Mr Vampire III is a 1987 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau. The film follows a wandering exorcist who have two ghost companions that face an evil witch doctor and a gang of bandits forcing him to team up with his rival to defeat them. Mr Vampire lll is an entertaining film and works well as a good entry in the Mr Vampire franchise.
The direction in the film is good. The film is full of classic eastern mysticism with Taoist priests being called in to get rid of a vampire zombie ghost. There is some good direction in the film such as the way they show a coin flipping as well as the incorporation of lots of over-the-top Asian mystery to the film. The film contains very impressive fight scenes and good physical comedy throughout reminiscent of a silent film. There is good comedy to the film such as the characters moving around as the younger ghost tries to shoot darts into a character’s privates, as well as comedy as shown through the mysticism with the priest using a special umbrella to control the ghosts. The female ghost is shown as an otherworldly presence and a genuine threat as this genuine tension is cut with slapstick comedy. The show motion of the hooded riders again shows genuine tension as a fight scene between the priests and the riders is initiated. The fight scene itself is chaotic and funny but also swell shot as the female ghost adds a level of genuine tension to the film.
There are lots of funny moments such as the ghosts seeing the priest as a bird and the priests assistants trapping the female witch in a cave with them. The climax of the film is chaotic, and tension filed with the devil lady battling the priests. The male ghost also appears leading to the priests pulling out his eye and throwing him into oil. The female ghost who appears again for the end then attacks the priest. The priest and his assistants battle the ghost in a tense but funny climax. They end up saving the priest show his possession and drive a staff through her causing her to die.
The writing in the film is good. The film starting with a priest being called in to deal with a zombie vampire ghost and the ghost fights back. There are interesting elements to the film such as him throwing rice on the zombie vampires so that he can see them leading to a fight scene between him and the ghost. It turns out the ghosts are in on it to get money as there is a scam element to their operation with the priest telling the man to put money on the ghosts faces like a talisman. It turns out the priest is a scammer and has ghosts working for him as he is pushed back inside deal with the real ghost as it is revealed the man has built his house on her family’s grave. Through slapstick comedy of him ringing a bell he makes everything worse as he manages to defeat them but it’s a lot harder leading to him running away. He then wonders into a place where he is taken hostage as the guy comically says silence is death before trying to kill him before its revealed that his master and the priest know each other as the priests come up with a plane to ambush the ghost riders.
There are interesting ideas presented throughout the film such as magots healing wounds and virgins urine used to kill vampires as the vampire ghosts with the other priest have plastic suits that protect them from magic. There is good comedy in the film with Chang the student being messed about by the ghosts leading to the Paos the ghosts being trapped by Nine the Taoist master, as to rescue them Ming the other Taoist master accidentally releases the female ghost from the beginning of the film before grabbing the correct jar. Ming and the ghosts end up going their separate ways as the priest assistant captures Big Pao. Pig Pao and Little Pao are then captured by the Devil Lady and the priestess hypnotises Big Pao into believing that people who are Taoists are evil. There is lots of good comedy in the film such as the priest throwing blood over the guy and the possessed ghost seeing the priest as a bird and attacking him, as well as the priests’ assistants trapping the female witch in a cage with them.
The lady devil then falls for a trick whist trying to rescue two of her bandit friends as Uncle Nine battles and defeats the devil lady. Uncle Nine then kills the main bat leading to all the other bats being killed and the priest and the ghost battle each other. The ghost then gets stabbed leading to her committing suicide. Then the civilians burn the bodies they untie the ropes leading to the spirits of the ghosts possessing two people, as this is happing the uncle tires to give his ghost companions something to eat but the disciple of the other master puts a charm on their jar so they can’t get out. There is good comedy in the film such as the other people thinks that the disciples are joking around not realising there possessed. Everyone ends up barricading themselves inside the temple for protection as the ghost attack the disciples, but they fight back as the other priest traps the ghosts in a jar. The film is again steeped in mysticism as the priest use astrology to conjure up spells using the stars, the film also has a lot of comedy with the two assistants making a ghost stop and then become active again leading to them being free. They end up trapping the ghosts in jars. In the climax they decide to lure the female ghost to a location where they can kill her with holy water with the assistant putting a talisman on the door trapping the priest inside. There is good tension with the ghost climbing out of a well and coming after the two assistants leading to one of them dying as the vampire ghost and the priest fight. He priest covers himself in ash to hide himself from a ghost and ends up pulling out one of his eyes and flipping him into the oil. The female ghost then comes in the priest throws the yar into the vat killing the male ghost as the female ghost attacks them. The priest and his assistant battle the ghost in a funny and climatic ending. With the help of the priest ghosts and the talismans they drive the spirit out of the priest as the other priest attacks the ghost driving his staff though her causing her to die.
The acting in the film is good. Lam Ching-ying does a good job as Uncle Nine the unibrow Taoist priest and plays a traditional straight man priest character. Billy Lau does a good job as Captian Chang Uncle Nines assistant who sucks up to his uncle and looks down on the other priest and his ghosts. Richard Ng does a good job as Uncle ming an inept Taoist priest that scenes his way through ghost hunting. David Lui and Hoh Kin-wai do a good job as Big Pao and Small Pao respectively brothers and ghosts that help Ming with his scheming. Pauline Wong also odes a good job as Devil Lady a powerful witch doctor and the main villain of the film.
The cinematography in the film is good. The film has decent cinematography throughout with a good use of blue lighting. The film has a moody look and is well shot with an interesting use of green lighting in some scenes.
The special effects in the film are good. There is a cool silhouette effect when the ghost appears as well practical explosions when the rice hits the vampires. There is a good use of classic costumes and make up for the vampires as well as classic old school lighting effects for the laser beams as shown by a flash of light. The effects are cheesy but in a very charming way such as the string effects being used for the vampires flying as the priest sucks the vampire into the umbrella. The film is full of great effects such as the ghost boys’ arms becoming larger and lighting effects in the film. The film also shows the characters head turning around in a fight scene and the witch doctor woman making hot rocks come from the ground as she shoots them at the protagonists. The possessed ghost is also shown smashing through a wall as the film also shows rotten flesh as a practical effect on the female ghost. The ghost also makes the tiles fly off the house, as the vampire zombie is shown clawing its way out of the jar. Finally, the ghost itself looks like a mummy as one of the other ghost tries to intimate him by puffing his face up.
Overall, Mr Vampire III is a fun entertaining film. The film is a wild crazy ride and serves a well dissevered sequel in the Mr Vampire franchise.
