Yes, it's about a woman trying to solve murders that *may* have been committed by vampires, and much of this action takes place in a graveyard. But Moonlight Vampires feels like a film that kids could watch (a kid that could either read subtitles or understand Chinese anyways). Not that they'd like it… There's a subplot in there about government corruption, and it's kind of slow. But as far as horror goes it feels pretty toothless. It's listed as Not Rated, but other than one scene of general terror (against a couple of young girls) and a vague prison torture scene this is PG easy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's a very easily digestible film and is occasionally entertaining. But it's certainly not all that memorable.
The deal? A small Chinese town - I'm not sure when it's supposed to be (perhaps that was in the credits I can't read), but I'd guess the 1950s or something? There are some more modern attitudes on display, but there's certainly no technology or anything to indicate that it's any closer to the present day than that. Anyways, a couple of cops have been murdered. The new mayor in town has brought his sister along to help solve the crime. (Even though she's not a cop... she's just a citizen now on a murder case.) They team up with the local police chief and the local... uh... morgue watcher guy? It's kind of an Old vs. New values thing - morgue watcher guy represents tradition. He dresses in religious garb, and believes in following all of the old ways. Mayor's sister, meanwhile, is all scientific and wants to do autopsies and all that good stuff. The heart of the movie is the interplay between these two, and they form kind of an odd couple that is fun (in a low-key way) to watch as they try to crack the case.
Eventually, they come to discover that this all has to do with a secret treasure buried somewhere in the graveyard. And rumor has it... this graveyard is haunted! (By ghosts, or vampires, or ghost-vampires, or even traditional Chinese jumping zombies (they're cool!) - it's never made clear). Mayor's sister thinks it's hogwash, but has a hard time convincing the locals when the cop victims keep turning up with puncture wounds in their necks. (You know what that means!) Will our heroes get to the bottom of things before it's too late? Or is this town just screwed? Tune in to find out!
Horror-wise? You do get a lot of late night graveyard action, some jumping zombies, and a little potential ghost action. It's actually kind of a hodgepodge. Moonlight Vampires doesn't do any of it particularly well, but there's enough of it going on that it kind of sneaks by on goodwill. And honestly, it's pretty tough to mess up late night graveyard scenes. The ones here are well done and have a nice atmosphere.
The overall story/mystery is decent and is well explained. It's not crazy or complicated but manages to be intricate yet easy to follow at the same time. I mean, there are quite a few characters to keep track of, but the film does a good job clearly establishing each one of them with easily identifiable traits. It also helps that the characters behave realistically and are mostly likable.
The deal? A small Chinese town - I'm not sure when it's supposed to be (perhaps that was in the credits I can't read), but I'd guess the 1950s or something? There are some more modern attitudes on display, but there's certainly no technology or anything to indicate that it's any closer to the present day than that. Anyways, a couple of cops have been murdered. The new mayor in town has brought his sister along to help solve the crime. (Even though she's not a cop... she's just a citizen now on a murder case.) They team up with the local police chief and the local... uh... morgue watcher guy? It's kind of an Old vs. New values thing - morgue watcher guy represents tradition. He dresses in religious garb, and believes in following all of the old ways. Mayor's sister, meanwhile, is all scientific and wants to do autopsies and all that good stuff. The heart of the movie is the interplay between these two, and they form kind of an odd couple that is fun (in a low-key way) to watch as they try to crack the case.
Eventually, they come to discover that this all has to do with a secret treasure buried somewhere in the graveyard. And rumor has it... this graveyard is haunted! (By ghosts, or vampires, or ghost-vampires, or even traditional Chinese jumping zombies (they're cool!) - it's never made clear). Mayor's sister thinks it's hogwash, but has a hard time convincing the locals when the cop victims keep turning up with puncture wounds in their necks. (You know what that means!) Will our heroes get to the bottom of things before it's too late? Or is this town just screwed? Tune in to find out!
Like I said, Moonlight Vampires (which may be an alternate title - it doesn't show up at all on IMDB) is pretty low-key. There is a little martial arts action, a little romance, a little comedy, a little period piece feel... but nothing too noteworthy comes from any one department or genre. And as a horror film? Well, there's not much there either. Moonlight Vampires seems committed to being mostly good-natured and inoffensive (Evil Foreigner stereotypes non-withstanding), so it's hard to hold it against the film. It's smooth and well paced, and passes the time well.
Horror-wise? You do get a lot of late night graveyard action, some jumping zombies, and a little potential ghost action. It's actually kind of a hodgepodge. Moonlight Vampires doesn't do any of it particularly well, but there's enough of it going on that it kind of sneaks by on goodwill. And honestly, it's pretty tough to mess up late night graveyard scenes. The ones here are well done and have a nice atmosphere.
The overall story/mystery is decent and is well explained. It's not crazy or complicated but manages to be intricate yet easy to follow at the same time. I mean, there are quite a few characters to keep track of, but the film does a good job clearly establishing each one of them with easily identifiable traits. It also helps that the characters behave realistically and are mostly likable.
So yeah, it's well-made in that respect. It looks pretty good too - nice set design and color use (in the night scenes especially). I just kind of lacks any oomph to push it into "pretty good" category. As it stands Moonlight Vampires is "kind of good," which is better than a lot of movies, at least.
I would kind of recommend this film.
I would kind of recommend this film.
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