DOCTOR VAMPIRE
***
Directed by Jamie Luk.
Starring Bowie Lam, Ellen Chan, Sheila Chan, David Wu, James Wong, Shek-Yin Lau, Crystal Kwok, Peter Kjaer.
Horror/Comedy/Action, Hong Kong, 98 mins, Cert 15.
Released in the UK on Limited Edition Blu-ray via Eureka Entertainment on Monday 25th February 2025.
Not a sequel to MR. VAMPIRE, the Hong Kong hopping vampire comedy that Eureka put out as part of their Eureka Classics range a few short years back. This is instead a contemporary-set horror comedy that sees Hong Kong surgeon Dr. Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam) on a business trip, visiting what he thinks is a rather quaint pub in the heart of the English countryside.
However, the pub is really a front for a brothel, and not just any brothel but a brothel full of vampires. Whilst trying to escape, the good doctor comes across Alice (Ellen Chan), a Chinese hostess whom he thinks is getting grief from a customer. Misreading the situation, he steps in to help but it turns out the customer is the one on the receiving end of Alice and her vampire urges, although Chiang’s ignorance of the situation and joy at seeing a fellow countrywoman blinds him to what is really going on. Later on, he forms a friendship with Alice and she inevitably bites him, causing his return home to be full of problems as his long-term girlfriend discovers lipstick and blood on his clothes, and his colleagues notice his aversion to sunlight and other quirky behaviour. Adding to the list of problems, Alice comes to Hong Kong on the orders of her undead master (Peter Kjaer) as he requires Chiang’s blood, and the scene is set for a battle of the undead to be fought in a hospital.
Given that DOCTOR VAMPIRE is about vampire sex workers, it is probably safe to say that Quentin Tarantino has seen this movie, although he always claimed that Richard Wenk’s 1986 vampire comedy VAMP was the big inspiration on FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. But given how DOCTOR VAMPIRE plays with western vampire mythology more than it does the Chinese variety that MR. VAMPIRE and its many sequels do, you could also probably put money on writer/director Jamie Luk using Wenk’s movie as an influence.
But DOCTOR VAMPIRE is a lot goofier than VAMP, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN or any other western vampire sex worker movies you care to name – which does, admittedly, narrow the field down a bit – and does stick closer to the slapstick style of comedy that Hong Kong does so well, making it a funnier movie than it is a horrific one.
The hospital setting is a fantastic backdrop for Chiang and his colleagues to hilariously work their way through Chiang’s symptoms and supply him with blood from the hospital blood bank. While the instances of the other nurses walking in on the male doctors as they examine Chiang’s lower half – you can guess where he got bitten by Alice – are straight out of a bawdy 1970s sitcom. While all this is going on, the threat from the incoming vampires looms over the comedy elements of the story, and originally coming out in 1990 the vampire effects are reminiscent of the make-ups used in movies like FRIGHT NIGHT PART 2 and GRAVEYARD SHIFT. While this is no bad thing, the clash of contemporary vampire horror, slapstick comedy and traditional gothic – represented by the character of The Count – all filtered through a Hong Kong cinema lens means that even in its quietest moments, DOCTOR VAMPIRE is still a very busy movie. There is a lot going on and plenty to see, but not all of it always lands as quite as well as it should.
With all the action and gags on offer you would think that the movie would fly by, but as so much is always happening onscreen it does get a bit messy going into the third act. Your attention may start to drift as you wonder when the inevitable confrontation with The Count is going to happen. It does of course, and it is a hoot to watch as we get full-on wuxia fight sequences and all manner of creepy vampiric nonsense as inept Taoist monks are brought in to try and repel the undead, but does any of this make much sense or result in a good movie?
Well, that depends on what your idea of a good movie is, really, because DOCTOR VAMPIRE is a fun and riotous ride through several sub-genres and styles of horror comedy. It is very shambolic and barely held together with anything other than kinetic direction and dedicated actors. Yes, it is entertaining, and this sparkling new Blu-ray looks very clean and sharp – as you would expect from Eureka – one cannot help feeling that the chuck-everything-at-it-and-see-what-sticks attitude from the filmmakers really translates, as a lack of focus stops the movie from hitting its stride in the most effective way.
Chris Ward
