New on Blu-ray from Eureka is this outrageous horror-comedy that aims for the style of Fright Night, but unfortunately, this reviewer endured a fright morning watching this near-unintelligible piece of nonsense which more resembles a Jim Davidson VHS pantomime than a movie, and as such, it’s one that’s hard to recommend to anyone.
The story involves a young Chinese doctor portrayed by one Bowie Lam who, on holiday in England, stumbles into a castle run by a vampire Count with a craving for ginseng-flavoured blood. One of his vampire acolytes, Alice, inexplicably falls for our ‘hero’ and tracks him down on his return to Hong Kong, which means big trouble for him and his irritatingly unfunny fellow doctors and a coterie of mini-skirted nurses with a penchant for falling over at every given opportunity. Where was Benny Hill when he was really needed?
The comedy elements do not travel well and are both puerile and tasteless, accompanied as they are by less-than-horrific gore scenes, which do nothing to enhance the movie. The only saving grace is a lively martial arts battle at the end, where both doctors and vampires reveal hitherto unsuspected fighting skills.
This 2K restoration has optional English subtitles, but the film probably makes as much sense without them. There are two commentaries from experts in the field. The best part of this release is two rather excellent short featurettes, which tell us as much as we need to know and more about the history of Hong Kong vampire-themed horror flicks, a subgenre that you won’t be inclined to visit again any time soon if this example is anything to go by.
The lack of martial arts action in DOCTOR VAMPIRE is both a surprise and a disappointment and if there is an audience out there for filmic fare of this sort then they may well find something to enjoy. It’s been released in a limited of 2000 copies and for those that care to give it a try – on your own heads be it.
DOCTOR VAMPIRE is released by Eureka Entertainment on Blu-ray on February 24th .
