Not to be mistaken with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters” follows a group of… well… vampire hunters hot on the trail of a master vampire in Ancient China. Our four main hunters go ‘undercover’ as it were as servants in the house of a rich businessman, around whose home seems to be an unusual amount of undead activity. Finding out just who controls these undead zombies and where to find the master vampire is up to our intrepid heroes. I know there are going to be a bunch of you out there going “Tsui Hark? What the heck is a Tsui Hark?” To fill you in on a little basic background, Tsui Hark is a renowned writer/director of Martial Arts Fantasy films. He is to Hong Kong, what Dario Argento is to Italy, or George Romero is to the U.S. His films offer up a lot of high action fighting, mixed with gore and horror. Both of which you get in “Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters.”

If there is any problem to be had with the movie, it is only in fulfilling audience’s expectations. Those familiar with these types of films, which differ greatly from American horror movies, will love the visual style as well as the rich story. Audiences, who have never seen a movie of this type, may find it silly or hard to follow. This is in no way the fault of the movie, but stems more from a lack of an understanding by that audience of the cultural background of the film.

Though I have seen few movies of this type myself, I was fortunate to have grown up as an avid reader. I read all kinds of books, but horror was always a favorite. During my youth I picked up a lot of books that dealt with the myths and legends of different countries and so I knew that Asian vampires were very different from their American counterparts. Here in the States, vampires are often shown as being suave and debonair, while in Asia they tend to be more monstrous, lack strong verbal skills, and are often pictured as being rotting and festering in appearance.

The DVD release of “Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters” had one misleading facet to it. The back cover mentions that the action is in the vein of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” And while the some of the action scenes utilize the same type of fighting style, that’s where the comparison ends. This is a wholly different type of film. Audiences expecting a beautiful and lush love story like “Crouching Tiger” will get a totally different experience.

The quality of the transfer on this DVD is unbelievable. I expected to see a scratchy or grainy picture, but every frame was amazing as to the color and contrast. The colors were very rich and deep and added to what was already some impressive cinematography. The audio is very well presented as well, with enough of the ambient sound effects filling the room, while never drowning out the dialogue.

Should you decide to give it a try, and I recommend you do to give your movie watching life a little variety, be sure to watch it with the Cantonese audio track turned on. Use the English sub-titles to keep you up to speed. Though the English dub is pretty well done, it always loses something in the translation. Whether it be a bad choice in voice casting, or just the line delivery, it can sometimes lower the quality of an actor’s performance, much like a bad editing job.

For some of the reasons I mentioned above, “Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters” will certainly not appeal to everyone, which is a shame. It’s a very well made and entertaining film that I would hate to see get lost on American audiences just because they lack the cultural education necessary to appreciate it.

Directed by: Wellson Chin
Starring: Ken Chang, Michael Chow, Lam Suet, Chan Kwok Kwan, Anya, Yu Rong Guang, Horace Lee, Wai Shing, Ji Chun Hua
Specifications: Widescreen, Chinese (Cantonese) 5.1, English 5.1, French Dolby Surround
Studio: Sony Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 6/17/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (Violence and Gore)
Website

We'll give Tsui Harks: Vampire Hunters an A.