Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Dragon Against Vampire; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 0.50
Direction: 0.75
Pace: 0.50
Acting: 1.00
Enjoyment: 0.50
TOTAL: 3.25 out of 10.00.
There's only one thing in Dragon Against Vampire that the movie gets right. The Vampire. However, this isn't your regular blood-sucker, being more of a sanguinarian warlock than a Count Dracula. And that notion leads to some darker veins of blood drinking.
Godfrey Ho, who scripted this Asian horror, needed to take the imagination that created the Vampire and utilise it in his other characters. Because it's here, the tale starts to falter. Even though the Vampire is a fresh take on the mythos, the blood-sucker's persona is weak, which is the case for everyone in the story. He should be a strong character, somebody to be feared. And though we hear the scared villages talking about the monster attacking the women. If they saw him, they wouldn't be afraid anymore. He doesn't possess the "Don't Mess With Me" air that's evident in most Vamps. He's powerful and unstoppable and should exude that confidence to make a good bad guy. And then you have inconsistencies in the narrative. The three principal individuals of the tale are grave robbers looking for quick wealth in the golden teeth of the dead. But when they come across a coffin lying in a hut in the forest, they're scared to open it. When the leader of the thieves finally lifts the lid, he shuts his eyes tight and pretends to look. This action is contrary to what we witnessed fifteen minutes previous as they open a coffin, unwrap the deceased, pry his jaws open to hunt for gold teeth, and pat down the rest of the corpse for jewellery. These lapses in continuity and lack of attention to detail hinder the story.
Additional to the weak storyline and uninteresting characters is the below-average cinematography of director Lionel Leung. The whole project has an amateur feel to it. The lighting is poor, especially in low-light scenes. His composition of shots is slightly off and a tad skewiff, which are exampled best in the fight and blood-drinking scenes. You can tell he's trying to shoot the segment engagingly and excitingly. Sadly they fall flat. But worst of all, for me, is the camera shakes. I loathe the style because it allows for poor skills to be permitted. Dragon Against Vampire came out years before the horrid Blair Witch Project, so the shakey style wasn't conventional and was considered unskilled. One or two segments are permittable because crap happens, but in Dragon, it's pretty constant.
The cast is the best thing about the whole picture - after the refreshened Vampire. The performers aren't brilliant, but they do the best with what they have, and you can't fault them for that. Regrettably, none shine through or are memorable, which should've been the case for the actors portraying, The Vampire, The Shaolin Master, and Tony, the hero.
I would love to see this story revamped for the modern day and incorporate more robust, credible, and relatable characters. The bare bones of a great story and entertaining movie are here. They just weren't maximised for their best effect and potential. Because of that, I can't recommend anybody to watch this film. It's too dull and uninteresting to warrant wasting an hour and a half of your precious time.
Miss? If you could please bring your knees together, you're letting a draft in, and there are no vampires in this joint. While you wait for a blood gulper to arrive, feel free to peruse my IMDb list - Absolute Horror to see where I rated Dragon Against Vampire.
Take Care & Stay Well.