Review by Josh Felty
Everybody loves a really good vampire movie, myself included. Not to drag some of the more recent "vampiric fare" as of late (which shall go unnamed in this review) through the proverbial dirt, but there really needs to be a comprehensive reboot of the entire vampire genre. I love zombie flicks just as much, but sadly it seems they've suffered the same fate. But at least Romero's don't sparkle, right? Anyways, I've seen two really great vampire films here lately; one was Cirque de Freak starring the versatile John C. Reilly.
The other is this one, God of Vampires.
Call me crazy, but I think the best vampire movies are the ones that go above and beyond all the legend and pageantry of something like Interview with the Vampire or the subpar 30 Days of Night. Great vampire movies fall into a couple of different categories for me: the classic, Bela Legosi look and the brutal, Nosferatu-inspired bloodbath. Bloodbaths are a lot of fun, especially when you know you're in good hands.
Written and directed by Rob Fitz, God of Vampires is what you get when you smash a gun-toting John Woo actioner with a vampire hunter epic. We're immediately thrown into the seedy hitman life of one Frank Ng, the best in his underworld criminal realm. You know the type: dirty, dilapidated brownstones and warehouses, probably on the Lower East Side or somewhere deep in Chinatown (which is where I believe they shot much of this, in fact). Frank's contact with the underworld hides behind a C4-rigged apartment door and carries a thick Australian accent. Everything changes, however, when Frank's latest hit involves something he cannot kill: a hideous, revenge-fueled Chinese vampire known as the kiang-shi.
Frank battles his way out of his first altercation with the hideous wraith (think original Dawn of the Dead zombie makeup meets Ringu meets Vampire Hunter D, if you will), which winds up backfiring on most of his constituents, including his own brother. This face-off introduces our hero to the expertise of Uncle Ping, an older gentleman and herbologist of sorts who runs a Chinese restaurant and fills us in on the kiang-shi's lore and inherent weaknesses. No, it's not a wooden stake through the heart, garlic, etc. And no, there's no sparkling or dismantling and scattering of body parts. Let's just say there's a neat twist to how one stops the kiang-shi, which can "infect" others with their "curse".
In the end, we get an intense showdown involving some ancient blessed Chinese swords and a newly acquired (and blessed) chainsaw wielded by Percy, the redneck town drunk. All I have to say is there's a lot of blood, tons of gore, and perhaps the most intense gunplay and kung-fu you'll find in modern horror. I was most impressed with the fact that all the blood and gore effects were done practically with squibs and buckets of blood, no doubt. In many ways God of Vampires, which seems to have been shot in 16mm and includes some old school sounding synthesizer compositions as well as some impressive industrial-inspired tracks, is a Hong Kong horror film produced by an American team. And it shines as an example of where vampire movies (and most horror in general) should be aiming: the blood-smathered stars, my friends.
My biggest and only qualm with this flick is some of the acting. I mean, it is an indie affair; but it more than makes up for stalwart performances with its impressive production value and premise. I love how by the end you realize there are more of these creatures than the Chinese kiang-shi; I'll say nothing else. The runtime is also quite lengthy (at an hour and 50 minutes), surely a carry-over from most Asian films. But believe you me, it's well worth the time. This outstanding piece of film is what you get when you combine blood-mired, grungy indie horror and kinetic action with an Eastern twist.
Now to consult some Chinese folklore...