Tonight I’m watching MR VAMPIRE (1985) while writing. It’s one of the movies that I’ve seen so many times that I can multitask why it plays, but I have to be careful as its very easy to drop everything and just watch the bouncing and the kicking and the punching and the biting.

The British television station Channel Four in the 80s was a godsend to a young bookish kid growing up in Lancashire, but desperate for a different window to gaze out of. It introduced me to both Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung and a bunch of genre movies that I still rewatch some thirty odd years later.

A few years ago Jess and I went to Hong Kong and thanks to these movies and a later love of Heroic Bloodshed it felt like coming home in many ways. If you haven’t seen a Jiangshi movie then you’re in for a real treat and this is the one that launched an entirely new genre of comedy Kung-fu horror films that are a delight to discover.

If you’re already a fan of the genre then you should also check out RIGOR MORTIS (2013).  Juno Mack’s movie updates the concept and gives it a little more bite.