Jiang shi pa pa

Just one of many hopping vampire movies made in the wake of Mr. Vampire (1985), The Close Encounters of Vampire is aimed squarely at kids, the majority of the action revolving around a group of orphans who befriend a child vampire. Most of the film is played for laughs, with plenty of knockabout silliness, and while this might amuse easily pleased youngsters, I found it intolerable.

Only slightly better are the scenes in which a Taoist disciple attempts to hunt down the vampiric boy's father (who is a lot more menacing than his kid), his efforts hampered by sceptical locals and a disbelieving priest.

Thankfully, director Yuen Woo-Ping would return to proper martial arts/action cinema after this embarrassing blip in his career, giving us such classics as the Tiger Cage trilogy, In The Line Of Duty IV, and Iron Monkey.

I don't remember much from this movie, as I haven't seen it since I was a little kid. What I do recall is that this movie was probably made to capitalize on the popularity of 1985's Mr. Vampire, which was released the year before.

Like Mr. Vampire, the main villain in this movie is a hopping adult Chinese vampire, ready to make victims by biting their necks and sucking their blood. But, this film is pretty much aimed for kids, as a bunch of child actors take center stage. They learn martial arts and befriend a child vampire, which is portrayed as harmless and friendly. The kids try to help the child vampire find its way home, while dealing with the more menacing adult one.

It's a lot of kiddie slapstick humor, which was something I enjoyed watching when I was a kid. Today, this movie would probably be too childish for me. If you have kids, this one would be a good introduction to Chinese hopping vampires. If you are a hardcore fan of the more conventional and sophisticated Chinese vampire films, stick with the Mr. Vampire series or others in the genre starring martial artist star and "Vampire Buster" Lam Ching-Ying.

Grade B-

Apr 2021

This film is very similar to the Hello Dracula series, with 1 old man (Yuen Cheung Yan) who looks after a bunch of children (orphans i assume), and it features comedy, horror and vampires.

Its a winning formula, it is for me anyway, and anything with Yuen Cheung Yan is worth checking out.

So if you like any of the Mr Vampire genre it is one too watch.

BTW you can buy this on a box set called "Martial Arts Essentials vol 4" which is all films by Yuen Woo Ping,

8.5 out of 10.