This Spectober, we pay tribute to one of the most prolific actors, stunt performers, and vampire hunters that Hong Kong ever produced: Lam Ching-ying.
Lam began his career as a stunt performer and martial arts coach for Shaw Brothers Studio before (as the story goes) a chance encounter with Bruce Lee— in which Lam challenged Lee to hit him as hard as he could, resulting in Lam being sent flying across the room— led to Lee hiring him as his personal assistant, and later a performer and co-choreographer on titles like FIST OF FURY, ENTER THE DRAGON, and GAME OF DEATH.
Following Lee’s passing, Lam joined up with Sammo Hung Stuntmen’s Association where his talents as a choreographer and martial artist were put to excellent use, resulting in more on-screen appearances and heftier roles, and culminating in Lam being hired as the lead role of the Taoist priest, Master Ko, in the Hung-produced MR. VAMPIRE (1985). MR. VAMPIRE became a sensation in Hong Kong and, combined with his appearances in several other box office heavyweights from that year including MY LUCKY STARS and HEART OF THE DRAGON, solidified Lam as a bona fide movie star.
In the years that followed, Lam built a cottage industry out of playing similar Taoist priest roles both within and beyond the MR. VAMPIRE sequels and spin-offs, often only appearing for a scene or two under a new moniker (Uncle Feng, Uncle Nine, Uncle Hua, Uncle Ying, Uncle Master, and sometimes just “Taoist priest”), but always donning the same trademark yellow robes, hat, and bagua insignia that became his signature look.
But Lam’s success was a double-edged sword, and he would eventually grow weary of the character and the typecasting that came with it. By the mid-90s, with the Hong Kong film industry already in decline, Lam had mostly pivoted to television roles and all but retired from feature film work upon completion of his passion project, a big screen adaptation of THE GREEN HORNET (1994) intended as a tribute to his close friend and mentor, Bruce Lee. Lam passed away in 1997 following an intense private battle with cancer, but his legacy in the Hong Kong film industry lived on, with his name and likeness still synonymous with Taoist ritual, tradition, and vampire busting of all kinds to this day.
THE MUSICAL VAMPIRE (音樂殭屍)
Dir. Wilson Tong Wai-shing, 1992
Hong Kong. 93 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 – 10 PM
An American mad scientist chemically reanimates a corpse, turning it into a superpowered jiangshi (“hopping vampire”) immune to most of your typical exorcism charms. As the jiangshi begins to wreak havoc on a local town, the town’s mayor calls on a Taoist priest and his two disciples to help stop the creature. Soon they discover that the only thing able to tame the creature’s aggressive power is the sound of sweet, sweet music.
THE MUSICAL VAMPIRE is one of the more peculiar entries in the MR. VAMPIRE Extended Universe, with Lam’s Taoist priest character not only playing second fiddle to Stanley Fung’s lead priest, but also taking on a much more broadly comedic tone than in his earlier appearances as the character. And yet, the pleasure of watching Lam try and imitate the mannerisms and language of an undead corpse is still more than enough to offset the incessant whistling of “London Bridge Is Falling Down”.
DEMONIC UMBRELLA (追魂伞)
aka MIDNIGHT CONJURE (零時十分)
Dir. Mao Chiang-pang, 1991
Taiwan/Hong Kong. 87 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 – 5 PM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 – 5 PM
In the Warring States era of ancient China, martial artist Long Wu competes with his brother for the title of “Best of the Best”. He is ultimately victorious, but in the process draws the ire of his jilted ex-lover, the vicious enchantress Sherry, who frames him for the murder of his brother and Long’s wife, Su. While awaiting execution, Long learns he must transplant his soul into (*checks notes*) an umbrella so that he can exact his revenge on Sherry some 3,000 years later.
Fast forward a few millennia, and the reincarnated Sherry is now a Hong Kong drug queenpin keeping the reincarnated Su under her watchful eye. But when Su comes into possession of the (*checks notes*) umbrella containing the soul of her past self’s husband, the pernicious parasol sets off a chain of events that, with the help of an intrepid police officer and a mysterious Taoist priest, will take down Sherry once and for all.
Where the other two films in this series feature Lam in a more central role, DEMONIC UMBRELLA aka MIDNIGHT CONJURE epitomizes the “walk-on” nature of many of his Taoist priest appearances from the early-90s. Despite his top billing, Lam only appears in a handful of scenes in which characters literally leave the action to consult with him at another location. And yet, Lam’s presence still looms large over the entire film, with the mysterious “Taoist priest” figure referenced as the driving force behind several of the plot’s developments, building anticipation towards the reveal of this mysterious figure and making his appearances all the more satisfying.
THE CHINESE GHOSTBUSTER (鍾馗嫁妹)
Dir. Wu Ma, 1994
Hong Kong. 87 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27 – 10 PM
Ghostly siblings, Chung Kuey & Ah-May, venture out into the realm of the living to search for a suitable husband for Ah-May, in the hopes of bettering their chances for reincarnation. After finding a suitable candidate in the form of an unbeknownst-to-them gigolo named Simon, the pair mercilessly pursue him until he’s forced to seek out the help of a Taoist priest to exorcize the demons in his life.
When there’s something strange in the realm of the living, who you gonna call? Lam Ching-ying of course… even though he clearly doesn’t want to take your calls anymore. By this point in Lam’s career, he’d mostly grown weary of the Taoist priest character, but Lam was still willing to don the yellow robes twice more for veteran martial arts director and former Shaw Bros. mainstay, Wu Ma, in a pair of supernatural action comedies.
The two films, THE CHINESE GHOSTBUSTER and EXORCIST MASTER (the latter screened as part of our 2023 Fist Fright Marathon) would mark the last time Lam would appear on the big screen as his Taoist priest character, and curiously, both films provide a more in-depth look at Taoist ritual and practice than most of his previous appearances. CHINESE GHOSTBUSTER is largely a riff on the Taoist folk legend of Zhong Kui, a mythological demon slayer known as the “King of Ghosts”, while EXORCIST MASTER operates on a playful contrast between the religious traditions of its two leads, a Taoist priest played by Lam, and a Christian priest played by Wu. Together the films offer a fittingly spiritual coda to the career of a performer whose likeness inadvertently became synonymous with the Taoism itself.