The Shadow Boxing
directed by Lau Kar Leung, Chia-Liang Liu
starring Gordon Liu, Cecilia Wong
88 Films
Jiāngshī, better known as “hopping vampires,” are terrifying creatures in Chinese folklore that, thanks to a handful of beloved Hong Kong films, have become more associated with spooky comedy than bloodthirsty specters. Sammo Hung’s classic_Encounters of the Spooky Kind_ and the long running Mr. Vampire film series are the best known hopping vampire films. The Shadow Boxing, while not as well known in the west, is a delightful entry in the cycle that plays its comedy cards less broad than some of the later films and doesn’t slight the spooky elements or the kung fu fighting.
During the Qing Dynasty, a pair of undertakers use magic to reanimate corpses in order to transport them back to their hometowns for proper funeral rites. The dead bodies cannot walk, but they locomote by doing a little bunny hop. A parade of these undead corpses dressed in traditional Qing dynasty uniforms with yellow paper spells glued to their foreheads is quite a sight. Just before heading out with a large group of bodies, an escaped convict (Gordon Liu, Kill Bill) swaps places with one of the stiffs in a plan to avoid the authorities. The undertaker and his young assistant are at least half con artists, and the old master is also a compulsive gambler, which doesn’t always lead to a quiet journey. Fortunately, he can make his apprentice a kung fu master using vampire spells, which helps to get them out of trouble. When the old man disappears one night, his apprentice has to carry on to get his vampires home. Along the way he reluctantly picks up a young woman (Cecilia Wong) who disguises herself as a boy in order to help with the convoy. Eventually the bald vampire is revealed to be alive and out for vengeance against the men who wrongly sent him to prison, and it will take kung fu skills of the human and supernatural varieties to best the bad guys. Of course when Gordon Liu is in the fight, you know it’s going to be good.
88 Films has herded The Shadow Boxing onto a handsome looking blu-ray with terrific shadow detail that keeps the extended night time scenes looking crisp. You can always follow the action visually without the darkness overtaking the screen. A commentary or video essay on the film and its place in hopping vampire lore would have been a great addition to the disc — it’s hard to complain when a rarity like this gets released in such a gorgeous edition.
