MR. VAMPIRE

MOVIE REVIEW

You Support This Site
When You Buy My Books

E.C. McMullen Jr.
PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

Robert S. Rhine's
SATAN'S 3-RING
CIRCUS OF HELL

Forward by
GAHAN WILSON &
FEO AMANTE.
Featuring comics by
ALEX PARDEE,
WILLIAM STOUT,
Steve Bissette,
FRANK DIETZ,
JIM SMITH,
FRANK FORTE,
ERIC PIGORS,
MIKE SOSNOWSKI,
OMAHA PEREZ,
DAVID HARTMAN,
STEVEN MANNION,
and more!

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

Art Director

THE CRUSADER
(COLIN CUNNINGHAM,
GARY GRAHAM)

		Review by E.C.McMullen Jr.
MR. VAMPIRE - 1985 USA Release (VHS): Oct. 12, 1999 USA Release (DVD): Oct. 7, 2006 Bo Ho Film Company Ltd. / Golden Harvest Company Ratings: USA: R

Okay, here's the deal: When you have serious troubles, and you hire an outside expert to take care of your troubles, and he tells you exactly what you need to do, it's okay to get a second opinion, but NEVER just say, "Nahh! That makes me look ridiculous and it's too much trouble. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Master Gau (Lam Ching-Ying: GUI DA GUI, REN XIA REN, GUI MENG JIAO, MR. VAMPIRE 2, 3, and 5, YI MEN DAO REN, YIN YUE JIANG SHI, GUI YAO GUI, SHUAI PI GUI, and way, way more) runs a mortuary where he has enough on his hands dealing with zombie vampires.

To add to his burden, he has two incompetent boobs for assistants. The rude and stupid Dan Choi (Ricky Hui: MO DENG TIAN SHI, JUI GWAI CHAT HUNG, MENG GUI XUE TANG, MR. VAMPIRE 5) and the handsome prankster, Harry Chou (Chin Siu Ho: GHOSTS GALORE, DEMON OF THE LUTE, KAI XIN GUIJING LING, JIAN SHI FANG SHENG, YI MEN DAO REN). They cause more trouble than they cure what with the hopping zombies. Seems the dead won't stay dead, but Master Gau is just the man to handle it. He knows all sorts of magic spells and has built an entire infrastructure of spiritual and supernatural recipes to cure, ward, combat, and return the dead to their rightful place: the ground.

Which is why a local moneyman hires Master Gau. It seems that the moneyman's Pop (Wah Yeun: BLACK TAVERN, THE WEB OF DEATH, CLAN OF AMAZONS, RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH, BAT WITHOUT WINGS, BLACK LIZARD, MR. VAMPIRE SAGA) is having trouble staying in the ground. The reason, Gau quickly discovers, is that a prior Tao priest is messing with the family, causing them strife. Gau has the cure, burn the body, but richbags won't cremate. Merry Mishaps occur.

And occur again and again and again. Holy shit but this movie is wild and frenetic. The jokes come fast and furious and if you didn't think the last one was funny, wait two seconds!

I'm not kidding: Dead Pop soon comes back to life as a nearly indestructable hopping mad Vampire zombie. Danny gets a scratch and starts turning into one himself (the only cure, sticky rice! - Assuming that you want to keep him alive). Then Harry gets possessed by a sexual ghost.

It's a lot of work for Master Gau plus he has to deal with incestuous relationships, local bureaucrats, family squabbles, the local police force, and the world's longest eyebrow.

Oh, and I guess I should mention that in the center of all of this is the daughter of the moneyman, Ting Ting (Moon Lee: MR. VAMPIRE 2, KILLER ANGELS, DEVIL HUNTERS, DEMON INTRUDER, SHUI LING LONG), who Master Gau must not only protect from her dead Grandfather, but her dead father, her cousin, and Gao's two assistants!

The major difference between good comedy and bad comedy is that bad comedy often plops a joke down and provides a gap where nothing happens. This is the director giving the unseen audience a moment to laugh before the story continues. Should the joke fail, then the gap is silence, which only underlines the poor joke. Do this twice in one flick, like you find in most Michael Meyers sequels or anything by Rob Schneider, and your audience walks out, looking for another movie.

The best comedies just keep 'em coming, and if you were too busy laughing at one gag to catch the next, why you'll just have to watch the movie again, won't you?

Writer / Director Ricky Lau, made his reputation in Hong Kong and China for making Horror action comedies, and no one world wide is as consistent as he for getting them right.

Fast, furious, funny, and with enough energy to power a major city, MR. VAMPIRE gets four Shriek Girls.