An ancestor of the prestigious Yam family(Wah Yuen) rises from his earthen tomb a walking corpse(a bloodthirsty vampire) and a village is in a state of horror and panic. Uncle Yam is the first human victim, his own father the murderer and Ting-Ting(Moon Lee) is left alone. Mr. Wai(Billy Lau), inept head of police, is to lead the investigation and arrests Master Gau(Ching-Ying Lam)just because he has the longest fingernails in the village, the wound on Uncle Yam's neck torn open through the use of such sharp "weapons." Ingredients for "stifling" a vampire are sticky rice, chicken blood, black ink, and yellow paper with a specific spell written as a means to keep the undead at bay(to protect from the corpse's sting). Wai, an imbecilic buffoon, will pull the paper(placed on the head of Uncle Yam as to keep him from moving)from his Uncle's forehead and release him from his slumber. This results in a slapsticky action scene where Wai and Chou(Siu-hou Chin) must outwit vampire Uncle Yam seeking blood, as Master Gau tries to help them from his prison cell. After this is a zany scene where Grandpa Yam comes after Ting-Ting with Master Gau's servant Man Choi(Ricky Hui; blessed with a host of funny expressions which should tickle the funny bone) shaking in his shoes, serving as her cowardly protector, which includes an ingenious use of a bamboo stick. Unlike typical vampire films, if you hold your breath you can briefly bide your time as the undead ghoul stops in his tracks(Granpa Vampire is blind, it seems) wondering where human victims are..but, you can only hold your breath so long. Unlike Uncle Yam, Grandpa Vampire isn't as easy to subdue, even the usually effective use of ink string can not do the trick. Not even the village police with all their rifles can bring Grandpa Vampire down. Also interesting is how the vampires can poison their prey in this movie, through the use of their nails as in the case of Man who is nearly killed when Grandpa Vampire stabs him in his arms while holding him in a death grip. Meanwhile Chou doesn't realize that a female "walking corpse", Jade(Pauline Wong, very, very beautiful)is the one who he falls in love with(and vice versa), but Master Chau notices a bite mark on his neck, understanding that he has to come to his servant's rescue. MR. VAMPIRE is juvenile and cartoony, plays best as a horror comedy for kids. The actors are animated and theatrical. And you get plenty of martial arts, wire-fu, and exciting stunts, particularly in the grand finale when Master, Chou, Man, Wai, and Ting-Ting must band together if they are to rid themselves of the menace, Grandpa Vampire, who will stop at nothing to get its fill.

Personally, I think that everyone should see Mr. Vampire, if only so that they can claim to have seen a kung fu zombie comedy. But, in my opinion, this is almost more of a Chinese Ghostbusters with some kung fu sprinkled in than a kung fu movie, which was somewhat of a disappointment for me. The story is fun, fresh and full of more than just zombies (although I won't reveal any surprises). The action, when it occurs is fully justified, which is something I always like to see, and is choreographed quite well by Lam Ching-ying. The comedy is somewhat hit or miss, but it didn't bother me very much. I had a lot of fun but I came away wanting more action.

If you feel the same way, try Encounters of a Spooky Kind, which has all the zombies you love, but with more kung fu.