Cinema Macabre Issue 4: Vampires! - Page 3

There’s more to George Romero than just zombies, as this film aptly demonstrates. This is one of the strangest vampire films ever made and one of the most intelligent and thought provoking horror movies of the seventies.

Chris Beaumont: Mr. Vampire (1985)

Have you ever heard of hopping vampires? Didn't think so. The idea of hopping vampires seemed like an idea that just could not work. That is until I saw Mr. Vampire, a film from Hong Kong made back in 1985. The Chinese myth of vampires is vastly different than the Bram Stoker version here in the West. In Chinese myth, vampires are reanimated corpses whose souls have not left the body. They come back to feed on the life essence of the living, not the drinking of blood. Their preferred method of moving about is hopping — you see, rigor mortis has made them a little too stiff to walk.

Mr. Vampire tells the story of a rich man who was instructed by a fortune teller to have his deceased father reburied in order to improve the family's fortune. The problem is that the deceased's soul has not yet left, and once removed from the earth reanimates as a vampire, hopping around in pursuit of the living. The man in charge of the reburial is a Taoist priest, Master Ko (Ching Ying Lam), a man who knows the spells that can be used to control the living dead. The problem is that he also has two assistants, and they are a little less than competent.

The movie is a blend of horror, slapstick comedy, and martial arts that works to great effect. It also goes a long way towards introducing concepts that are quite foreign to an uninitiated audience, from hopping vampires, to soul-sucking ghosts, to vampirism transferred like a virus, to the use of sticky rice, Taoist spells, and ink-covered string to combat the vampire. Then there is the fact that you can avoid vampire detection by holding your breath.

The story is pretty easy to follow, as it centers on a vampire on the loose and a group of heroes seeking to stop his rampage. However, it is so much more than that; it is a window into another culture, it serves up some big laughs, and has some surprisingly creepy moments. And let's not forget the man who travels around with a group of the hopping vampires in tow.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

Visit Ian Woolstencroft's author page — Ian Woolstencroft's Blog