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Asian Horror Primers
	Topic by: dwhudson Posted: February 2, 2004 - 5:38 AM PST Last Reply: February 3, 2004 - 1:12 PM PST

author	topic: Asian Horror Primers
dwhudson	post #1  on February 2, 2004 - 5:38 AM PST   This week and next sees a pair of related primers by two fine writers from, appropriately enough, The Dual Lens. We begin with Ian Whitney's survey of Hong Kong Horror Comedies in which he explains why Chinese vampires hop and warns that beautiful women are to be avoided at all costs. Next week: Todd Wardrope on Miike, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and more. This week's cast is headed by Sammo Hung, Lam Ching Ying and Tsui Hark and that's just for starters. Your opinions welcome!
IWhitney	post #2  on February 2, 2004 - 7:28 AM PST   > On February 2, 2004 - 5:38 AM PST dwhudson wrote: > --------------------------------- > This week and next sees a pair of related primers by two fine writers from, appropriately enough, The Dual Lens. We begin with Ian Whitney's survey of Hong Kong Horror Comedies in which he explains why Chinese vampires hop and warns that beautiful women are to be avoided at all costs. Next week: Todd Wardrope on Miike, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and more. This week's cast is headed by Sammo Hung, Lam Ching Ying and Tsui Hark and that's just for starters. > Well I, for one, think is RULES! But I may be biased. I would love to put some of those titles (Mr. Vampire 3, Mr. Vampire 4, Exorcist Master) on my request list. Any chance of getting them added to the GC library so I can click that magic "Request" button? I especially want Mr. Vampire 3 since my copy has no dubbing or subtitles and I've been guessing at the movie's plot for 5 years. > Your opinions welcome! > ---------------------------------
IWhitney	post #3  on February 2, 2004 - 7:32 AM PST   Oh, and an update to the Chinese Vampire primer. I mention Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters in there but I was not able to see the film until after my deadline. I can now say with authority that the film should be avoided. The US release removes 20 minutes from the film. I imagine these 20 minutes explain minor points like a) who the characters are? b) what the hell is going on? c) where'd that random woman go? c.2) who was that woman anyway? d) no, really, what the hell is going on? Hark's made his share of movies that make no sense (i.e. Zu, Warriors of the Magic Mountain) but at least those movies have been released intact. The Chinese release of this film was called Era Of Vampires. That's the one that GC should stock.
Sisyphus	post #4  on February 2, 2004 - 12:59 PM PST   I've been a fan of Hong Kong vampires ever since I first saw Encounter of the Spooky Kind Part 2 over a dozen years ago, so I hopped (groan) right on this request. Here's the story. We will have more copies of Mr. Vampire and Mr. Vampire 3 shortly. I will also order Mr. Vampire 4, Mr. Vampire 1992 (aka: Mr. V 5), and Exorcist Master as soon as I have a big enough order to meet the minimum requirements of my HK distributor. As you have already discovered, many of these are not listed in our system and will have to be added. Now for the bad news: None of my distributors list Era of Vampires, but I'll keep looking. Also, Encounter of the Spooky Kind 2 has only been released on VHS and laserdisc - if I ever find a dvd release of it, I'll pick it up for GreenCine. I haven't read the HK horror primer yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Cheers, Patrick GC Inventory Mgr.
IWhitney	post #5  on February 2, 2004 - 1:25 PM PST   > On February 2, 2004 - 12:59 PM PST Sisyphus wrote: > --------------------------------- > I've been a fan of Hong Kong vampires ever since I first saw Encounter of the Spooky Kind Part 2 over a dozen years ago, so I hopped (groan) right on this request. Here's the story. We will have more copies of Mr. Vampire and Mr. Vampire 3 shortly. I will also order Mr. Vampire 4, Mr. Vampire 1992 (aka: Mr. V 5), and Exorcist Master as soon as I have a big enough order to meet the minimum requirements of my HK distributor. As you have already discovered, many of these are not listed in our system and will have to be added. Now for the bad news: None of my distributors list Era of Vampires, but I'll keep looking. Also, Encounter of the Spooky Kind 2 has only been released on VHS and laserdisc - if I ever find a dvd release of it, I'll pick it up for GreenCine. I haven't read the HK horror primer yet, but I'm looking forward to it. > I would love to see Encounter 2 and I don't understand the lack of DVD. I also have never seen Era of Vampires on DVD, which confuses me even further. Since it's new, a DVD should be easy to find. One title I forgot to mention, Vampire Buster. It's not carried by HKflix, but it is carried by Five Star Laser.
ABetterton	post #6  on February 3, 2004 - 12:23 PM PST   Did Ian Whitney leave Twins Effect out of his discussion?
IWhitney	post #7  on February 3, 2004 - 1:12 PM PST   > On February 3, 2004 - 12:23 PM PST ABetterton wrote: > --------------------------------- > Did Ian Whitney leave Twins Effect out of his discussion? > --------------------------------- I mentioned it at the end as an example of HK replacing Chinese vampires with more traditional vampires. It's supposed to be released in the states as The Vampire Effect, although I expect it will go straight to DVD.