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Director: Dennis S.Y. Law. Review: Adam Wing. Not to be confused with the shambolic James Corden offering Lesbian Vampire Killers, Lesbian Vampire Warriors actually started life as the less enticing – but somewhat more accurate – Vampire Warriors. Only a fool (or genius depending on your standpoint) would assume that by adding the word ‘lesbian’ you are likely to shift more copies. I mean really, it’s not like I would’ve fallen for that kind of cheap, dirty trick - thankfully I got a free copy so I didn’t have to take the chance. Lesbians are all the rage it would seem, and the vampire bubble hasn’t burst yet, so why not call your movie Lesbian Vampire Warriors? It’s not like you need actual lesbians for the movie to sell (the word lesbian is probably used once), for the most part they don’t even have real vampires – just vegetarian ones.

It’s a fact of life that many Asian films undergo name changes en route to international distribution, often ending up with rather generic sounding monikers that have little to do with their actual content. However, by any standard, very few distributors have been quite as bold or sneaky as Arrow Films with their UK DVD release of the Hong Kong production “Vampire Warriors”, which they’ve cunningly re-titled “Lesbian Vampire Warriors”, presumably in a bid to attract a certain kind of male viewer. This is furthered by the DVD cover, which features three of the film’s female supporting cast in vaguely racy gear and brandishing bloody weapons, explicitly suggesting a potent mix of sex and violence. The plot follows upcoming Mainland martial arts actress Jiang Luxia (“True Legend”) as vampire hunter Ar, who co-exists peacefully with a nearby family of ‘vegetarian’ vampires who avoid feeding on humans, including Si (Chrissie Chau,...

Lesbian Vampire Warriors

Stars: Luxia Jiang, Wah Yuen, Chrissie Chow, Siu-hou Chin, Pinky Cheung, Rock Ji, Rachel Lam | Written and Directed by Dennis Law

Described as a “Twilight-inspired Chinese vampire thriller” Lesbian Vampire Warriors is as far from Twilight as you can get. It’s obvious advertising spiel of course to try get vampire fans to show some interest, but in a world where most vampire fans hate even the mention of Twilight it’s to be hoped this does not turn people off, because this film deserves more.

Ar is a vampire hunter, and very much human. She befriends a vampire Max who she agrees she’ll let live as long as she does not kill any humans. Along with Max comes her family, these vampires could be described as quite melodramatic as they spend most of the time wanting to feel something, but of course as they are...