Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters

Rating:
Summary: Oh, the torment...
Review: I could not finish watching this movie. It is horrible. Anyone who would dare to compare this to "Crouching Tiger" should check into a mental ward! Do yourself a favor and skip this stink bomb!!! Remember, I WARNED YOU!!!

Rating:
Summary: makes no sense
Review: I decided to view Vampire Hunters for two reasons: Its intriguing premise of zombie/vampire hybrids invading rural China and also because the legendary Tsui Hark's name is attached to it. Little did I know that Hark did not direct this film. He produced it and wrote the script but the film is sloppily directed by a fellow by the name of Wellson Chin. In the grand scheme of things Vampire Hunters is a mess, even though there are a few things to like about this film.

In 17th century rural China during the Ching dynasty, zombies roam the land feeding on human flesh, a nasty habit that turns them into vampires. Only a handful of people dare to challenge these night-crawling demons; 4 warriors named "Wind", "Thunder", "Rain" "Lightning" and their master Mao Shan. Their mission is to hunt down and destroy the Vampire King, a floating bloodsucking demon. Using their "vampire compass", they are led to the house of a rich mortician, whose son is set to marry the beautiful woman "Sosa" and where the Vampire King is believed to be hiding. There is also another subplot involving Sosa's crazy brother "Dragon", who is determined to find the gold that is rumoured to be hidden in the mortician's household.

I found Vampire Hunter's storyline very hard to follow but soon gave up on trying to make sense of the plot after realizing that this film is just a hodge-podge of wacky martial arts, bad special effects and awkward acting that is next to impossible to make sense of. The action sequences feel cartoonish and choreographed, and the dialogue(from the English dubbed version) is choppy and robotic, similar to dialogue you get from an anime film. It also doesn't help that the characters keep uttering stupid phrases the likes of "We're in love, If we live let's get married". The zombies are just laughable, rarely have I ever seen cheaper looking zombies in a horror film. Their faces show no movement whatsoever and they just stand around like statues waiting to be slain. Instead of limping or shuffling along slowly, these zombies (when they do decide to move) shift from one spot to another in one straight horizontal movement. It's as if they are mannequins on wheels and a member of the film crew is moving them around with the aid of a remote control. And whoever did the make-up on these zombies is no Tom Savini that's for sure. Close-ups of their faces reveal all-too-human eyes gazing through sloppy makeup.
In one hilarious sequence, the sedentary zombies all of a sudden get a burst of energy and all start hopping around in unison like a pack of smurfs!

To his credit, director Wellson Chin is quite adept at creating atmosphere. There are lots of effective shots in dense wooded areas packed with mist and fog that lend an atmosphere of doom and dread. I was also impressed by the fighting sequences. At least Hark and Chin were able to hire actors and stuntmen skilled in martial arts (which is probably not that hard to find in China anyway). Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters falls into the category of "so bad it's almost good". It also falls into the annoying category of lackluster films seeing the light of day only because of a big-name attachment to it (such as those "Wes Craven Presents" stinkbombs that have invaded video stores). Is Tsui Hark in danger of becoming the orient's version of Wes Craven?

Rating:
Summary: I got suckered into thinking this was a Tsui Hark film.
Review: I decided to view Vampire Hunters for two reasons: Its intriguing premise of zombie/vampire hybrids invading rural China and also because the legendary Tsui Hark's name is attached to it. Little did I know that Hark did not direct this film. He produced it and wrote the script but the film is sloppily directed by a fellow by the name of Wellson Chin. In the grand scheme of things Vampire Hunters is a mess, even though there are a few things to like about this film.

In 17th century rural China during the Ching dynasty, zombies roam the land feeding on human flesh, a nasty habit that turns them into vampires. Only a handful of people dare to challenge these night-crawling demons; 4 warriors named "Wind", "Thunder", "Rain" "Lightning" and their master Mao Shan. Their mission is to hunt down and destroy the Vampire King, a floating bloodsucking demon. Using their "vampire compass", they are led to the house of a rich mortician, whose son is set to marry the beautiful woman "Sosa" and where the Vampire King is believed to be hiding. There is also another subplot involving Sosa's crazy brother "Dragon", who is determined to find the gold that is rumoured to be hidden in the mortician's household.

I found Vampire Hunter's storyline very hard to follow but soon gave up on trying to make sense of the plot after realizing that this film is just a hodge-podge of wacky martial arts, bad special effects and awkward acting that is next to impossible to make sense of. The action sequences feel cartoonish and choreographed, and the dialogue(from the English dubbed version) is choppy and robotic, similar to dialogue you get from an anime film. It also doesn't help that the characters keep uttering stupid phrases the likes of "We're in love, If we live let's get married". The zombies are just laughable, rarely have I ever seen cheaper looking zombies in a horror film. Their faces show no movement whatsoever and they just stand around like statues waiting to be slain. Instead of limping or shuffling along slowly, these zombies (when they do decide to move) shift from one spot to another in one straight horizontal movement. It's as if they are mannequins on wheels and a member of the film crew is moving them around with the aid of a remote control. And whoever did the make-up on these zombies is no Tom Savini that's for sure. Close-ups of their faces reveal all-too-human eyes gazing through sloppy makeup.
In one hilarious sequence, the sedentary zombies all of a sudden get a burst of energy and all start hopping around in unison like a pack of smurfs!

