|
|
 |
|
Review
by
Brian Lindsey
|
 |
|
6
|
|
 |
|
5 |
|
10
= Highest Rating |
|
|
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon
meets Mr. Vampire...
with a pinch of Evil Dead
tossed in the wok for extra seasoning.
In 18th Century China a band
of Taoist warriors, led by the wise and supremely
skilled Master Mao Shan, scour the countryside
on a mission to destroy vampires. The Asian variety
of Undead they face is very different from its
European counterpart. Corpses, unable to rest
in their graves due to an influx of negative energy,
first emerge as flesh-hungry zombies preying upon
the peasantry. Later, as they continue to feed,
these ghouls morph into full-fledged vampires
possessing great supernatural power. Really more
like demons than nosferatu, the creatures can
fly, work magic and suck the blood out of people
without even biting them. (This latter effect
is visualized in a manner very similar to the
energy-draining space vampires of Tobe Hooper's
Lifeforce.) Dedicated
to eliminating this menace, the warriors seek
out the vampires' resting places in order to blow
them up with gunpowder. As the movie opens, Master
Mao leads his pupils into a dark, forbidding forest
where lies the tomb of a once-powerful general
now thought to be one of the bloodsuckers.
Though adept at the ways of
the vampire the slayers approach the general's
tomb at night —
never a good idea. As Mao Shan ventures
inside to plant explosives the monster attacks
the men waiting outside. In the wild battle that
ensues most of the students are killed; the Master
vanishes. Though defeated, Mao's four best pupils
—
Rain, Wind, Lightning, and Thunder —
continue the mission of vampire eradication while
searching for their missing leader.
Equipped with a special compass that can detect
the negative energy all vampires exude, the four
young warriors comb the land for three months
without success. Their search eventually leads
them to the palatial home of Mr. Jiang, a wealthy
eccentric who made his considerable fortune in
the wax business. Rumors of vampire activity in
the area around Jiang's estate prompt our heroes
to take jobs as servants within the household
while they try to learn more. They discover that
Old Man Jiang has a weird practice of never burying
his deceased relatives... Instead, he encases
the corpses in wax and keeps them in the house
on display. He also has a large cache of gold
hidden away, a fact known to a bandit gang keen
to get their hands on the treasure. To sow confusion
in the house and enable them to steal the gold,
a "zombie wrangler" —
a sort of magic-user who casts spells that reanimate
the dead —
is hired to put a little spring in the step of
Jiang's long departed, wax-covered relations.
The quartet of vampire hunters truly have their
hands full when the dead Jiang family members
start hopping about, the thieves make their move,
and the King Vampire chooses the same moment to
attack!
Though not directed by Tsui
Hark (he served as writer/producer), the Hong
Kong auteur's colorful, kinetic visual stamp is
certainly in evidence. The film looks great, with
a terrific gothic ambiance that'd make Count Dracula
himself feel quite at home. The 'wire-fu' combat
scenes, while nothing new, are exciting and well-handled.
Monster effects rely more on traditional methods
than CGI —
happily the computer imaging that is used isn't
too cheesy and is fairly effective. (Viewers familiar
only with traditional Euro-centric vampires may
be taken aback by the grotesque, super-powerful
variety seen here; even ol' Van Helsing himself
would be at a severe disadvantage battling such
creatures since he isn't well versed in the martial
arts.) There's a good deal of humor mixed in as
well, but it's more subtle and character-based
than the slapstick shenanigans usually encountered
in Hong Kong genre flicks. A commendable Western-style
score enhances the atmosphere and won't be off-putting
to those who haven't seen Asian films set hundreds
of years ago, which often use a lot of traditional
Chinese music.
Unfortunately the movie has
a tendency to drag during the middle act, when
not much is going on. (The ending, happily, is
redeemed by a furious climactic battle as the
hunters reunite with Master Mao for the final
showdown.) Absolutely nothing in this action/horror/fantasy
hybrid remotely approaches being original. But
if you're content to prop up your feet, switch
off your brain and go along for the ride there
are a lot less entertaining ways to kill 90 minutes.
Besides, it's got a zombie wrangler in it. I just
love that job title!
|
|
|
| The
Columbia DVD is, aside from a few trailers, a totally
bare-bones affair. (A promo for Vampire
Hunters is not included, though one of the
trailers is for Time and Tide,
a crime thriller directed by Tsui Hark; the other
two are for the Japanese anime film Cowboy
Bebop and the Martin Lawrence action-comedy
National Security.)
Beyond a teeny bit of grain here and there the disc
looks exemplary, with excellent color balance during
the nighttime scenes. Three audio tracks are offered:
English 5.1 Surround, Cantonese 5.1 Surround, and
French Dolby 2.0. The default setting is the Chinese-language
track with English subs. This is probably the best
way to go, though the dubbed English version is
generally well-performed by the voice actors and
shouldn't hamper one's enjoyment of the film in
the slightest. (A Chinese bandit with a think Mexican
accent is admittedly a humorous anomaly.)
7/07/03 |
HOME
| REVIEWS
| TOP
|
