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Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Mr. Vampire (1985) in Movies

Jul 24, 2020

Mr. Vampire (1985)

1985 | Action, International, Comedy

8.0

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

When a 20 year old corpse is exhumed for a re burial Master Gau and his two students find that the body hasn't rotted. When the corpse re animates as a vampire the trio have to protect the vampires family and find a way to stop the monster.

Mr vampire is a Chinese horror/comedy and a breakthrough 'Jiangshi' (Rotting Copse) movie due it's mixing of slapstick comedy, kung-fu, Chinese folklore and western vampire myth and has a number of sequels.

The humour is very slapstick, with people getting hit with furniture or getting their head stuck in prison cell bars and the horror level is quite low and most of the effects are quite cheesy.

The Kung-Fu aspect makes the fight scenes entertaining and both the vampire and the ghost have to be dealt with slightly differently..
The image of the living corpse, be it vampire or zombie, being controlled by a yellow paper talisman stuck to it's head is though to have come from Mr Vampire and has been used in many subsequent Jiangshi film as well as many other shows, including the recent Netflix show 'Kingdom' where we see a scene of villagers selling the talismans when the zombies are threatening their village.

Mr Vampire manages to pull off Horror comedy in a way that is watchable by almost anyone. The film has a 15 (UK) rating and does contain vampires and ghosts but neither are overly frighting, partly due to the effects of the time.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Mortuary Collection (2019) in Movies

Oct 16, 2020

The Mortuary Collection is the latest in a long line of Creepshow style horror anthology films, a particular sub genre that can be hard to pull off, but director Ryan Spindell rises to the challenge pretty damn well.

The short stories presented here escalate in tone and subject as the film progresses, starting off relatively fun, but getting increasingly darker and in depth. This is something that the characters comment on between the segments, showing a nice sense of self awareness, but not going over the top with it.
Some of the later stories are hard to watch at times, and are quite emotional in places, especially the one that features actress Sarah Hay as a woman in a vegetative state. It's a genuinely sad story, topped off with some fantastic creature design. An interesting mix to say the least.
The stories are all good in their own right, but are tied together with a clever twist and a satisfying conclusion.
The main character is Montgomery Dark played by a brilliant Clancy Brown. He has a proper Phantasm/Tall Man/Angus Scrimm vibe to him (definitely no accident) and is suitably creepy as this movie's story teller.

The film is pretty damn visceral, and employs both practical effects, and decent digital effects to achieve what it does. It's all looks disgustingly awesome. It also has a great music score by Mondo Boys to compliment all the creepiness.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Mortuary Collection. It's a good time, a competent anthology film, and well worth a watch for horror fans.