A good entertainment
Era of Vampires is not the revolution of a kind, Ghost Kung Fu Comedy, but a refreshing alternative in these movie times a little too formatted. One doesn’t find in this Tsui Hark production the hysterical madness of the beginning of the nineties, but a little nevertheless… Actually Era of Vampires is a synthesis, for small (very) budget, of the Film Workshop style before and after Legend of Zu. If the technical capabilities are not, obviously, not raised, these weaknesses are compensated by the visual inventiveness of the sfx and a dark photography (the action does without night primarily)… without forgetting a treatment of the colors which comes from the graphic tools of this same Legend of Zu.
The rate/rhythm is thus constant without being too insane, the martial combat are present and properly regulated by a come new choreographer, the intrigue is an interesting balance between Cantonese comedy (software) and environment (timidly) more serious, some images a little gores return also the result more "fun".
An amusing movie which arrives with a few years of delay (but before Twins Effect), representing a cinema which is not entitled any more to the word in the ex British colony, an alternative which because of its delay is nothing any more but one dead end. But there are still pretty dead ends in HK cinema…
Not really original, but very well done
In a few words, Era of Vampires is a very good mix of old fashioned vampire kung-fu movies with modern special effects, and without the typical humor. Think about a dark Mr Vampire with a very good technical level, and you are close to it.
The action part is very decent, with the usual wirework and various weapons. All the sword fights are fast and well done. The story is more complicated than what I was expected, and the technical side is above the usual Hong-Kong standards. The cinematography by Herman Yau is particularly well done, with a lot of green and blue lightings. The casting doesn't really contain any big names, but all the actors delivers very decent performances, the only problem being that there isn't really a leading character in this story.
An interesting aspect could be the lack of rythm, replaced by a strange atmosphere. Those who were expecting an actioner will be disappointed. Instead, you have this strange house, with a very frightening Yu Rong-Guang as the man of the house. Quite original, even if the tension is never as high as expected. But at least, there is a will to try something.
So overall, it's a very nice modern version of the chinese vampire story. It's not really original, but it's the first time that chinese vampires are so frightening. It really deserves more than the poor singapourian VCD we used to review the movie, or the very nice US DVD, but which is missing 18 minutes, and lacking the original conclusion, replaced by a simple image missing all the original mood of the ending. Sad...
