Mr. Vampire II

The original MR VAMPIRE was a ground-breaking all time classic. The sequel doesn't try to match it, and has next to nothing in common with it, other than the appearance of hopping vampires. This is a wise move, because the original was simply perfection. MR VAMPIRE 2 is entertaining but not in the same league as its predecessor.

There are some jokes that are just not funny (the formaldehyde fight scene) and some annoying sub-plots (the "cute" vampire kid), but in the end these can't detract from the fact that this is insane Hong-Kong action cinema, which completely wipes the floor with anything Hollywood could ever produce.

The hopping vampires return as the sequel to the classic Mr. Vampire moves the setting from ancient China to modern-day Hong Kong, and includes a whole family of bloodsuckers. Inevitably, the little vampire comes into contact with a young brother and sister team who confuse him for an illegal Chinese immigrant. Lam Ching Ying returns in his trademark role as he attempts to control and safely transport the vampires to their graves..

This sequel is partially designed for children, with a long heartwarming scene of human children and kid vampire, and the rest is the usual mayhem featuring hopping vampires, some Kung fu and chaotic scenes. I don't mind the modern setting, it suits the story, and though it's not as good the first one, it's still fun, though it gets tiring towards the end.

Having just watched the 1985 movie "Geung See Sin Sang" (aka "Mr. Vampire"), of course I continued on with the 1986 sequel titled "Geung See Ga Zuk" (aka "Mr. Vampire II"), as I had three of the movies all lined up.

And with the previous movie being an adequately entertaining movie, I had some expectations for the 1986 sequel.

The storyline in "Geung See Ga Zuk" was a bit more laced with comedy in comparison to the previous movie. And it was a more family-friendly movie as well, as there was a lot of scenes that felt like it was something out of a "Sesame Street" episode with the children and the child vampire, especially the play montage. Whereas the previous movie was set in ancient China, this 1986 sequel was set in a modern era (well, modern back in 1986, at least).

The slow motion sequence with the fighting and the dialogue had me laughing. It was the high point of the movie.

There were a good amount of returning actors and actresses from the first movie returning to part II, with the likes of Ching-Ying Lam, Moon Lee, Chau-Sang Lau. But this 1986 sequel also had the likes of Stanley Sui-Fan Fung and Biao Yuen on the cast list.

Well, if you enjoyed the previous movie, then you will also enjoy this 1986 sequel.

My rating of director Ricky Lau's 1986 movie "Geung See Ga Zuk" lands on a five out of ten stars.

MR. VAMPIRE was a comedy horror classic that very nearly equalled the heights of Sammo Hung's ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, so this sequel has its work cut out from the outset. And it's fair to say that it doesn't come close to equalling the power, atmosphere or feel of the original movie. That doesn't mean it's a bad film - in fact, it's a pretty good example of its type - just don't go in expecting more of the same.

This time around, a family of vampires (mother, father, and son) are excavated by an archaeologist (ENCOUNTERS star Fat Chung) and before long the usual hijinks ensue. This time, the film is divided into sub-plots between three groups of characters; one of them involves the archaeologists trying to make amends for their mess, another involves the antics of the vampire kid trying to integrate into family life, and a third sees the return of the one-eyebrowed priest, played by Lam Ching-Ying.

It's disappointing that Lam Ching-Ying gets a lot less screen-time this time around, although the producers do make up for that by casting Yuen Biao in a central role; a disappointment then that Biao doesn't get to take part in much martial arts. Too much of the narrative is taken up by the vampire kid, although things do hit a high note at the climax which offers more of the traditional vampire action that you'd expect. Sadly, the film's centre-point gag, which sees the action taking place in slow motion, goes on for way too long and just isn't very funny.

This is the first, unofficial sequel of 1985's Mr. Vampire. The movie's events are set in modern times. A group of explorers steal three corpses from an ancient cave and plan to sell them for a large amount of money. Unfortunately, they do not know that the corpses are actually a family of vampires and, after taking them to Hong Kong, they revive and threaten to wreak havoc on mankind.

The two adult vampires, played by Wing-Cheung Cheung and Pauline Wang Yu-Huan, are the menaces while the child vampire, played by Kin-Wai Ho, is a harmless and friendly creature who befriended two children in the city. The subplot of the child vampire and the children distracts from the main plot a little, but fortunately, the kiddie scenes do not take too much screen time. The main plot involves local herbs Master Lam, played by Lam Ching Ying, discovering that one of the explorers was bitten by a vampire and goes to investigate with his daughter, played by Moon Lee, and future photographer son-in-law, played by Yuen Biao. What follows is what I think the highlight of the movie - the three protagonists go head-to-head with the adult vampires in slow motion (a jar of "retarder" accidentally spills onto them, resulting in slowed movements). Composer Anders Nelsson provided a wonderful piece of orchestral music score, inserting music to action and comedy scenes where appropriate.

What depletes from this film are the Kung-Fu action. Being a movie with martial arts stars like Lam Ching Ying and Yuen Biao, more Kung-Fu sequences would have made this movie more entertaining. And, a bunch of popular Hong Kong actors made cameos in the movie and I wished more of them would have been given more screen time. I also wished the adult vampires would have been portrayed as a little more menacing - they are after all supposed to be a threat to mankind.

Overall, a more sub-par movie of the Hong Kong vampire/ghost genre, but still an OK and pretty fun movie to past the time on a slow Saturday night.

Grade B-