Crazy kung-fu horror films
Some of the strangest films I've seen come from China/Hong Kong/Taiwan. Mad magicians in crazed combat, hopping vampires and zombies in need of a roundhouse to the kisser.
About the list: There is a rough grouping a work and within them titles are ordered chronologically. We start with the precursors (coming in two waves during the 30s and the 50s, inspired by Dracula movies by Todd Browning and Hammer, respectively), setting the stage for the really boom which started with Black Magic (which is the first of a set of three films, with one pseudo-sequel thrown in), then we move onto the supernatural kung-fu films that helped inspire the hopping vampire (jiang shi) craze, before throwing in some more off offerings (some of those without a lot of kung-fu make up for it in the horror).
References: Spooky Encounters: A Gwailo's Guide to Hong Kong Horror by Daniel O'Brien (2003), the best guide to this subject.
See also: ninja films and Asian zombie films. In addition Eternal Evils of Asia list lists occult horror films from southern Asia and Witches With Flying Heads has a rather specific subset of such films.
There is also Ghoul Sex Squad, an adult hopping vampire film that adding to this list causes problems.
About the list: There is a rough grouping a work and within them titles are ordered chronologically. We start with the precursors (coming in two waves during the 30s and the 50s, inspired by Dracula movies by Todd Browning and Hammer, respectively), setting the stage for the really boom which started with Black Magic (which is the first of a set of three films, with one pseudo-sequel thrown in), then we move onto the supernatural kung-fu films that helped inspire the hopping vampire (jiang shi) craze, before throwing in some more off offerings (some of those without a lot of kung-fu make up for it in the horror).
References: Spooky Encounters: A Gwailo's Guide to Hong Kong Horror by Daniel O'Brien (2003), the best guide to this subject.
See also: ninja films and Asian zombie films. In addition Eternal Evils of Asia list lists occult horror films from southern Asia and Witches With Flying Heads has a rather specific subset of such films.
There is also Ghoul Sex Squad, an adult hopping vampire film that adding to this list causes problems.
List activity
29K views
• 26 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
286 titles
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerCheh ChangStarsPeter CushingDavid ChiangJulie EgeIn China, Professor Van Helsing helps eight kung fu-trained siblings reclaim their ancestral mountain village, now the domain of seven powerful vampires and their army of undead slaves.Just here for the thumbnail.
- DirectorKung-Leung YeungStarsYeung Yet-IngTip-Ying WuFei-Fei ChaoBased on the Chinese, Qing Dynasty legend of the Jiangshi, which first appeared in print in 1789 by writer Ji Xiaolan, this film tells the tale of a dead man who returns from the grave to avenge his brother's betrayal.aka Midnight Vampire
According to Lisa Odham Stokes' Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema: "The earliest vampire movie made in Hong Kong was Yeung Kung-leung's Midnight Vampire (1936), but it doesn't appear to be of the hopping-variety, at least according to Jess Nevins:Following the showing, in China in 1935, of Tod Browning’s 1931 film adaptation of Dracula, Western–style vampires (as opposed to the traditional “hopping” vampires of Chinese legend) became a popular subject in Chinese film. In Yeung Kung Leong’s film Wuyi Jiangshi (1936) a father dies, leaving an unclear will, and his two sons and his daughter fight over the inheritance. The older brother sets a trap and burns the younger brother and his sister to death and then throws the bodies into the sea. The following midnight the pair come back to life as vampires and kill their murderous brother.
- DirectorWeibang Ma-Xuaka Tales of a Corpse-Ridden Old House or Walking Corpse in an Old House (hence the "shi" for "corpse")
One I'm flagging up for investigation, it was made the year after the director made what is widely considered to be the first Chinese horror movie, a genre this apparently fits into as well, although details of the plot are difficult to find (well I can't find any but it might be it is in Chinese). At this time quite a few of these films were more inspired by Universal's monster horror, although quite what might inspire this is unclear - it sounds like a zombie film but, if so, it'd be the fifth or sixth ever made, which would be quite good going. - StarsManli XuPing Yaoaka The Three-Thousand-Year-Old Vampire
In the film Sanqian Nian Didi Jiangshi (1939), a three thousand year–old female vampire rules a subterranean kingdom full of demons and sends them out onto the surface world to terrorize and conquer humanity.
http://www.apex-magazine.com/women-in-pre-1947-chinese-and-indian-horror-fiction-and-film/ - DirectorWai-Man LeongStarsYin PakWu YungYik-Chi Tseaka Vampires of the Haunted Mansion
In Leong Wai–man’s Guiwu Jiangshi (1939) a group of beautiful women vampires roam the streets of Hong Kong, attacking and killing innocent and unwary men.
http://www.apex-magazine.com/women-in-pre-1947-chinese-and-indian-horror-fiction-and-film/ - DirectorYin FokToi WongStarsNancy Wan-Seung ChanYik-Chi TseKat Ngan-Tsoiaka The Walking Corpse
In Fok Yin and Wong Toi’s Wanli Xinghsi (1939) a Chinese zombie roams the Hunan countryside in search of beautiful young women who he can sling over his shoulders, take to his lair, and eat.
