Ricky Lau will forever be known as the director who started the popular Hong Kong hopping jiangshi (stiff corpse) horror comedy movie series of the late 1980s starting with his “Mr. Vampire” which spawned a few sequels and numerous parodies. Consequently, he also turned leading man Lam Ching Ying who plays the Taoist exorcist into a household name. Fast forward to 2021, he's back with his Mainland version of the same Qing Dynasty robe wearing; outstretched arms jumping undead but with a difference so he can get pass the strict Chinese censorship which doesn't allow screen portrayal of vampires, ghosts or any feudalistic ideology.
To get around this, Lau replaces his hopping corpses with a group of opium smuggling bandits who wear fake teeth, fake long finger nails and to help them hop, they now have springs under their shoes. Furthermore, they only appear briefly at the beginning of the movie then disappear and never to be seen again.
So, this is a vampire movie without vampires and ghosts; it stars Chin Siu Ho as Uncle Ho and Zhang Di Cai plays Uncle Ying, the famous single browed Taoist master. Together with the help of three students, they use medical knowledge and science to fight against superstitions and supernatural phenomena. However, they do use their kung fu skills when the Ghost King (Norman Chui) and his bandits try to take over their town. The Chinese title actually means “Mr. One Eyebrow” which interestingly, is the same Chinese title of “Vampire Vs Vampire” (1989) directed by Lam Ching Ying himself.
The best part of “Taoist Priest” is at the beginning, when we witness a priest in his familiar yellow robe, while he's herding a row of ten hopping vampires across town, all in their beautiful Qing Dynasty robes. Uncle Ying's entourage intercepts them which end up in a well-choreographed fight with some humor thrown in. Next up, we follow Uncle Ho as he investigates a supposedly haunted dye factory and encounters a couple of ladies who dress up as ghosts only to scare off the owner. Both these scenes are visually impressive to behold and they bring back fond memories of the first “Mr. Vampire” movie.
The rest of the movie concentrates on the Ghost King's plot of trying to overrun Mei Zhou town, where our protagonists live. Needless to say, this all ends up in a showdown inside his impressively designed lush lair in which only the tough guys will be left standing. Veteran Norman Chui is wonderful as the bandits' boss and it looks like he's having fun. His second in charge, Jade Phoenix (Ariel Ahn Wei) is another stand out, a mysterious character who's both ruthless and beautiful.
It's good to see Chin Siu Ho back on the screen but his Uncle Ho character seems bored and uninspired. Interestingly, his son Pang Jing Feng now plays the same student character that he played in “Mr. Vampire” thirty six years ago. Zhang Di Cai has the unfortunate task of portraying the original Taoist master made famous by Lam Ching Ying. He's heavily made up to look like him, right down to the same haircut and the trademark mono brow and they even address him as Uncle Ying. Honestly, no one can replace the one and only Lam Ching Ying.
Credited as the action director, Zhang Di Cai's fight sequences which are mostly of the hand to hand variety with a few interesting weapons thrown in, are decent and fluid in their execution. However, it looks like he only has one basic set of routine which gets repeated throughout the whole movie; therefore it becomes boring after a while. How many times does the audience need to see someone being kicked, flown across the room and knocking down furniture?
Overall, this is Ricky Lau recycling himself after thirty six years but still brings nothing really exciting to the mix. Besides, the humor display within is childish and cringe worthy. Granted, the production looks fantastic with lush and detailed sets, beautiful costumes and the martial arts action is fairly decent. However, it has no soul and furthermore, viewers are being preached about how China should unite to get rid of feudal superstitions and foreign enemies.
That’s too bad. I would have loved a good throw back to the Mr. Vampire days. Have you seen Rigor Mortis? It was shot and released in Hong Kong as a legit horror movie with many of the stars from the original films. They didn’t give a darn if it didn’t get a release in China and because of this, the film is really fantastic fun; spooky, nostalgic and thoroughly entertaining.
Yes, if this was made in HK, it would be a great throw back. However, it looks good visually, a light entertainment. Also Rigor Mortis is great, I also reviewed it here. Sharon, have you seen Vampire Cleanup Department? It stars Chin Siu Ho, but it’s a comedy rather than horror. Cheers!