martial arts & vampires

[ToyMan]

i could have sworn that i already posted a thread about this, but i looked back over my posts and i didn't see it anywhere in there.

some of you may be familiar with the kyonshi films. they're hong kong films full of hopping vampires, taoist magic, and lots of comedy.

i've been looking for one particular film for YEARS now. 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 kyonshi 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.

i read a review for mr. vampire 4 (1990), which sounds really close, but it can't be, because i'm pretty sure i saw this film in the mid 80's, at the latest.

[Kester Pelagius]

Could this movie fall into some sort of sub-genre of Asian fantasy?.  In LEGEND OF THE 8 SAMURAI the "team" is brought together by mystical glowing marbles.  In MESSAGE FROM SPACE the "team" is brought together by mystical glowing walnuts (spray painted gold IIRC).  It's a recurrant theme I've noticed in certain Asian fantasy movies, but are these actually a category unto themselves?

[ToyMan]

perhaps. i seem to think that it'd still be associated with the martial arts / horror / comedy genre like mr. vampire, and close encounters of the spooky kind, though.

by the way, message from space is an awesome flick.

[Captain Tars Tarkas]

Jeez, there are like three dozen of these movies at least.


Did it have this guy in it? : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lam_Ching_Ying

He is in many of the films, it is easier to divide between ones he's in and not in than any other measure (he is not in Mr. Vampire 4, but is in the other three.)

Mr Vampire 2 takes place in modern day, so it is probably not it, but there is 1 and 3
There is also a New Mr. Vampire series which I have not seen
Vampire vs. Vampire
Crazy Safari (if it had the guy from Gods Must Be Crazy in it)
Robovampire has the fake robocop guy in it, but not crosses IIRC
There are two Encounters of the Spooky kind, as well as Spooky Family and Spooky Spooky
The Devil and the Ghost Buster
Shaolin  vs. Evil Dead 1 and 2
Mad Mad Ghost
Return of the Demon
Vampire Kids
Hocus Pocus
Magic Cop
Dragon against Vampire

and several HK tv series

[ToyMan]

i honestly don't remember if lam ching ying was in it.

also, i'm sure it wasn't either vampire vs vampire, new mr. vampire, or kung fu vampire, as i've seen all of those, too.

robovampire can be ruled out, seeing as it came after robocop, and i surely saw this years and years before that timeframe.

thanks for the info.

[Kester Pelagius]

As Tars Tarkas pointed out there's dozens of these movies and, from your description, I think we can probably rule out most of the "hopping vampire" ones.  Could this possible be one of the Kunoichi aka "Lady Ninja" movies?  The two I've seen have some pretty wild stuff in them.

I've gone through my links (hope these all still work) and one of these sites have to have something for you:

http://www.fjmovie.com/horror/contents.html
http://www.kfccinema.com/reviews/reviews.html
http://www.vampyres-online.com/asianfilms.html
http://www.alex-in-wonderland.com/MovieReviews/AsianFilmIndex.html

[ToyMan]

man, if only there was a way to cross-reference the films against a list of what might have been licensed and broadcast in the us, particularly in the northeast, somewhere in the late 80's to early 90's. damn. i have a feeling that this film is going to be impossible to hunt down, or worse, that it'll take a really long time and not be worth it once i find it.

thanks anyhow, guys.

[Jim]

could it be "The legend of the 7 golden vampires "  Hammer films- 1974?

[bucklj]

Also known as "The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula [USA]"

1974

Sorry I posted as "Jim" earlier took some time to learn how to post on the forum good luck!

[66Crush]

Could it have been "Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave?"

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I'm betting on "The Legend Of The Seven Vampires" also. Look for Shaw Brothers fave David Chiang in an English speaking role alongside Peter Cushing. Good movie.