Jaau gwai daai shi

A vampire/evil spirit long sealed up in an ancient urn is released and begins to take over various members of a family in a quest to gain power and get revenge on the descendant of those who imprisoned him.

This not not your typical Chinese vampire film. Actually I'm not sure that the villain is even really a vampire despite the title. There is no hopping just some fright masks and some possession, which is fine by me. There's some good humor and some good scares in what is a nicely balanced horror comedy (which is nice for a change since many of the horror comedies tend to be laugh heavy.) I doubt it will ever change the world but its definitely worth a bag of popcorn and a soda, which is some times all you can ask.

In the midst of a revolution, Cheung Il's son is denouncing his father as a Tradionalist (the son is now affiliated with Chairman Mao) The son and his communist cronies want to destroy an urn that Cheung says holds a very evil spirit. Of course they don't believe him, so to save the urn Cheung throws it in the ocean. 20 years later, it's found again where it's sold in an auction to Councillor Kay. Of course it's only a matter of time before the malevolent spirit finds a way out of the urn, which he does and promptly possesses Kay. His family however are extremely obvious to this. And comedic action ensues. I didn't really care for this film that much and even though the version i saw was entitled "Vampire busters" there was very sadly none of the mystic Chinese Hopping Vampires that made me want to watch this in the first place. That being said, the film IS good only in small doses. This film is available on DVD on a double-bill with "Vampire Honeymoon" and marketed as "Terror Tales Volume 1"

The Chinese title for this film literally translates to "Ghostbusting Master," and the English title is "Vampire Buster." The Chinese title is more logical as their are none of the classic hopping and/or Dracula-type vampires in this movie. Here, we have a story about a Hong Kong Councilman (Shui-Fan Fung) who buys an ancient vase from an auction, which actually contains a demon (Fat Chung) that was defeated and sealed in the urn by a Taoist Priest hundreds of years ago. His descendant Master Cheung 11 (Kent Cheng) wants to retrieve the vase before the evil spirit is released, but it does later on and possesses the body of the Councilman, threatening to wreck havoc in Hong Kong.

There is a nice balance of horror and comedy in this film, with no over-the-top and slapstick nonsense. The demon is actually quite creepy-looking; scenes of him attacking those unfortunate enough to cross his path are a little frightening, yet intriguing for a movie. There is even a little gore in the film, but nothing too graphic that will make you cover your eyes. Actor Pak-cheung Chan as Master Lum provided much laughs with his witty remarks and quick reaction, but again, no childish or overboard slapstick comedy.

The fast-paced plot is compelling - just the parts where the vase with the encased demon travels from Mainland China all the way to Hong Kong, where it is auctioned off, and where the demon changes the Councilman's legislation votes while possessing his body and his imminent threat to mankind, are captivating. The music score by Anders Nelsson is some of his best work, I think, and its haunting and upbeat music just helps make this movie more exciting.

The actors all did great in their respectable roles, especially Shui-Fan Fung as the serious, no-nonsense possessed Councilman, Pak-cheung Chan as the witty comedic fortune master, Jacky Cheung as the carefree Councilman's son and Elsie Chan as the damsel in distress.

Overall, a very fun film that is one of my favorite ghost-comedies from Hong Kong. I highly recommend it.

Grade A