Profile
Movie : The Era of Vampires / Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters
Chinese : 千年僵尸王
Director : Wellson Chin
Writer : Tsui Hark
Producer : Wouter Barendrecht, Satoru Iseki, Nansun Shi, Hrrorark Tsui, Michael J. Werner
Cinematographer : Kwong-hung Chan, Sunny Tsang Tat Sze, Herman Yau
Release Date : May 23, 2003
Runtime : 90 min.
Language : Cantonese, Mandarin
Genre : Martial Arts, Vampire, Horror
Country : Hong Kong
Cast : Ken Chang, Michael Chow Man-Kin, Lam Suet, Kwok-Kwan Chan, Anya
Plot
In an earlier time of mankind’s existence, strange and unknown forces
ruled the planet and mere mortals were the subjects and victims of a
breed of fearless and terrifying fighters. Heroes became ghosts and
monks served both the powers of good and evil.
To the ancient Chinese, this was a time when evilness prevailed
over goodness and vampires turned their special abilities into
domination of the living. It was a well-known fact that certain monks
could revive people from the dead and bring them back as vampires who
them roamed across the expanses of China looking for human victims. If a
hapless mortal encountered one of these vampires they would themselves
be turned into “the living dead”. If the truth be told, if can be said
that hell reigned on Earth during the Era of Vampires.
During this time, one of the most powerful heroes, the Master of
Invisible Weapons and four of his most loyal followers known only by
their fighting names : Swift Sabre, Deadly Dagger, Killer Hand and
Shadowless Kick chose to retreat from the non stop world of fighting in a
destined-to-be futile effort to lead simple and quiet lives in a remote
village.
Their plan was to develop a new method of preserving corpses in
wax instead of allowing them to rot, as was the custom of the time.
When the wife of the Master if Invincible Weapons unexpectedly died, the
four followers applied their new technique to her body. However, the
girl’s father objected to this, believing that her spirit could never
rest. Enraged, he engaged the services of a monk who was passing through
the village in order to make things right with the body of his
daughter. This monk was also transporting a group of vampires that had
to be returned to their final resting places.
What happened next is that when the monk applied his curses, the
deceased relatives of the Master if Invincible Weapons (who had also
previously been preserved in wax) came back to ‘life’. A hellish battle
ensued and the Master was poisoned by his own vampire relatives and
became one himself.
As it happened, the vampires that were already being transported
by the travelling monk were no ordinary vampires either. All were
extraordinarily evil and skilful fighters who had met their ends at a
recent martial arts tournament and so they were full of vengeance-just
looking to take care of unfinished business. These powerful vampires
overwhelmed the weak monk’s curses and admonitions and soon they escaped
his reins and ran uncontrolled throughout the village, destroying
everything and everyone with their terrible rage.
Faced with the terror of Vampire mayhem, it took all the guile
and skill that Swift Sabre, Deadly Dagger, Killer Hand and Shadowless
Kick could muster to stay alive. They hid here and there, surviving with
seconds to spare. Attempts to escape from the village were futile for
the violent vampires had infested the surrounding wilderness and blocked
all the possible escape routes. They had only one hope for survival –
to transform back into the heroes they once were, turn the small village
into a fighting arena, and use all the strength and skills they could
summon to slay the vampires.
Subtitle : Not Available