http://www.apex-magazine.com/women-in-pre-1947-chinese-and-indian-horror-fiction-and-film/ - DirectorToi WongStarsYin PakWu YungMei-Lun Wuaka The Ghost Catcher
Features an early Chinese ghostbuster:The films became so numerous that some directors began making movies that commented on the horror genre itself. Wong Toi's The Ghost Catcher (1939) is about Zhong Kui, an eccentric, aging, crotchety "ghost catcher" who makes a living by traveling from town to town catching bothersome or evil ghosts and demons with the help of a magic sword and sack. In The Ghost Catcher, the demons he catches had appeared in previous films, including the Coffin Ghost, from Yeung Tin-lok's Spirit of the Coffin (1939), and the Spirit of the Broom, from Wang Fuqing's The Spirit of the Broom (1939).
http://archive.org/stream/coilhouse05/Coilhouse_Issue_05_2010-06_djvu.txt - DirectorChing DoeStarsLei ZhaoMing YuKuan-Chun Chuaka Beyond the Grave
Shaw Brothers' first venture into horror - DirectorKung-Leung YeungStarsKam-Tong ChanPik-Wan TangBik-Ying Chengaka The Voyage of the Dead
This is one of the earliest hopping vampire film, seemingly predated only by Dr Li and the Mummy (1940), at least as far as I can tell at the time of writing. It is certainly the earliest one that has survived to the present day (and the earliest such film to survive on this list.
There were earlier HK vampire films, like 1936's "Midnight Vampire" and in 1939 "The Three-Thousand-Year-Old Vampire" and "Vampires of the Haunted Mansion," but, as mentioned, these seem to be more influenced by the Universal Dracula films. - DirectorTian-Lin WangStarsChing ChungPeter Chen HouYi-Ming Changaka Corpse-Drivers of Xiangxi
More early jiangshi. - DirectorHung YinShilin ZhuStarsChuan-Chuan ChenYuen KaoHua Jiangaka The Living Corpse
More jiangshi. - DirectorSze-Luk ChowStarsMing ChaoChing ChungWei Hongaka The Vengeance of the Vampire
The HKMDB has a fascinating excerpt from a book about the film and the story that inspired it, which sounds like something somewhere in-between a vampire and a zombie, the vengeful dead, which is close to the original folklore tales (both in China and the European revenant).
This piece has more, suggesting there are also elements of western vampire movies that have sneaked in:Vampires made a comeback after the second world war, inspired in part by the worldwide box office success of the 1958 version of Dracula by Britain's Hammer Film Productions. The stake that Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) pounded through the villain's heart found its Hong Kong equivalent the following year in a similar scene in The Vengeance of the Vampire.
http://www.scmp.com/article/664275/film-studies-bloodsucker-cinema - DirectorWen YiStarsKitty Ting Haoaka Zombie in a Haunted House
Plot synopsis here:
http://www.abandomoviez.net/db/pelicula.php?film=27435 - DirectorSun-Fung LeeStarsYanfen FangFung FungChing Leeaka The Beautiful Ghost's Grievance
- DirectorHan Hsiang LiStarsBetty Loh TiLei ZhaoRhoqing TangA young scholar spends the night in a creepy temple that is said to be haunted. He doesn't believe in the rumors, but after running into a Taoist swordsman, he meets a beautiful lady ghost.aka The Enchanting Shadow
Shaw Brothers' first success in the horror field. - DirectorChiu-Feng YuanStarsBetty Loh TiLei ZhaoPaul Chang Chung
- DirectorTit LeeStarsYin PakWood-Yau CheungMan-Lei Wongaka Vampire Woman
- DirectorChiu-Feng YuanStarsBetty Loh TiLei ZhaoPaul Chang Chung
- DirectorFong PauStarsHong ZhuYuen KaoHau-Yee Chan
- DirectorChun YenStarsHsi ChangHsiung ChaoKuang-Chao Chiangaka Lady Jade Locket
- DirectorKing HuHsing LeeHan Hsiang LiStarsCheng ChangFu-Kan ChangMei-Yao ChangThis movie contains four separate stories, each by a different director. They are all ghost stories, including themes such as death wishes, prison, and alcoholism. Good and evil women play prominent roles in the various tales.
- DirectorFelix VillarChi-Lien YuStarsAlex Tzi-Fei LungRosemarie GilEtang DischerA Kung Fu master battles Bruka the evil snake queen with her army of snakes and savage little people.
- DirectorHsueh-Li PaoStarsHan ChinIvy Ling PoChih Hsien PoTwo swordsmen search for their missing brother. What is the connection between his disappearsnce and the evil Chang and his hunchback assistant? Who are the mysterious sisters being carried in coffins by their zombie cohorts? What is the secret of the sisters 'Finger of Doom' Kung fu?aka Finger of Doom
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerCheh ChangStarsPeter CushingDavid ChiangJulie EgeIn China, Professor Van Helsing helps eight kung fu-trained siblings reclaim their ancestral mountain village, now the domain of seven powerful vampires and their army of undead slaves.aka The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires
Coming full circle, after earlier HK horror being influenced by Hammer, the Shaw Brothers entered into a co-production with them, a move that really kickstarted the modern era of modern Hong Kong horror movies. There isn't much kung-fu but it has Christopher Lee as Van Helsing, Dracula, Chinese vampires and a zombie army, which does result in a mess with neither side able to bring their A game. - DirectorFeng-Pan YaoStarsMeng ChinFeng KouPing An