Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters (2002)
Directed by Wellson Chin
Written by Tsui Hark
Starring Danny Chan, Lam Suet, Michael Chow
Release Date 2003
Published February 4th, 2003
Tsui Hark must be Hong Kong's answer to Wes Craven. The new movie Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters was not directed by the legendary Mr. Hark but bears his name. Unlike Craven though, Hark doesn't just slap his name on a project, and Vampire Hunters is proof of that.
The film is written by Hark and is as exciting, gory and funny as if he had made it himself. As another critic brilliantly cited, Vampire Hunters is Crouching Tiger meets Evil Dead, in a combination straight out of Hong Kong.
We begin in a darkened monastery where a master explains to his young charges that the legends they have heard about vampires are true and that it is their duty to stop them from devouring humanity. Oh, but not just vampires, there are also zombies who become vampires when they taste human blood. The master, with the help of his four most trusted students, Thunder, Lightning, Rain and Wind (each named for the element they control), search for the Vampire King. Once found, the King Vamp kills a number of the students and seemingly the Master as well. Rain, Thunder, Wind and Lightning survive and continue seeking out and destroying vampires.
Some months later the boys arrive at the home of Jiang, a strange old man who is celebrating the marriage of his oafish son to the beautiful Sasa. The odd thing is that the son has been married several times before with each of his wives meeting a strange end. This gets our hero’s attention, and using a unique vampire tracking compass find that the Vampire King could be the cause. Oh if only it were that easy.
Unfortunately there is also an angry snake somewhere in the house, Jiang's odd-looking wife, and the collection of well-preserved dead people in Jiang's barn. There is also Jiang's legendary stash of gold which Sasa's brother has had his eye on since he allowed his sister to marry into Jiang's family. Jiang claims he invented the vampire myth to keep people from his gold.
The narrative of Vampire Hunters is muddled with romantic subplots for two of our heroes, a few red herrings to throw the audience off and couple of twists that seem either unnecessary or highly contrived. However, none of that matters in the least because Vampire Hunters is one of those films that is not about it's story or even it's characters (Who by the way never use the powers their names imply they have).
Vampire Hunters is about goofiness and gore and Director Wellson Chin delivers. Cheesy effects abound in Vampire Hunters, from hopping zombies to wire fights and tree jumping lifted from the Yuen Woo Ping school of movie fighting, though not nearly as fluid as the man behind the Matrix fights. The fighting in Vampire Hunters is played for laughs especially the climactic battle with the Vampire King, who looks like an oriental scarecrow.
The film isn't all laughs. some of it is excruciatingly gory such as the Vampire King's ability to suck the soul out of his opponents, leaving them a pile of used up bones and a small puddle. Eeewww. Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunter has cult classic written all over it. Though some will be left wondering if it might have been better with Hark himself behind the camera.