To his credit, director Wellson Chin is quite adept at creating atmosphere. There are lots of effective shots in dense wooded areas packed with mist and fog that lend an atmosphere of doom and dread. I was also impressed by the fighting sequences. At least Hark and Chin were able to hire actors and stuntmen skilled in martial arts (which is probably not that hard to find in China anyway). Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters falls into the category of "so bad it's almost good". It also falls into the annoying category of lackluster films seeing the light of day only because of a big-name attachment to it (such as those "Wes Craven Presents" stinkbombs that have invaded video stores). Is Tsui Hark in danger of becoming the orient's version of Wes Craven?

Rating:
Summary: waste of money
Review: I expect a lot more more moviemaker such as Tsui Hark, especially I am a fan of his earlier films " Once Upon a Time In China (kungfu-master)" series (starring Jet Li). The story is mediocre, on top of that the music kind of kill the mood, where most of the time the music is contrasting the movie.

the storyline kind of jumpy, especially in the first half.
the actions is very amateurish. My girlfriend, whom I just introduced to "Once Upon a Time in China (OUTC)" could not believe that it was made by the same guy, especially the OUTC were made before the vampire hunter.

Rating:
Summary: very strange
Review: I read about this in fangoria magazine and saw tsui hark's name on it,so I grabbed it.The box has a great description on the back,but its not even worth seeing on cable.There are plenty of fights,some gore,plenty of stupidity.It has zombies that bounce like tigger on his tail.BOUNCE.The vampire king zooms through the air like a rag doll on a wire,he never speaks and is mainly a pest with zero purpose.This movie is a major dud and I want my money back,I had no idea it would be this goofy.

Rating:
Summary: Vampire Hunters
Review: If there is one word to describe this movie, it is "Wow". I picked this movie up not knowing anything about it, but found a gem. To best describe this movie, take the action from Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon, through in some offbeat humor and horror elements, and there you go. This is a very fun, enjoyable movie that most people don't know about.

Rating:
Summary: A FUN AND ATMOSPHERIC TREAT
Review: Let's face it, the plots of Hong Kong martial arts films are typically difficult to follow. That's ususally the side-effect of bad subtitling. This film, however, keeps rolling along in such a brisk and entertaining way that I found myself not even having to read the subtitles, which in this case are good. I basically focused on the imagery, which is outstanding. The movie is produced but not directed by Tsui Hark, who has a beautiful visual style. Neverthless, it is certainly true to his atmospheric style. Overall, it's a highly entertaining film with some outstanding martial arts sequences, over-the-top special effects that are not always Hollywood state-of-the-art caliber, but very well done. The ending gave me the impresion that there's a sequel en route, which I'd love to acquire. Essentially, the film is fun and visually stunning at times. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm a fan of this type of cinema. If you are too, don't miss this treat.

Rating:
Summary: We laughed ourselves silly
Review: My family loves really stupid movies and this one actually passes out of that genre into good fun. The fight scenes were surprisingly well done; the actors were charming. And, yes, the film had almost no logic, but it got to the point that we just said "HUH?" when it would suddenly not make sense (and there were so many loose threads at the end!! What about the snake?? What about Jiao and Dragon??? What about all the bandits who got attacked???). And when the "zombie wrangler" (that is a truly masterful stupid translation) awakens the zombies and they begin to HOP everywhere -- well, stupid fun just doesn't get any better.

Rating:
Summary: Please don't let that flying manikin bite me......awwwwh
Review: The master vampire in this movie looks exactly like a burnt manikin dummy being pulled through the air by a wire. The special effects in this movie is very cheesey. The acting is also bad. The actors hardly have a script, but I guess that they didn't need one since they spend 90% of the movie fighting each other.

If you want to watch a good Vampire martial arts movie, than I sugest that you get the original Blade, or From Dust till Dawn part 1.

Rating:
Summary: Seven Samurai meets Night of the Lepus
Review: The plot is incomprehensible, the special effects are sometimes less than desired but you have to give it credit for being the very first movie in the world with HOPPING ZOMBIES. Yes, before these zombies evolve into higher undead that fly, they must indeed begin with hopping. All of us watching this movie simultaneously cried "Night of the Lepus" at the stirring Zombie Hop. Sure to catch on at the local raves.

It's still kind of a fun movie despite the occassional silliness because it doesn't really take itself all that serious. The oriental vampire is really much tougher than the western variety and the movie depicts this. These vampires don't need to bite you on the neck, they just kind of suck the blood right through the air. They are apparently able to breath fire like a dragon, too.