Doctor Vampire (Eureka)

Director: Jamie Luk
Screenplay: Jamie Luk
Starring: Bowie Lam, Ellen Chan, Sheila Chan, David Wu, Shek-Lin Yau, Crystal Kwok, Peter Kjaer
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 98 min
Year: 1990
BBFC Rating: 15

If you were to think of Chinese vampires in cinema, your mind may wander to the Shaw Brothers/Hammer co-production, Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, or perhaps more likely, the Mr Vampire series of films that plays on the Chinese legend of the Jiangshi. Jiangshi is without a doubt the most recognisable of these, a reanimated corpse dressed in robes that hops about chasing after its victims, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Jamie Luk’s Doctor Vampire follows this mould – what you might not expect, however, is a bawdy, raunchy comedy with very little horror and a finale that tries to give Shaw Brother’s Bastard Swordsman a run for its money!

Starting in rural England our hero, Dr Chaing, breaks down while driving on a return journey to his native Hong Kong. Knocking on the door of a nearby country house, he discovers a den of debauchery (and an interior that looks surprisingly like a village pub) in a mysterious brothel. After being seduced by a beautiful Chinese girl called Alice, he spends the night with her before returning home to his job as a junior doctor. After his girlfriend notices him developing strange behaviour, Chiang realises he’s maybe brought back something nasty from Alice – he’s turning into a vampire! Not only that, Alice has been tasked with her Vampire Master to track him down to Hong Kong and return with his blood. It’s up to Chiang and his two loser friends to figure out how to stop the vampire curse and defeat the Vampire Master.

Doctor Vampire is a strange, strange film. Despite being among one of Hong Kong’s Category 3 films, the over 18 rating which was often given to some of the countries more extreme cinema, Doctor Vampire is remarkably tame. Played very much as a broad and bawdy screwball comedy with very little blood, the film has a very silly tone that’s chock full of wacky humour, much of which hasn’t aged well. Yes, this is 1990 and we have some casual misogyny, including a “joke” sequence about a horny, rapey zombie, and some even more casual homophobia, but there are some genuinely amusing moments scattered throughout, mainly as Chiang tries to adjust to his vampiric condition while his two friends conduct a bit of medical malpractice to steal blood supplies for him so he doesn’t have to actually drain living humans.

It’s these scenes where writer/director Bowie Lam loosens up some of the bawdiness and allows Chiang to develop as a character, exploring his friendship and his relationship and how they’re affected by being a creature of the night. Lam also explores a little the concept of vampirism as an STD, particularly with Chiang contracting it via a tryst with Alice, as well as paying homage to the Jiangchi legend to a story that’s predominantly focussed on more traditionally western style vampires; and then there’s the final act which just… goes hard and weird. Adding in a slice of kung fu and mysticism, tied up in a hyper bonkers bow that would impress Buddah’s Palm, giving Peter Kjaer’s villainous Vampire Master both the opportunity to show off his mad high kicks as well as ample scenery to chew on, it’s a left turn so abrupt it might give you whiplash, but it’s also welcome in what is largely a rather tame and pedestrian vampire comedy.

And that’s one of the big problems with Doctor Vampire. Despite a fun set up it never takes advantage of its premise outside of some of the broader gags about a Doctor who’s also a Vampire, and is so fixated on being a big rude and raunchy that it never commits to the horror of the idea, dragging its heels into that final act only to end on an abrupt and disappointing note. Add to that some decidedly cheap looking makeup effects that really haven’t aged very well, and you get a tonally uneven film that’s a largely unfunny horror comedy which never commits to its horror. It’s a real shame as there’s a potentially interesting idea here – more of the zaniness that accompanies the final act across the films run time would have created a cult classic, but sadly Doctor Vampire is disappointingly middling and only one for the curious.

Bonus Features

• Limited Edition (2000 copies)
• Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys (2000 copies)
• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary with East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and John Charles
• New audio commentary with Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• A British Vampire in Hong Kong – new on-camera interview with Stacey Abbott, author of Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World
• Vampire Slaying 101: Remixing Monster Traditions in Doctor Vampire – new video essay by gothic scholar Mary Going
• A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on Hong Kong vampire films from Mr Vampire to Doctor Vampire by East Asian horror expert Katarzyna Ancuta (2000 copies)

Doctor Vampire has been given a great looking 2K restoration in this new Eureka release and looks rather spiffing for it, with a crisp image and snappy colours. Despite some interesting commentaries and an interview which dips into the East/West vampire crossover, there’s sadly few bonus features on display here, although the booklet in the limited edition release is an interesting read.