Geung see ga zuk

Having just watched the 1985 movie "Geung See Sin Sang" (aka "Mr. Vampire"), of course I continued on with the 1986 sequel titled "Geung See Ga Zuk" (aka "Mr. Vampire II"), as I had three of the movies all lined up.

And with the previous movie being an adequately entertaining movie, I had some expectations for the 1986 sequel.

The storyline in "Geung See Ga Zuk" was a bit more laced with comedy in comparison to the previous movie. And it was a more family-friendly movie as well, as there was a lot of scenes that felt like it was something out of a "Sesame Street" episode with the children and the child vampire, especially the play montage. Whereas the previous movie was set in ancient China, this 1986 sequel was set in a modern era (well, modern back in 1986, at least).

The slow motion sequence with the fighting and the dialogue had me laughing. It was the high point of the movie.

There were a good amount of returning actors and actresses from the first movie returning to part II, with the likes of Ching-Ying Lam, Moon Lee, Chau-Sang Lau. But this 1986 sequel also had the likes of Stanley Sui-Fan Fung and Biao Yuen on the cast list.

Well, if you enjoyed the previous movie, then you will also enjoy this 1986 sequel.

My rating of director Ricky Lau's 1986 movie "Geung See Ga Zuk" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This film is a complete change in tone from "Mr. Vampire". This sequel is really only an extension of the vampire-gone-loose idea, and is set in modern times. We have very little brought from the original, and what is brought (Lam Ching-Ying), is quite dis-connected anyway.

That said, this film is quite odd. Lam Ching-Ying is excellent as usual as the kind of hard-case Taoist priest, and we seem him up against vampires in the usual sense. Yuen Biao is quite under-used as the Taoist Priest's off-sider, and is quite clumsy and reluctant to engage in kung-fu technique it seems. I was waiting for him to really do something but it never really came for me. Most of this film is wrestling back and forth with a pair of vampires.

The vampires are portrayed (for my tastes), as too human. Whereas in Mr. Vampire 1, the corpse is sort of without personality, and has ceased being human, the vampires in this film are really portrayed as a family unit. We are asked to sympathise with them quite often.

Do not expect anything like Mr. Vampire 1 and you'll be fine. If you do, you may have to see it at least twice as I have to judge it on it's own merits. It really is a very separate film to the original, and the title does it more harm than good I believe.

Zombie-like magic Vampire outbreak Three Stooges slapstick comedy Kung Fu fight scenes Kids movie about friendship Violent 1980's Hong Kong cop movie

You wouldn't think these genres mix but Mr. Vampire 2 somehow manages to mix them all and mix them really well. It creates a very unique and fun atmosphere. A world where anything goes, but somehow everything feels like it belongs together.

The individual elements of the movie work well enough. The action is good to very good. It's nowhere near the peak of 1980's Hong Kong action, but most people will be satisfied with the fighting and explosions. The acting is acceptable for this kind of movie. The story is easy to follow and doesn't get in the way of the fun. It's a decently made wild ride that accomplishes it's goal.

If this is your first time in the Mr. Vampire universe, you need to know ahead of time what you're getting into. This is not like any Hollywood or even standard Hong Kong action movie you'll ever see. You're not going to get a tight three act structure or well developed characters. That's not the point of this kind of movie. This is a live action cartoon. If you go in with an open mind about that you'll probably have a blast.

Technically Mr. Vampire 2 is a sequel to the original Mr. Vampire but it can be watched as it's own stand alone film. It takes place generations after the first film with very little connecting the two movies. If you watch Mr. Vampire 1 first, you'll get some Easter eggs in the second one, but that's about it. Mr. Vampire 1 has better action sequences and higher production values. Mr. Vampire 2 has an easier to follow story and is arguably funnier. Both are well worth watching.

April 2021

Mr Vampire 2 in my opinion is the weakest film is this Mr Vampire style genre of film, but saying that it is still very good.

Personally the modern day setting just takes a bit a way from it and most of the story follows little children.

Still plenty of likeable stuff and it stars Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao, Moon Lee, Billy Lau, Woo Fung and Chung Fat.

Just about 9 out 10.

The original MR VAMPIRE was a ground-breaking all time classic. The sequel doesn't try to match it, and has next to nothing in common with it, other than the appearance of hopping vampires. This is a wise move, because the original was simply perfection. MR VAMPIRE 2 is entertaining but not in the same league as its predecessor.

There are some jokes that are just not funny (the formaldehyde fight scene) and some annoying sub-plots (the "cute" vampire kid), but in the end these can't detract from the fact that this is insane Hong-Kong action cinema, which completely wipes the floor with anything Hollywood could ever produce.