Shaolin vs. Evil Dead

This hopper tripped

I am both a fan of Gordon Liu and Jiangshi/hopping vampires so this seemed like a film created just for me. Sadly, Shaolin vs the Evil Dead which appeared to be an homage to the golden era of kung fu movies was not even as good as movies made 20 years prior.

Master Pak and his two sidekicks Sun and Fire are herding corpses (jiangshi/hopping vampires) to their hometowns to be properly buried. Along the way they run into a haunted inn and his old clan brother, Hak the Black Wizard. The two are at odds because Black tortures the dearly departed and destroys them while Pak works to help them find their way to a better place. Black and his minion, the comely Moon scam villagers using his abilities. Little Fire creates problems for Pak when he eats an enchanted egg and has a spirit growing inside him. One of Black's scams goes horribly wrong. It’s all fun and games until someone lets a malevolent vampire loose.

Gordon has this Shaolin, competent, reserved character down. He might have been pushing 50 but he still had some moves. Unfortunately, the fight choreography wasn’t great and there was an over use of wires and poor CGI. Louis Fan was okay as the scamming brother. Jacky Woo, not to be confused with the excellent martial artist Jing Wu who also went by Jacky Wu, played the largely incompetent disciple. Shannon Yiu King had some spark as Black’s sidekick Moon.

This film obviously had a higher budget than old Mr. Vampire flicks but came across looking cheaper with worse editing. To say the story was uneven would be like calling the Tilt O’ Whirl at the amusement park a calm and steady ride. What drove my score down dramatically was the ending because before that I would have graded it higher for nostalgia's sake.

SPOILER ALERT BUT IMPORTANT TO KNOW BEFORE DECIDING TO VIEW There wasn't a proper ending. It ended mid-fight with a creature and another character in jeopardy. Oh, but Butterfly, don't worry there is a sequel. Don’t hold your breath on that one, as the sequel goes in a completely different direction, never addressing the events of this film. A hopping vampire unable to stick the landing? Unacceptable. Check the triggers below if you have any. Not filmed before 1990 so no curve for this kung fu horror comedy.

5 November 2025
Trigger warnings: A very long, gross scene with maggots. *shudder*. There were zombie-like creatures with rotting skin. Lots of rats. A child’s bare buttocks.

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