"mr. vampire" series

anyone who knows HK cinema has either heard of this, or seen it. if you're a fan of this movie, you've probably heard it mentioned right alongside films like "master of the flying guillotine", "story of ricky", "duel to the death", or most likely "close encounters of the spooky kind".

the first, original "mr. vampire" is a must-have. some of the sequels, though? not so great. after seeing the first one, i figured i'd look into more of the titles because i'd remembered seeing one of these films when i was a kid, and it was awesome.

the second of the series that i saw was "new mr. vampire". oh, what a horrible sequel. mind you, there had been some 4 or 5 sequels and spin-offs between this one and the original. maybe the first 5 minutes or so are watchable, but the rest of the movie is just awful. if you watch the tai seng disc, with the rick meyers commentary, he has this movie dead figured out, essentially pointing out exactly where this movie falls apart, and how.

just recently, however, i picked up "vampire vs vampire". it wasn't until i got home that i found out that this was also known as "new mr. vampire 2". i'm glad i didn't know, because that would have kept me from seeing what was otherwise an AWESOME film.

sure, it had it's weak points. all of these films do. sometimes subplots fall off, sometimes jokes fall flat, sometimes the special effects are hokey, but throughout, this was clearly one of the better sequels. it's sort of a mix between the original, "ghostbusters 2", and "evil dead". yeah, believe that.

the odd thing about this film was that, despite the title, there was no actual vampire-on-vampire violence, and the vampire in this title was not of the hopping kyonshii variety, but rather a european gent, complete with a cadre of bats, and the ability to transform into beasts.

we also get a slight diversion from the heavy emphasis on taoist magic, by meeting the inhabitants of a local christian nunnery, who just happen to be unknowingly housing our bloodsucking friend.

earlier i'd mentioned that this film has some similarities to "ghostbusters 2", and that's because of one of the characters we meet in this series. our "one eyebrow priest" takes on a young kyonshii, who as far as i can remember, does not have a name. he also doesn't speak with words. sometimes he gestures, other times he makes beppy-beepy sounds, and other times his hat pops open to reveal illustrative manga images inscribed on a sheet of paper.

altogether, the film has a decent flow. sometimes i was a bit frustrated with the fact that the story takes so long to get to where you've seen it going for a while. there are some great martial arts stunts here, especially one scene in particular where the one eyebrow priest has to keep his apprentice from being taken over by a ghost. in order to keep it from setting in, apparently he needs to keep the blood moving (something that was established in "mr. vampire" to great comedic effect as well) and does so by twirling his assistant around much like you would see a staff fighter swing his weapon around. quite funny.

so, you get docile spooks, bloodthirsty monsters, sexy ghosts, bat attacks, possessed people and trees (!), decent fight choreography, and lots of funny little disposable jokes throughout. i'd say it's a must-see.

in fact, this chapter in the saga has inspired me to look deeper in to the sub-genre, hoping i can find the one i saw as a child. i'm currently looking to pick up "ultimate vampire", which is seemingly only available on VHS from tai seng.

perhaps one of you can help me track down exactly which one i'm looking for.

i seem to remember a lot of the movie being at night. there weren't any hopping kyonshii that i remember, but i think they floated in this one, instead. i remember a team of ninjas, or they could have been taoist fighters, throwing a lot of glowing crosses at people as though they were ninja stars. i recall lots of doors getting broken, etc.

i'm not sure if that's going to ring any bells for anyone, but i can hope.

also, if you've seen any other films related to these that you think i might enjoy, feel free to let me know, and on the same token, i'd urge you to seek these films out as well. well, not "new mr. vampire", so much.

thanks in advance!