Doctor Vampire

In this riotous Hong Kong horror-comedy from 1990, East meets West and blends classical European vampire lore with elements of the Chinese ‘jianghi’ (hopping vampires) legend, even though no hopping vampires are in it except for a brief send-up scene. The result is an over-the-top affair which doesn’t always work but remains hugely entertaining throughout.

Attempting to cash in on successful Hollywood vampire flicks from the 1980s such as ‘The Lost Boys’ or ‘Fright Night’, Hong Kong studios were eager to inject their own horror fare with fresh blood and came up with DOCTOR VAMPIRE, which turned out to be a huge success in Asia and came hot on the heels of its own ‘Mr. Vampire’ franchise. Yet, ‘Doctor Vampire’ is decidedly different in so far that the story is not set during the Qing dynasty but at the tail end of the 1980’s!

We begin our journey in England, where Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam), a young doctor from Hong Kong, happens to be on vacation. In the middle of the picturesque countryside, his car breaks down (doesn’t this always happen in such films?) and, walking aimlessly along a narrow lane, he’s suddenly confronted by an old castle (the castle in question is Allington Castle in Kent). Unsure what to do, a huge door opens and a foxy looking English lady invites him inside. Inside, well, is what looks like a quaint yet huge rural pub (Blackfriar’s pub) but it’s not really a pub… It’s in fact a brothel in disguise overseen by a ruthless vampire master (Peter Kjaer) and the dames employed in the ‘pub’ (and all the other staff) are also vampires. Their job? To lure unsuspecting visitors into the den, only to bite their hapless victims and then offer the back of their hands (a lot of veins on the back of hands…) to their master, so he can suck blood. One of the young women in the pub, Alice (Ellen Chan), recognises a fellow traveller in Chiang - that is to say she’s also originally either from Hong Kong or mainland China, indicating that the ‘Master’ has his hands in sex trafficking. Reluctant to seduce and bite Chiang, who is totally oblivious to what’s going on and is, in fact, still a virgin, Alice is forced by the Master to carry out her bloody work when, during the night, she seduces Chiang and sleeps with him. The next morning, he leaves and returns back home (or to the airport, rather). When the Master sucks blood from Alice’s hand, he is ecstatic as he’s never tasted blood like this before, courtesy of Chiang’s blood tasting of ginseng as a result to his girlfriend May Chen (Sheila Chan), an assistant doctor employed in the same Hong Kong hospital as Chiang, has a habit of cooking ginseng soup for him whenever he has dinner.

Back in Hong Kong, Chiang, together with his colleagues and friends Dr. Chin (Lawrence Lay) and Dr. Chang (David Wu), go about their usual routine in the operating theatre when Chiang begins to behave increasingly erraticly. His girlfriend May, who happens to live in the apartment opposite, is a prim and traditional kinda gal who doesn’t believe in sex before marriage but who does believe in proper cooking. Noticing that Chiang doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about his favourite food (prawns in batter with garlic…) and discovering a lipstick stain on one of Chiang’s shirts while sorting out his laundry, it only takes minutes before the two lovers are in the middle of a massive argument. Back in hospital, Chin and Chang too observe Chiang’s increasingly odd behaviour, such as drinking blood (from the blood bank) with two straws like others would drink a fizzy drink… and conclude he must be a vampire long before Chiang himself acknowledges the truth. He also becomes sensitive to sunlight and develops an increasing thirst for blood. As if this isn’t bad enough, Alice appears out of nowhere all the way from England, sent by her Master to trace Chiang… the victim with ‘ginseng blood’. But Alice likes Chiang and doesn’t want him to fall prey to the Master. Meanwhile, May’s best friend Joy (Crystal Kwok) spots a strange woman - who is Alice - in Chiang’s apartment, prompting May’s immediate suspicion and jealousy.

This is the beginning of a madcap adventure during which Chin and Chang try to help their bitten friend and humour him by buying him a present: it’s a traditional costume as worn during the Qing dynasty and therefore a costume worn by Taoist hopping vampires. Chiang even sees the funny side of it, well, for a few seconds anyway, and hops across his living room. But then the Master appears and from then on, all hell breaks loose as the hospital turns into a battleground between good and evil… It is a battle whose bloody climax takes place on the stage of a Peking Opera-style charity event and it’s a sight to behold for sure. Along the outrageous trip, our bumbling friends get unexpected help from a Taoist priest (Ni Kuang) who turns out to be even more inept. Let’s just say it’s Buddha who saves the day…Cast and crew no doubt had lots of fun with this, and so should you!

DOCTOR VAMPIRE is released as a Limited Edition 2K Blu-ray disc (2000 copies only) - presented in an O-card slipcase and collector’s booklet. Further special features include new audio commentary, an interview with ‘Celluloid Vampires’ author Stacey Abbot, plus a new video essay by scholar Mary Going.