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Anyone else a fan of these films? I was introduced to them as a child. They seemed to enjoy some mainstream appreciation over here in the 90s, but now they've just become a minor cult thing.
The Chinese horror boom really began in the 70s and early 80s with Encounters of the Spooky Kind and Mr Vampire. These movies generally tended to differ from the earlier western horror movies in the following ways.
Vampires and monsters tended to be uglier and more animalistic. Chinese Vampires also moved by hopping up and down on both feet, never spoke and had their own specific weaknesses that were often quite surreal.
Chinese horror movies also tended to merge comedy and horror together on average more than ours.
They were also straight up action movies. Now in the decades since our horror movies have moved into that territory too like Blade, but pre 70s I don't think you can say our horror movies were action films.
Chinese genre movies also tended to have stronger roles for women than our horror movies pre the 70s did too. The likes Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh really flourished or got their start in these films. The Chinese female genre characters also helped to pave the way for many western female characters too.
Xena for instance, the greatest of all female heroes was directly inspired by The Bride With White Hair. (The famous gauntlet scene with Xena is ripped straight from The Bride With White Hair.)
There are hundreds of great films to choose from, but my personal recommendations would be.
Mr Vampire
IMO Lam Ching Ying who plays the title character (nicknamed Mr Vampire because he hunts them. Yeah its confusing.) Is as good an on screen Vampire hunter as Peter Cushing or Sarah Michelle Gellar IMO.
The Heroic Trio
Commander Maxil will LOVE this film LOL, though I'm not loaning him my copy. Its a total cheese fest (not surprisingly it was also a key influence on Xena too.) This movie has 3 of the greatest female leads of all time who all compliment each other so perfectly. The sequel sadly isn't up to scratch, but the first movie is a camp classic.
The Bride with White Hair
Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind
The Chinese horror boom really began in the 70s and early 80s with Encounters of the Spooky Kind and Mr Vampire. These movies generally tended to differ from the earlier western horror movies in the following ways.
Vampires and monsters tended to be uglier and more animalistic. Chinese Vampires also moved by hopping up and down on both feet, never spoke and had their own specific weaknesses that were often quite surreal.
Chinese horror movies also tended to merge comedy and horror together on average more than ours.
They were also straight up action movies. Now in the decades since our horror movies have moved into that territory too like Blade, but pre 70s I don't think you can say our horror movies were action films.
Chinese genre movies also tended to have stronger roles for women than our horror movies pre the 70s did too. The likes Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh really flourished or got their start in these films. The Chinese female genre characters also helped to pave the way for many western female characters too.
Xena for instance, the greatest of all female heroes was directly inspired by The Bride With White Hair. (The famous gauntlet scene with Xena is ripped straight from The Bride With White Hair.)
There are hundreds of great films to choose from, but my personal recommendations would be.
Mr Vampire
IMO Lam Ching Ying who plays the title character (nicknamed Mr Vampire because he hunts them. Yeah its confusing.) Is as good an on screen Vampire hunter as Peter Cushing or Sarah Michelle Gellar IMO.
The Heroic Trio
Commander Maxil will LOVE this film LOL, though I'm not loaning him my copy. Its a total cheese fest (not surprisingly it was also a key influence on Xena too.) This movie has 3 of the greatest female leads of all time who all compliment each other so perfectly. The sequel sadly isn't up to scratch, but the first movie is a camp classic.
The Bride with White Hair
Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind