is rounded out with a video trailer for COWBOY BEBOP, and theatrical trailers for Tsui's underrated TIME & TIDE and NATIONAL SECURITY.
Brian Thomas is the author of the massive new book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS, available now!
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at feedback@cinescape.com.
