I finally had a chance to watch
Mr Vampire, a 1985 Hong Kong film I had long heard about but hadn't seen, and I decided to sit down for it even though I was not at all in the mood for what I knew was going to be a silly horror comedy. I must say it did not take long for this movie to win me over. Mr Vampire was a riot, it was nicely filmed, hilarious, and a ton of fun. I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did. The story is about some kind of funeral parlor run by a trained priest who uses magic to battle the undead of all kinds, but mostly vampires. These vampires are not like traditional western vampires very much, and the movie gives them a different kind of lore. The battles were amazing, not just in stunts and choreography but in wildly imaginative visuals. Many of the gags were actually quite funny. It was a very colorful and energetic film, as are so many 80's and 90's supernatural films from Hong Kong were. It is certainly one of the better horror comedies I have seen, and it has a lot more comedy than horror. It inspired a lot of sequels and imitators, none of which I have seen, but it's easy to see why this movie became so successful now that I have seen it. If you get a chance to see Mr Vampire, don't pass it up.