Hopping Vampires of Hong Kong
September 1, 2023
www.criterionchannel.com/hopping-vampires-of-hong-kong
They’re undead, unstoppable, and hopping mad! Meet the bouncing, bloodsucking stars of Hong Kong’s most outrageous martial-arts horror comedies. Far removed from the suave vampires of Western mythology, these zombie fiends, derived from Taoist folklore, are distinguished by their deathly pallor and pogo-stick method of chasing down their victims—with typically only a majestically unibrowed priest capable of kung-fu kicking them back into the afterlife. Guided by the goofball vision of the great Sammo Hung—who directed the OG hopping vampire flick Encounters of the Spooky Kind and produced the genre’s delirious apotheosis, the popular Mr. Vampire franchise—these blissfully bonkers films exemplify the gleeful creativity and go-for-broke insanity that elevated Hong Kong genre cinema in its golden age.
FEATURING: Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), Mr. Vampire (1985), Mr. Vampire II (1986), Mr. Vampire III (1987), Mr. Vampire IV (1988)
