Kung fu zombie

Billy Chong has to fight villains, zombies, ghosts and a vampire, who all knows the art of kung fu. All this because some low-life bad guy and a part-time magician wants him out of the way.

As usual there is loads of fighting, slapstick comedy, and we also get some jumping zombies, stupid ghosts and a vampire who´s running around chopping heads. Funny and entertaining, but also quite exhausting. Not as good as the Mr. Vampires series though. Leave your brain in a bucket and enjoy.

Okay, so the only reason I ever saw this movie to begin with was because I found the used DVD (the Black Belt Theatre version) on sale for $2 in a local video store in the middle of nowhere. I honestly expected it to stink to high heaven, and only bought it for the funny title. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it! I'm pretty confused at most of the reviews I see on the web for this movie calling it a "horror" film, because this is a comedy pure and simple. Everything is so ridiculous that it's absolutely hilarious, from the "wizard's" goofy dancing whenever he casts "spells," to the scene where they're out "shopping" for corpses, to the protagonist's complete indifference as to whether his obnoxious father lives or dies. The dub is absolutely hilarious (I've seen probably over a hundred dubbed movies/shows and this is, no kidding, one of the most effective ones I've ever seen, though it's obviously much easier to dub a goofy comedy than a drama), and it makes excellent use of music at hilarious times. I also have to give a hearty thanks to the editor for the Americanized version, who clearly edited out at least half an hour of what was clearly dull story, leaving absolutely nothing but kung fu and comedy scenes.

If you have the capacity to enjoy goofy, ridiculous movies and slapstick humor, I fully recommend this. The closest thing I can compare it to is a super low-budget version of Kung Fu Hustle. I only wish the DVD transfer were better (it's watchable, but the scenes in dark places can be hard to make out).

Few movies can give fans of genre crossovers their money's worth like this one does. It's a martial arts / horror / comedy with a heavy accent on comedy. Long on slapstick and long on nonsense as well, it has a hilariously over the top, contrived plot and engagingly goofy performances from all concerned. Literally *everything* about "Kung Fu Zombie" is unsubtle, and it's constantly throwing things at you, barely giving you a chance to breathe. As far as the horror content goes, it offers you body hopping, the living dead, the undead (i.e. a vampire), and a ticked-off ghost.

The basic story has an inept master villain working mightily to defeat our strapping young hero, Pang Fong (Billy Chong). This bad guy is also often stymied in his attempts to find a new body (don't ask, just watch), and is "assisted" by a flamboyant wizard who can never seem to get his spells done correctly.

Clothes come off, items are thrown, tacky gore and makeup abound, and the music is positively dopey. "Kung Fu Zombie" does wear a little thin at times, but the acting is wonderfully hammy and there are some inspired gags. (Like our hero's father / master feigning death to throw him off guard.) It's likewise a hoot to see our villain have such a spectacular lack of success until late in the movie.

Directed with flair by Shan Hua, this flick delivers one lightning-fast fight scene after another. This viewer would recommend it to anybody who desires to put their brain in neutral for a while and investigate the more irreverent side of kung fu cinema.

The original Hong Kong version runs about 20 minutes longer, and is in a different aspect ratio, to boot. This review applies to the 79 minute long dubbed North American release (with hysterically inefficient dubbing, the kind that is just right for this sort of entertainment).

Seven out of 10.

How do you kill something that's already dead? That's the question Billy Chong faces when he goes up against the "Kung Fu Zombie". Billy's father crosses the wrong exorcist, and there's hell to pay. The evil priest unleashes an army of the undead against Chong's family, led by the Mad Korean Kwan Yun Moon.

Totally bonkers, OTT, cheesy and humorous horror-kungfu comedy that is unrestrained in its barminess, and consistently so throughout. But it's all entertaining with some great fights - with the exception of the ending, where there's an abundance of flying in the air via wire, there's not much acrobatic or dancing kungfu, it's more straightforward school of hard knocks. Billy Chong, like usual, displays some killer moves in frenetic fashion. The humour is really good, especially where it concerns that priest who has to find a body for a dead thug. Its craziness can be overwhelming and this film should be watched when you're in mood for some silliness and slapstick humour, but I found it fairly entertaining, much more so than Kungfu beyond the grave ( another Billy Chong horror-comedy).

Like other reviewers said, Kung Fu Zombie lives up to its title, but other than the character of the vampire, it doesn't go beyond expectations. A rating of a 5 is usually used in the case of a boring and mediocre film, but Kung Fu Zombie is not. It goes insanely back and forth from being a genuinely bizarre (and entertaining) zombie story and kung fu movie, to a pathetic attempt at film-making. The production of the dubbed version is way below kung-fu-film average, with numerous jumps in the plot (which is so ridiculous it's almost dull), hopeless attempts at vaudeville-style humor, and problems in pacing which sometimes makes it hard to sit through. Many of the attempts at humor fail completely, and most of the laughs will come from what is meant to be scary or strange. At the same time, though, Kung Fu Zombie has that insanity and originality that makes it a "good bad film". For example, a drawing on the outside of a jail shoots lasers out of its eyes at a zombie- because, of course, zombies can't enter jails.

The fighting in Kung Fu Zombie is surprisingly good. Billy Chong is a terrible actor, but a great athlete. The editing throughout the film is confusing and convoluted enough to ruin several scenes, and although it's noticeable in fight scenes, it somehow doesn't manage to ruin them.

It's hard to pin down an audience for Kung Fu Zombie. It might not be best for kung fu fanatics; those who prefer the serious type of kung fu film will abhor it. Probably many of its viewers are people looking for a fun zombie movie (The mainstream 70's zombie flicks had little or no influence on Kung Fu Zombie- 100% Hong Kong horror), or those who are amused by the title- these are the people who are most likely to enjoy it.