Who Cares
Director: Lee Chiu-chun
Year: 1989
Rating: 6.0
Oh, just another
contemporary action crime comedy hopping ghost vampire movie. If you have
seen one, you have seen them all. Probably literally. This may be the
only one and I had never heard of it till some fine fellow on Facebook put
a link to the film on YouTube. Decent quality with readable subs. Worth a
visit if you enjoy that low budget anything goes style of Hong Kong filmmaking.
I do and so films like this are always a treat for me - even if it is nonsensical
and barely hangs together. Any film with Sibelle Hu, Kara Hui and Dick Wei
as the stars ensures some solid action and girls with guns chaos. Sometimes
you get the feeling that anyone with a chunk of money (often illegally gotten)
back then was able to make a movie and get it into theaters. For a week or
two. Or less.
It is 1989 with hundreds of films
being made, many on the cheap, actors performing in one film after another.
An exuberant go for broke film industry. Besides those main three, the producers
also got the services of Chor Yuen, Charlie Cho, Dan Mintz and Sophia Crawford
(who sadly gets nothing to do). Hopping Vampire films were on their way out
the door after a few years of immense popularity but why not set one in modern
times in the middle of a cops and robbers film. Throw in some goofy comedy
and you have a film.
It begins with five men breaking into a
mortuary to steal a valuable yellow pearl called the Clear Bead. They open
the casket and a frigging hopping vampire is within and they have to wrench
the Bead out of his mouth. Not a good idea as it jumps out, kills one of
them and chases the other four away. One of them swallowed it by mistake
and they have to perform an enema on him on a restaurant sidewalk table to
retrieve it. They are working for Dick Wei who is selling stolen antiques
to Mintz - but the Clear Bead is the main attraction.
And on the other side of the law is a special
unit that has been set up to track down these items. On that team is Sibelle,
Kara and a few other women. Plus one man called Fatty, which tips you off
that they are not the most competent of police and that this is sort of a
comedy. And they are not done with the Hopping Vampire (Chun Kwai-bo) who
is as much ghost as vampire and tries to kill whoever has the Bead. At some
point nearly everyone has the Bead. A good amount of action. Wei vs Mintz.
Wei vs the Vampire. Wei vs the girls. The girls vs Mintz and other thugs.
The girls vs the Vampire. Nothing spectacular but more than adequate. They
could make these films in weeks back then, but I will gladly take it.
