Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: The infamous Godfrey Ho, plus Vinik Pakdivijit
Starring: A bunch of random unknowns w/ fake names, plus the likes of Lak Apichat, Manop Aswathep, and Sorapong Chatree
From: Filmark International Ltd.
Yep, this is a Godfrey Ho movie, alright.
As typical, it was a messageboard discussion that led me down this path. While I had seen Mr. Ho's “work” before, that was only one random film so long ago I don't even remember its name. That person on the board mentioned seeing something called NINJA KNIGHT THUNDER FOX. Apparently that is known here on Letterboxd as Ninja Empire but Ho's filmography is a real mess so trying to figure out what's what is an impossible task best described by me as “like Sisyphus trying to push that boulder up the mountain.” The reason why Ho's movies are infamous: not always but often he “borrowed” footage from other Asian movies and he combined it with footage he shot on his own, nevermind the footage not having anything to do w/ each other, let alone it even looking alike.
This is one of Godfrey Ho's most well-known efforts; Robo Vampire must be a distinctive title.. for me it is at least. This uses footage from the 1984 Thai picture Paa Lohgan, where a woman undercover is captured by drug dealers so a motley crew has to recuse her. That is spliced into a bizarre fever dream that Ho filmed, where a dude is killed so he becomes a ripoff of RoboCop... wearing an outfit that looks as if your child made a RoboCop outfit for school! He does battle against heels who use Jiangshi (commonly known in the West as “Chinese hopping vampires”) to transport drugs-no, really-and in a decision best described as “demented”, one of the Jiangshi not only has a gorilla's head for Lord knows what reason, but also a dead Caucasian woman who is now “a white ghost” and for part of the finale she's topless!
It should go without saying that the end product was not only incoherent but also a bizarre acid-trip into madness. Be that as it may, I also was amused enough by all the gunfire, explosions, insanity and RoboCop vs. vampire action to say it was OK. As strange as Godfrey Ho's typical movie was, this formula was successful enough to where he has at least a few dozen credits to his name. After all, the footage he filmed alone was inserted into multiple films-poor Richard Harrison did a bunch of European movies way back when but once he did a few films for Ho, that footage was spliced into so much that his reputation was sullied and he was forced to retire. Judging Robo Vampire on its own “merits”, the movie is alright. Those that love such low-budget fare, it's a must-see and thankfully for everyone the movie is easy to find on YouTube.
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