Some of the best horror films throw a little bit of comedy into the mix, things like Shaun of the Dead, Dog Soldiers, or An American Werewolf in London immediately come to mind. And it's not an easy thing to do, go too far one way and it's either a silly movie with horror themes, or a horror movie with some very out of place jokes. Out of those two, I find the first to be the best, a movie that's so silly that it becomes hard to actually see it as a horror film, but you're having way too much fun to care. This is exactly the kind of movie Doctor Vampire is.
Vampires were a popular brand in Hong Kong cinema thanks to the success of Mr Vampire, a movie that spawned a number of sequels and knock-off's over the coming several years. Whilst few of these managed to capture much of the magic of the original Mr Vampire (still one of the best vampire movies made in Hong Kong) there were ever increasingly creative attempts to win over fans of the genre; and Doctor Vampire might be one of the best examples of this.
Beginning in England, we meet Dr Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam), who's in the country for work. When his car breaks down on a country lane he goes looking for help and arrives at a castle that houses what looks like a tradititional early 90's pub. What makes it stand out, however, is the very sexual nature of the staff and customers, and it becomes clear to the audience that Chiang has stumbled into a brothel. What's less obvious, especially to him, is that it's run by vampires. After Chiang thinks he saves a young woman named Alice (Ellen Chan) from an angry customer, he gets taken upstairs and thanked for his heroics with a steamy night of passion in which he loses his virginity.
Back in Hong Kong, Chiang returns to the hospital where he works and tells his two best friends that he finally had sex. The three of them, the worst doctors in the hospital, have to keep the information quiet from Chiang's girlfriend May (Shiela Chan), who works in the hospital as a nurse. However, when Chiang begins to feel strange, unable to eat his favourite garlic dish, needing sunglasses when out in the daylight, and being drawn to buy himself a cape, his friends begin to suspect that he's becoming a vampire; a suspicion backed up when they discover that he was bitten in his private area during his steamy night with Alice. Meanwhile, in England Alice's master, the Count (Peter Kjaer) discovers a taste for Chiang's blood by drinking it through Alice, and sets out to get more of it.
One of the things that makes Doctor Vampire stand out against some of the other Hong Kong vampire movies is that it forgoes that traditional Jiangshi (hopping vampire) and focuses instead on the western vampire in a collision of traditions and cultures. This is illustrated in a couple of scenes in the film, where Chiang is considering what life might be like if he completes his transformation into a vampire. He questions how he should move as a vampire, hopping out of the room with his hands raised, and later in the story his two friends buy him a costume that makes him look like a Qing dynasty official (the traditional look for the Jiangshi). There's even a Taoist priest who arrives for the final battle, his talismans and vampire killing sword at the ready, but with the enemy being a western vampire this ends up being pretty useless, and he ends up locked inside a freezer for the rest of the finale.
Doctor Vampire embraces a lot of the tropes of the western vampire genre, including putting romance as one of the central themes. Despite her having bitten him, Chiang begins to fall in love with the vampire Alice; and she him. His love for her and his transformation into a vampire is a big part of the narrative, and whilst there is the added wrinkle that he's cheating on his long term girlfriend, a lot of this plot ends up being kind of sweet. The cruel, ancient count who's trying to get between them has shades of Dracula, whilst being far enough removed that you'd never accuse the film of being too inspired by it.
Where Doctor Vampire excels, however, is when it's not taking itself seriously and leans into the sillier parts. Chiang and his two friends are the worst doctors in their hospital because they don't do enough operations, so we get a sub-plot of them doing unnecessary operations on patients to get their numbers up, such as a circumcision to cure a headache. The farcical moments like Chiang lurking around in a cape, or a nurse thinking his friends are fellating him in the staffroom are so ridiculous that you can never take the film seriously, but are fun enough that you can't help but be a little bit charmed by them. A lot of the time the film feels more like a comedy that just happens to have vampires in it than any serious attempt to be a horror movie.
If you're not looking for a very serious movie, one that's more interested in giving you a fun experience over the small things like a plot that makes complete sense or internal consistency, Doctor Vampire is a film that offers that. How many movies have a vampire who looks like he raided a fancy dress shop shooting lasers out of his eyes whilst flying through the air, or heroes that get inexplicably transformed into Buddha powered warriors by a statue? Doctor Vampire might not win any awards, but it certainly kept me entertained throughout, which I can't always say for every film I see.
The new release from Eureka Entertainment has a brand new 2K restoration of the film, which compared to some old clips of it that I've seen might make this the most visually impressive version of the movie that you'll be able to get your hands on. The new audio is also really crisp and sharp, and sounds fantastic throughout. Alongside the film there's the usual audio commentaries, featuring returning names Frank Djeng, who does a solo commentary, and another with Arne Venema and Mike Leeder. For those familiar with Eureka's usual Hong Kong movie releases you'll know the kind of commentary tracks to expect here, and both offer interesting additions to the movie. There's also an interview with Stacey Abbott, author of Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World, and Vampire Slaying 101: Remixing Monster Traditions in Doctor Vampire, a new video essay by gothic scholar Mary Going who goes into the marriage of eastern and western vampire myths present in the movie.
As with previous Eureka releases, this new Blu-ray offers fans a wonderful way to experience the movie, with crisp video and audio quality, and a load of extra features that gives you a reason to dive into the film a couple more times. Doctor Vampire might be an unusual entry in the Hong Kong vampire film catalogue, but it's one that's loads of fun.
Doctor Vampire is available on Blu-ray from 24th February 2025.
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