Mr. Vampire 2 (1986)

I wanted to hop away from this one

Aside from also starring Lam Ching Ying and featuring hopping vampires, Mr. Vampire 2 had little to do with the original Mr. Vampire. Mr. Vampire 2 seemed to think if 2 Idiot assistants were good in the first film, 3 or more would be even better. The relentless slapstick comedy dragged this movie down for me.

Grave robbers come across 3 Jiangshi in a cave and take them back to their lab. They believe the hopping vampires will fetch a good price. In the process of transporting the little boy vampire, his talisman comes loose and he escapes. A little girl finds him and makes friends with him. The mother and father vampires are set loose first by Idiot #1 and then again with Idiot #3. “Hilarity” ensues.

The humor in this film didn’t work for me. Wanting to molest a frozen female vampire wasn’t humorous to me. A snake going up Idiot #1’s pants or Idiot #2 keeping a frog in his mouth didn’t tickle my funny bone. And once again a snake was killed, this time its heart was eaten by Idiot #2 as a tonic. Idiot #3 tried to convince Lam Ching Ying to let him marry his daughter by telling him he was already banging her. Who does that? How many times could people stupidly free the vampires while hamming it up for the camera? Each “hilarious” fight took around 10 minutes. Another thing that took away from my enjoyment was the terrible dubbing for the children. The little boy vampire was cute and because he couldn’t talk, didn’t have the bad dubbing by an adult. Despite the cute little vampire and the children taking him with them on outings, this shouldn’t be mistaken for a children’s show though it felt like they were trying to lean in that direction.

The best part of this film was Lam Ching Ying and his unibrow who appeared to be the only adult in the room. Moon Lee who was featured in the first film had a couple of small scenes in this sequel. Wu Ma made a brief appearance as a neighbor. James Tien who played in many kung fu movies showed up as an inept police captain. The three trouble-makers had me rooting for the hoppers who were far less annoying. The only other bright spot was when Lam Ching Ying’s character rattled off his credentials, such as---his master Sammo had Spooky Encounters and Lam had caught a Mr. Vampire last year. Speaking of Sammo, I missed the kung fu that took place in Mr. Vampire (1985).

Mr. Vampire 2 had possibilities by being set in the then present 1986. If you enjoy Hong Kong slapstick comedy you will likely enjoy this film far more than I did. I won’t be crypt-ic, there was nothing I could sink my teeth into and enjoy.

6 October 2024

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