Horror Bites - Hopping Mad Part III

MR VAMPIRE SEQUELS (1988-1989)

You'd think that given the success of a movie formula the 'same but different' approach would work the best. However, despite familiar faces and occasional nods to past instalments this is a series that often has an identity crisis. At least parts four and five include vampires this time around, but the actual quality is debatable. Once again neither film is a real sequel to anything that came along earlier. They both toy with the framework in different ways... but it seems obvious that less odd experimentation and more direct inspiration would have been simpler and more effective.

Horror Bites - Hopping Mad Part II

MR VAMPIRE SEQUELS (1986-1987)

While there are often a lot of sequels to be found in the world of Hong Kong action many of them fail to capture the lighting in a bottle of the original film. They can be weirdly thin and yet at the same time over-written and convoluted. Something like Project A: Part II might have some great set pieces but it lacks the heart and the straightforward story. But at least in that case it was a clear cut successor to the first movie that continued where things left off. With these second and third instalments neither of them is a real continuation which is a problem. However, other issues also detract from the overall experience.

Horror Bites - Hopping Mad

MR. VAMPIRE (1985)

Time for an old favourite from the archives of Hong Kong cinema; one that's a great blend of all the usual martial arts stunts and humour you get in many of these Golden Harvest features, plus some of the weirdest vampire lore out there. If you like strange supernatural rules (and inept people breaking them) this is worth checking out. Forget the garlic and the holy water, these are not your usual bloodsuckers. They hop about on two legs because of rigor-mortis, and their state of death also leaves them blind. Hold your breath or they'll smell you hiding... somehow. Apparently the dead have improved senses elsewhere. They also have a strong dislike for certain kinds of rice...

HCF Review - Momotaro

MAGIC OF SPELL (1988)

Following on from The Haunted Cop Shop it’s time to turn things up a notch and get into something truly bonkers. Forget about ghosts and bloodsuckers, forget about dreamscapes, and the modern times; this is ancient Japan… by way of Taiwanese cinema. Which means this is one of the greatest sub-genres; fantasy Buddhism where the power of Bodhisattva is less about enlightenment and more about laser beams. Of course there is some connecting tissue with this as a collection of supernatural comedies. There are still plenty of slapstick moments, and crazy shenanigans along the way, so again how much of this holds up in terms of a coherent movie overall will need examination.

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HCF Review - Precinct 13

THE HAUNTED COP SHOP (1987)

Time for some more antics in the next part of this collection. Much like the first instalment in the box set, Scared Stiff, this is a story that feels like half a dozen ideas thrown together. Surely with the boiler-plate structure of a buddy cop film this will be more cohesive? In essence it’s just about two bumbling officers trying to prove the existence of the supernatural; to avoid angering their superiors after a man in custody vanishes. The main plot about the police station being built on an old nightclub used by Japanese soldiers decades earlier is also a strong hook. However, not everything here is as straightforward as it sounds.

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