Review of Mr. Vampire (1985) by Altered E — 26 Oct 2016

Western audiences may be deceived by the title, but this is indeed a zombie movie, though also not a Western zombie movie. Blending love story, horror, and kung fu tropes, it may sound like this Cantonese flick can't settle on a consistent tone, yet it always falls back on humourous, if not self-aware.

Still, what passed as light-hearted kids jokes in '85 in HK now comes off as flat-out offensive, making the more egregious examples of swearing in the English subs all the more unexpected and accidentally hilarious.

While the story is indeed overlong, it never grows boring, with plenty of diversion and good overcranked photography to showcase the graceful fight choreography for which the HK scene is known.