Reviewed by: cal42 Date: 02/20/2009 Summary: No vampires. But still better than part 2... A charlatan Taoist priest (Richard Ng) uses a couple of “stooge” ghosts to con the locals with his ghostbusting ability. Encountering a town where the population are living in fear of a gang of supernatural bandits, he encounters the real deal in Uncle Nine (Lam Ching-Ying – as if there could be another!) and gets embroiled in their struggle against the black magic foes. Firstly, and this needs to be mentioned above everything else, there are precisely zero vampires in MR VAMPIRE III. Not one. If I’d known this at the start, I wouldn’t have been wondering when the hopping undead were going to show up. MR VAMPIRE III is instead a ghost story/black magic comedy as separate from the second instalment as the disappointing MR VAMPIRE II was from the original. Realising that the modern day setting of the first sequel didn’t really work, this film is in more familiar territory in the vague and unspecific period setting of the first film. I was struck by an uneasy sense of deja vu at the start of the movie that eventually clicked – the idea of a conman using friendly ghosts to hustle the general population is similar to the premise of Peter Jackson’s film THE FRIGHTENERS. It would be nice to think that Jackson took inspiration from this movie for his 1996 horror/comedy, but I strongly suspect all similarities are purely coincidental. The pace of MR VAMPIRE III can only be described as frantic to the point of chaos. The film goes from action setpiece to farcical setpiece and back again without a pause for breath, and this works against the film quite a lot. I’m not entirely sure the reason for the bandits’ presence or origin is ever even mentioned, let alone explained. But why have exposition scenes when you can have lightly fried ghosts with dripping eyeballs and Richard Ng cavorting comically in the nude (again)? Not that it doesn’t have some merit. Some of the comedy takes you unawares sometimes and you can’t help but laugh, and some of the supernatural effects add some atmosphere. The comedy is pretty lowbrow as expected (let’s face it, any film with Billy Lau in it is bound to be lowbrow) and includes a fair bit of invisible-entities-manipulating-the-real-world shenanigans a la WHERE'S OFFICER TUBA? and THE DEAD AND THE DEADLY et al, but Richard Ng is generally pretty watchable. Like other entries in the series, events have a predictable knack of going wrong, and the formula looks pretty tired by now. You can pretty much foresee the exact moment a Taoist spell is going to fall off a spirit with disastrous consequences or that someone’s bright idea is going to end up in mayhem. As with most films about Chinese myth and legend, some knowledge of the relevant folklore helps unfurrow the brow a little. It’s pretty much fair to say that if you don’t know what makes Chinese ghosts visible or imprisoned or how to send real-world items into the land of the dead, you’re going to find it pretty tough going. MR VAMPIRE III works on a purely popcorn level but is not comparable to the classic first film, and can’t really be called horror despite some frequent and surprisingly gory effects. The only horror for me was the dawning realisation that I know Richard Ng’s arse better than I know my own. Now that’s scary. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 05/11/2004 Summary: 2nd sequel hits the mark....... Out on DVD, this installment of the series takes a different tone than the previous films with more emphasis on the horror atmosphere. The stunts are great. There are plenty of laughs. Bolstered by the wonderful Richard Ng, Lam Ching Ying is just suberb as the Taoist priest. I had to check this out to make me forget how bad the recent Vampire Hunters missed the mark in the genre. Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 05/11/2003 Summary: Alright Richard Ng is a charlatan Taoist exorcist using two "good" spirits to help him make cash. When he runs into some real ghosts he ends up taking refuge in a country village that's suffering from regular raids by a group of bandits using black magic. Lam Ching Ying plays the titular one-eyebrow priest, who is organising the village resistance. Mr. Vampire III deviates quite significantly from parts 1 & 2, with only cast/crew and Lam Ching Ying's character bearing any real resemblance to them. The elements of action, comedy and horror are still present though. The worst aspect it shares in common with other members of the Mr. Vampire family is the presence of Billy Lau, who may be the most annoying actor Hong Kong has ever produced (even more annoying than Dean Shek). He plays a complete asshole character, but plays the role *much too well*. You really want to slap him, and that's not a good thing. The presence of Billy Lau is offset by the presence of Lam Ching Ying though, who is of course *the man*, and never more so than when in Taoist ghostbuster mode. It's the role he will always be remembered for, and one of the classic characters of Hong Kong cinema. The original Mr. Vampire was so popular because it combined comedy, horror and action so effectively. Mr. Vampire 3 is less slickly combined, with much of the horror seeming extraneous to the film, and unnecessary bulk. That's Hong Kong for you though. I guess it doesn't help that most of it isn't terribly funny. The film compensates by providing more horror and possibly more action, however, with the gang of black magic bandits being a truly threatening presence - especially their leader, played with gusto by Wong Yuk Waan. The action scenes are pretty well choreographed, with plenty of wires and magic involved but also some decent kung fu. Although nothing gels quite as well in Part III as in the original, it's still a worthy enough entry in the series, and worth seeking out if you like Hong Kong's horror-action-comedies.

Reviewed by: danton Date: 02/20/2002 Of all the various Gyonsi movies I've seen, this is probably the one with the darkest tone and the most focus on creating a scary atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of slapstick and weird humour (how could there no be, with Richard Ng costarring), but overall, the villains (a band of supernatural horse thieves led by a really mean-spirited witch) do take on a nastier role in this third instalment, and the result is a fairly gripping movie that offers some entertaining variations on the genre. Lam Ching Ying reprises his trademark one-eyebrowed priest, and the special effects and various Taoist spells are as entertaining as always. Recommended.

Reviewed by: Cissi Date: 06/17/2001 Summary: 6/10-better than Mr Vampire II, I guess... The third installment of the series, this time featuring Richard Ng as a Taoist trickster using two ghosts to fake exorcisms. While entering a town he meets a genuine Taoist (guess who this is) who enlists him to help combat a group of evil spirits. First point of interest-Richard Ng as a ghostbuster. You don't see that often! There are some pretty unamusing comedy sequences, but the film is saved by some nice action sequences, Lam Ching-Ying and Richard Ng, who's always entertaining to watch. A better effort than the previous installment.

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 05/05/2001 Summary: Ummm.......... A movie worth watching once!! Richard Ng and Lam Ching Ying are greta in this but the laughs are not consistent enough. The child vampire did has it's funny parts, but just the concept of a child vampire just puts me off!! 6/10

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Meet the whole fantastic family of inhabitants of theChinese spirit world: ghosts, vampires, witches, imps, priests, a couple of possessed morticians and a variety of other phantasms. This is the third chapter in this popular series of sanguinary sages. Fun and fright pursue each other through twists and turns and eye-popping effects as an accomplished director and cast breathe "new life" into the genre. [Reviewed by Rim Films Catalog]