Director: Ricky Lau
Year: 1985
Country: Hong Kong
Alternate Titles: Geung see sin sang
Genre: Vampire; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Tasked with moving a client’s deceased father, a Taoist priest and his bumbling assistants bring him back to their village to prepare for the ceremony, but when they discover the body they’re moving is now a hopping vampire out to turn the entire village must rely on their skills to put a stop to it.
Review:
This is easily one of the finest genre efforts from the time period. Among the numerous positives featured here is the absolutely hysterical mixing of martial arts comedy and horror tales. The hilarity of the martial arts performances is a big factor here, as not only are the combatants impressively skilled, but to mix together the genuine hand-to-hand routines with the vampires demonstrating comparable martial arts skills to the heroes, which oftentimes makes for gut-busting beatings. The athletic displays between the escape from the jail cell and the encounter at the end, with the various battles around the house, bring together all sorts of crazy stunts and impressive special effects to accomplish it.
Likewise, the horror here is quite fun, with vampires becoming quite fearsome and wholly dangerous. Their unique appearance and attitude are quite impressive with the various tactics designed to stop them while being responsible for the unease felt whenever they appear whether out in the mortuary that requires the group to deal with the creatures, the various attacks on the villagers that take place in the latter half or the encounter with the seductive ghost that brings about some enjoyable suspense scenes of her stalking him and getting ready for their amorous encounters. This provides enough of an intriguing atmosphere that offers up splatstick comedy or martial arts prowess to emerge.
As well, the last positive to be found here is the wholly impressive foundation this lays for allowing everything to come together. Realizing that the danger comes from an inability to adhere to traditions and proper burial practices as an important plot point for the film, the importance of spelling out why carries a lot of weight to understanding the film as a whole. Offering up valid explanations for the importance of the burial rites to be carried out to their fullest, the different tools of the trade that are being used to control the creatures on the loose, including the use of the rice and how to mix together the special potions for healing and restorative purposes that need to be applied as the film goes on. Overall, these keep the film going as one of the more entertaining efforts in the genre.
If the film has a flaw, it's the strange inclusion of this female ghost into the film at the midway point, which doesn’t do the film many favors. Not only is this introduced into the film awkwardly and clumsily, with the appearance out of the blue and simply showing up during the night, but she goes unexplained as to why she’s there and what her overall purpose is in the village. It seems to be another obstacle for the master to overcome, dividing his attention from the vampire plague in the village that doesn’t really need to be there, especially with the way it’s concluded with the ghost accomplishing nothing and just leaving without anything special happening, which makes for a curious time. This is really all the film has in terms of a drawback, so it’s not that bad at all.
Overview: ****.5/5
Graced with a fantastic blend of physical comedy, martial arts action, and enough horror to feature something to like for fans of all three, this has emerged as a classic for a reason, with the lone issue here not even being that detrimental. Fans of Hong Kong cinema during this time period, martial arts comedies, or those intrigued by the genre mixture on display are advised to seek this out, while mostly those viewers who aren’t fans of any of these styles should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment