Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Foreign Film - Chinese
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-OCT-2005
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86237 in DVD
• Brand: HARK,TSUI
• Released on: 2003-06-17
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
In 17th century Asia, "zombies roamed the lands," which in turn led to many vampires roaming the lands, because the zombies turned into vampires. Or so Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters would have us believe. This lively, wisecracking movie is a little short on narrative logic (actually, it's short on the kind of logic that leads one shot naturally into the next). But it has the staples of the Hong Kong ghost story, with plenty of gravity-defying fights and putrescent zombies. The prolific Tsui Hark wrote and produced this one, but decidedly did not lend his often thrilling directorial touch. Still, there are moments within the generally bewildering mayhem that soar: a zombie-vampire dragging a group of hunters by chains along the treetops, for instance. If you want to see what would happen if a Hammer Film were dropped into an acid bath, this is the movie for you. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Many uninformed reviews here!!!
This movie belongs to a genre of Hong Kong cinema that goes back at least to Sammo Hung's Encounters of a Spooky Kind. Many reviewers in this forum do not seem to know that there is an entire genre of kung fu/horror/comedy in Hong Kong cinema, and that in this genre a staple of such films is that "vampires" are essentially zombies that hop. I am not name calling, but merely pointing out that many people here seem unaware of such things. China has much of its own folklore surrounding vampires, which is a folklore that has nothing whatsoever to do with the European/Bram Stoker/Polidori (based off of Lord Byron) variety. Thus, by making his vampires "hop," Hark was not trying to be corny, but was paying homage to an older genre of Hong Kong cinema, and especially to the classic film starring Lam Ching-ying, entitled Mr. Vampire. Check into it.

I got suckered into thinking this was a Tsui Hark film.
I decided to view Vampire Hunters for two reasons: Its intriguing premise of zombie/vampire hybrids invading rural China and also because the legendary Tsui Hark's name is attached to it. Little did I know that Hark did not direct this film. He produced it and wrote the script but the film is sloppily directed by a fellow by the name of Wellson Chin. In the grand scheme of things Vampire Hunters is a mess, even though there are a few things to like about this film.

In 17th century rural China during the Ching dynasty, zombies roam the land feeding on human flesh, a nasty habit that turns them into vampires. Only a handful of people dare to challenge these night-crawling demons; 4 warriors named "Wind", "Thunder", "Rain" "Lightning" and their master Mao Shan. Their mission is to hunt down and destroy the Vampire King, a floating bloodsucking demon. Using their "vampire compass", they are led to the house of a rich mortician, whose son is set to marry the beautiful woman "Sosa" and where the Vampire King is believed to be hiding. There is also another subplot involving Sosa's crazy brother "Dragon", who is determined to find the gold that is rumoured to be hidden in the mortician's household.

I found Vampire Hunter's storyline very hard to follow but soon gave up on trying to make sense of the plot after realizing that this film is just a hodge-podge of wacky martial arts, bad special effects and awkward acting that is next to impossible to make sense of. The action sequences feel cartoonish and choreographed, and the dialogue(from the English dubbed version) is choppy and robotic, similar to dialogue you get from an anime film. It also doesn't help that the characters keep uttering stupid phrases the likes of "We're in love, If we live let's get married". The zombies are just laughable, rarely have I ever seen cheaper looking zombies in a horror film. Their faces show no movement whatsoever and they just stand around like statues waiting to be slain. Instead of limping or shuffling along slowly, these zombies (when they do decide to move) shift from one spot to another in one straight horizontal movement. It's as if they are mannequins on wheels and a member of the film crew is moving them around with the aid of a remote control. And whoever did the make-up on these zombies is no Tom Savini that's for sure. Close-ups of their faces reveal all-too-human eyes gazing through sloppy makeup.
In one hilarious sequence, the sedentary zombies all of a sudden get a burst of energy and all start hopping around in unison like a pack of smurfs!

To his credit, director Wellson Chin is quite adept at creating atmosphere. There are lots of effective shots in dense wooded areas packed with mist and fog that lend an atmosphere of doom and dread. I was also impressed by the fighting sequences. At least Hark and Chin were able to hire actors and stuntmen skilled in martial arts (which is probably not that hard to find in China anyway). Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters falls into the category of "so bad it's almost good". It also falls into the annoying category of lackluster films seeing the light of day only because of a big-name attachment to it (such as those "Wes Craven Presents" stinkbombs that have invaded video stores). Is Tsui Hark in danger of becoming the orient's version of Wes Craven?

I think
I think that previous movies had the gyonsi glide more than an out and out hop. And those were comedies, this is supposed to be taken more seriously.

Also the hopping zombie and the hopping vampire are really different. The hopping vampire is what you get when the hopping zombie gets out of control. At least I guess that's the way it works. They also dress differently and have different abilities and weaknesses.

The hop scoffers seemed to like the movie, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Me, I thought it was a little silly.