Mr Vampire is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau. The film centres around the reburial of a village elder that goes wrong as the corpse resurrects itself as a zombie vampire trying to kill everyone responsible for digging up the grave as a Taoist priest and his two disciples attempt to stop it. Mr Vampire is a fun entertaining film that throughout its batshit insanity makes the film very enjoyable.
Mr Vampire is very much done in the classic horror movie style with set up of the zombies and the Taoist priest casting a spell to keep them at bay. When the zombie vampires first attack there is a genuine element of horror as the fight scenes are funny but also suspenseful. It turns out that his friend was pranking him showcasing the artificiality of the film which is then subverted as real zombies attack them. The toast master and his assistant are presented as the straight men in the film, the brins of the operation that know what’s going on. The hopping vampires in the film are a comedic elements-based on real folk law, combined with comedy as all the actors play of each other well and have good comedic timing. The tearoom scene is particularly great with a western tearoom and a relaxed tone showing the priest and his apprentice being out of depth leading to comedy. The film is very much a light-hearted comedy combined with ominous classic horror overtones. There are lots of interesting details in the film such as a man putting incense in his bicycle to wared away spirits. The film uses a lot of traditional Asian horror elements such as ghost with white faces and red teeth and female succubus like ghost that are then sued as a comedy with scenes like when she sits on the back of the bike and then gets knocks out by a tree branch. The ghosts then pull the hair out of Wai the police inspector and Ting-Tings cousin to control him as all the fight scenes are crazy and great with a great use of comedy throughout.
The acting in the film is good Lam Ching-ying does a good job as Master Kau the old master that plays the stereotypical wise old sage role. Ricky Hui duos a good job as Man-Choi Kau’s student. Chin Siu-ho does a good job as Chau Sang Kau’s student. Antony Chan does a good job as priest four eyes. Huang Ha does a good job as Master Yam a rich man they do busies with. Moon Lee does a good job as Ting-Ting Master Yams daughter that Kau’s students crush over. Billy Lau does a good job as Wai the cowedly police inspector and Ting Ting’s cousin.
The writing in the film is good with Kau protecting against the vampire zombies by praying as they must burn incense to keep them at bay. When the zombie vampires attack at first there is a genuine element of horror as they make talismans to stop the zombie vampires. It turns out his friend was pranking him as real zombies attack him and the master and his assistant stop them using great comedy martial arts. The priests’ assistants use all sorts of methods to take the zombie vampires out as they talk about moving them away to take care of them. There are traditional elements used in the film such as Buddhist ceremony traditions as the priest ancestors screwed over the people of this land as again their traditions are throughout the film as a guy puts incense on one of the graves. The corpses then become infected becoming vampire zombies as Kau preforms a spiritual ritual to get rid of the zombie vampires and the mark the coffins with ink to keep them at bay as the vampire zombies can’t fully rise form the coffin due to the spell cast on it. The binds don’t hold the coffin and the vampire zombies is set free as its breaks in and kills Yam as Kau is arrested. Mam fight Yam who is now a vampire and sticks the talisman on him to stop him, as Wai and Yasm then fight the zombie vampire as they manage to kill it using the magic ink and a talisman to set him on fire. Choi and Ting then run and hide from the zombie vampire in a wardrobe and must blow to distract it as Choi puts cotton buds in its nose to confuse it until he blows them out and chases after them. Kau and Sang then attack the zombie with the wire causing him to run away as Choi as to dance around to circulate the blood as he was bitten by a vampire. They end up accidently mixing the glutton trice and normal rice as they are running out, the deceased ghost woman then comes for them and uses her powers to force a guy to molest her so that Sang can take her home. Choi starts to turn into a vampire as Sang has been bitten as well. Wai goes looking for the ghosts inside of the cave and upon seeing the monster run away as Sang goes back to the ghost woman house as the priest follows him. Sang finds a symbol painted on him to ward away the ghost as he rubs it off to be with her as she gets into a fight the priest and she escapes. Sang and the priest get into a fight as she puts a spell on him to make the priest think he is a bad guy as they get into a fight and she escapes, as Choi gets long blue nails showing that he is slowly turning into a vampire.
Kau chases after the ghost as Choi turns into a vampire and attacks Sang. Everyone starts fighting each other and Kau is about to kill Jade when a man says not to as she won’t be passed into the afterlife, and she flies off. The vampire that has been recently defeated then goes to seek revenge as they burn to vampire course and sprinkle rice on the entrance of the building to protect themselves. The vampire comes into attack them, and they barricade themselves as the vampire gets in and attacks them. The four eyed priest then attacks the vampire and burns it alive as the tension rises. The climax has a tense haunting atmosphere leading to a funny one in the finale in a tense but funny ending.
The cinematography in the film is good. For a dumb film you can clearly see what’s going on particularly in the fight scenes with a great use of blue lighting effects. The special effects in the film a good in the cheesiest way possible. The cheesy effects work with the look of the zombie vampires, things shooting out the coffin and the skull biting his hand work well. The effects are cheesy but great with one of the characters floating towards the female ghost, Choi starting to turn into a vampire, there some great effects such as the light sword and the woman’s head becoming detached and flying as the body attacks the characters.
Mr Vampire is a great fun entertaining horror comedy that throughout its insanity creates a highly entertaining film.
