| Mr. Vampire | |
|---|---|
Original Hong Kong film poster |
|
| Traditional | 僵屍先生 |
| Simplified | 僵尸先生 |
| Mandarin | Jiāngshī Xiānshēng |
| Cantonese | Goeng1 Si1 Sin1 Sang1 |
| Directed by | Ricky Lau |
| Produced by | Sammo Hung |
| Screenplay by | Sze-to Cheuk-hon Barry Wong Wong Ying |
| Starring | Lam Ching-ying Ricky Hui Chin Siu-ho Moon Lee |
| Music by | Anders Nelsson Alastair Monteith-Hodge The Melody Bank |
| Cinematography | Peter Ngor |
| Editing by | Peter Cheung |
| Studio | Bo Ho Films Co., Ltd. Paragon Films Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
| Release date(s) | 7 November 1985 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Gross revenue | HK$20,092,129 |
Mr. Vampire, also known as Goeng-si Sin-sang, is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. The film's box office success led to the creation of a Mr. Vampire franchise, with the release of four sequels directed by Ricky Lau from 1986 to 1992, and subsequent similarly themed films with different directors released between 1987 and 1991. The film was released under the Chinese title 暫時停止呼吸 in Taiwan.
Contents |
Taoist priest Kau is engaged to perform a reburial for a deceased rich man. Together with his inept students Man-choi and Chau-sang, Kau discovers that the corpse is still almost intact and looks alive. They attempt to prevent the corpse from resurrecting by drawing magical lines all over the coffin, but the corpse still breaks out and becomes a geung si (Chinese "hopping" vampire).
The vampire runs amok and starts killing many people while Kau and his students try to stop it. In one battle, Man-choi is bitten by the vampire and infected with the "vampire virus", causing him to almost turn into a vampire as well. Meanwhile, Chau-sang is seduced by a female ghost and nearly loses his soul to her. Kau has a hard time dealing with his students' problems and putting an end to the vampire's rampage.
Highly successful at the time, both in Hong Kong and as a cult film favorite with overseas enthusiasts of Hong Kong cinema, Mr. Vampire spawned four sequels, inspired numerous parodies and homage films. The film launched Lam Ching-ying's character, the unibrowed Taoist exorcist, whom he would portray not only in the Mr. Vampire sequels, but also in many other films, including unrelated ones.
Mr. Vampire was nominated for thirteen awards, including two for Best Supporting Actor (Billy Lau and Lam Ching-ying). Out of the thirteen nominations the film only received one award for Best Original Film Score.
| Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Name | Result |
| 5th Hong Kong Film Awards[1] | Best Film | N/A | Nominated |
| Best Original Film Score | Lo Ta-yu | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Ricky Lau | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay | Wong Ying, Barry Wong, Sze-to Cheuk-hon | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Billy Lau | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Lam Ching-ying | Nominated | |
| Best New Performer | Billy Lau | Nominated | |
| Best Cinematography | Peter Ngor | Nominated | |
| Best Film Editing | Peter Cheung | Nominated | |
| Best Art Direction | Lam Sai-kan | Nominated | |
| Best Action Direction | Sammo Hung Stunt Team | Nominated | |
| Best Original Film Score | Melody Bank | Won | |
| Best Original Film Song | 鬼新娘 | Nominated | |
The film's theme song, Gwai San Noeng (鬼新娘; Ghost Bride), was performed by the Jie'er Choir (傑兒合唱團).
Mr. Vampire spawned a number of sequels, including Mr. Vampire II, Mr. Vampire III and Mr. Vampire IV. Most do not relate to the first film but are set on the same themes. The same cast members appear in some films but they are recast in different roles. They are also other films of the Chinese vampire genre starring Lam Ching-ying, such as Encounters of the Spooky Kind II (1990) and Magic Cop (1990), or directed by Lam himself, such as Vampire Vs. Vampire (1989), which are all separate from the Mr. Vampire franchise.[2] In addition, Lam uses his real name for his character in some of the films he acted in.
A related television series titled Vampire Expert (殭屍道長) starring Lam Ching-ying was broadcast from 1996 to 1997. However, during the filming of the third season, Lam developed liver cancer and died before the project was completed. The first season of My Date with a Vampire, a television series produced by ATV, was specially dedicated to Lam, and the story was based on future events in Vampire Expert.
Mr. Vampire was adapted into a theatrical play and was performed at the Cultural Centre's Studio Theatre in Hong Kong from 29 to 30 October 2010 as part of a Halloween theme.[3]
| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Language | Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | United States | Unknown | Rainbow Audio and Video Incorporation | NTSC | Cantonese | English | [4] | |
| 21 September 1988 | Japan | Unknown | Pony Video | NTSC | Japanese(Dubbed) | None | [5] | |
| 19 June 1998 | United States | Unknown | Tai Seng Entertainment | NTSC | Cantonese | English | [6] | |
| 19 October 1999 | France | Unknown | HK Video | NTSC | Cantonese | English | [7] | |
| 24 January 2000 | United Kingdom | 15 | Made in Hong Kong | PAL | Cantonese | English | [8] |
| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Catalog No |
Format |
Language | Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Japan | N/A | Pony Video LaserVision | G88F0112 | CLV / NTSC | Cantonese | Japanese | Audio Mono | [9] |
| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Language | Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Hong Kong | N/A | Megastar (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese, Mandarin | English, Chinese | 2VCDs | [10] |
| Unknown | Hong Kong | N/A | Deltamac (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese | English, Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs | [11] |
| 5 December 2003 | China | N/A | Jiang Xi Wen Hua Yin Xiang Chu Ban She | NTSC | Mandarin | English, Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs | [12] |
| 7 Octover 2005 | Taiwan | N/A | Xin Sheng Dai (TW) | NTSC | Mandarin | Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs | [13] |
| 25 February 2009 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese, Mandarin | English, Traditional Chinese | 2VCDs Digitally Remastered | [14] |
| Release date |
Country |
Classifaction |
Publisher |
Format |
Region |
Language |
Sound |
Subtitles |
Notes |
REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Hong Kong | N/A | Deltamac (HK) | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese, Mandarin | Dolby Digital 2.0 | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | [15] | |
| Unknown | Japan | N/A | Universal Pictures Japan | NTSC | 2 | Cantonese, Japanese | Dolby Digital Mono | Japanese | Digitally Re-mastered Box-set | [16] |
| 2001 | Hong Kong | N/A | Mega Star | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese and Mandarin | Dolby Digital 5.1 | Cantonese, English, Thai, Vietnamese, Spanish | [17] | |
| 22 April 2002 | United Kingdom | 15 | Hong Kong Legends | PAL | 2 | Cantonese, English (Dubbed) |
Dolby Digital 5.1 | English | Digitally Re-mastered | [18] |
| 19 February 2004 | France | N/A | HK Video | PAL | 2 | Cantonese | Dolby Digital | French | Box-set | [19] |
| 7 September 2004 | United States | PG-13 | 20th Century Fox | NTSC | 1 | Cantonese, English (Dubbed) |
Dolby Digital 5.1 | English | Digitally Re-mastered | [20] |
| 26 June 2005 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales (HK) | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese, Mandarin | Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS Digital Surround | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | Digitally Re-mastered | [21][22] |
| 5 December 2007 | Australia/ New Zealand |
M | Magna Pacific | PAL | 4 | Cantonese, English (Dubbed) |
Dolby Digital 5.1 | English | Digitally Re-mastered | [23] |
| 8 July 2011 | Japan | N/A | Paramount Home Entertainment Japan |
NTSC | 2 | Cantonese | Dolby Digital | Japanese | [24] |
|
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