Vampire Hunters (2002)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Tsui Hark
Directed by Wellson Chin
Starring Chan Kwok Kwan, Ken Chang, Suet Lam, Michael Chow Man-Kin, Ji Chun Hua, Anya, Chan Koon Tai, and Horace Lee Wai Shing.

Features:

• Trailers
  

Released by: Columbia Tri-star
Region: 1
Rating: R
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Wuxia fans will want to give it a rental, at least. Fans of schlock horror might get a kick out of it, too.

Four young men are the pride of their martial arts vampire hunting school, and when they are selected to accompany the master on a quest to slay a vampire who was once a powerful general, they eagerly accept the opportunity. Wind, Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, as they are known, hope to prove their worth to their beloved master and rid the world of a bloodsucking horror all at the same time. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned, and their master disappears in combat with the beast. Dejected, the group returns home, and it isn't until some months later that they gain another lead on the beast and set out to track it down.

Posing as servants in a noble's household hired to help with a wedding, the group becomes suspicious of the groom's family, who are reputed to preserve the dead in wax. Our heroes fear that this could lead to the rise of zombies and vampires, so they check it out (with a little help from the reluctant bride-to-be), and find things complicated by a third party -- a zombie master who unleashes his horde of hopping undead whenever he is threatened, returning them to dormancy by affixing prayer scrolls when they're done.

Confused yet? Fear not. Vampire Hunters' plot can occasionally get a touch labrynthine, but at bottom, the plot's an excuse to throw mad kung fu across the screen via hidden wires. Crouching Tiger, this ain't. Tsui Hark is a legend of a filmmaker, and despite being listed only as writer and producer, this essentially means Hark had a strong directorial hand in the picture as well. His trademark fast pacing occasionally rushes past what seems at the time like important story points, but the story itself is jumbled enough in places that it's best to skip on by and get to the asskicking contest.

To those expecting something like Blade, Vampires (gods help you), or even Vampire Hunter D, you're likely to be disappointed. The vampires of the film are not Western vampires at all. Essentially, a vampire in this film is a hopped-up zombie that can draw the blood out of your body by inhaling deeply, spits poison gas, and can fly. But it's not a suave, sophisticated night-owl that charms the ladies and can pass for human. It's a rotted hunk of flesh that destroys everything in its path indiscriminately. Because of this, the vampire himself isn't really much of a character here...it doesn't speak, it barely moves (except for floating), and the camera never gives a very good look at it (I suspect due to limitations of the effects budget).

Despite a somewhat confused story and a disappointing vampire, the movie delivers where every Tsui Hark film delivers: kung fu. Wire work, swordplay, hand-to-hand, you name it. The movie offers up lots of crisply choreographed set pieces where fists and feet fly. The sword fight sequences are some of the best examples of such martial technique one can find in the Hong Kong world of cinema, barring noteable exceptions like Crouching Tiger.

Other than trailers, there are no features. You get one nicely anamorphic kung fu picture with good sound mixing. A solid Hong Kong period action flick, with some creepy horror trappings and a plot that's equal parts action, romance, and old Vincent Price movies. This one's a pure guilty pleasure.