When two of my favourite genres collide, the results can be spectacular. When we say horror, it doesn’t necessarily have to be jump scares scary but when we say martial arts horror movies, whether our main protagonist is taking on vampires, zombies, werewolf’s, ghosts or any other kind of monstrosities, as long and he or she is using martial arts to do so, I’m in. There’s a whole bunch of 80’s Hong Kong Kung Fu horror most which I really haven’t seen so if anyone can recommend some I’ll have a watch
Blade (1998)
This obvious movie comes to mind when people think of martial arts and horror. Marvel superhero Blade half vampire, half human played by Wesley Snipes takes on vampires of all types with his silver-tipped sword and arsenal of other vampire killing weapons. Blade 2 was my favorite of the trilogy, the main antagonist Nomak is played awesomely by Luke Goss looked near unstoppable and Blade barely beat him. By the 3rd movie, he was taking on Dracula who didn’t seem as much as a struggle as Nomak.
Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980)
Hong Kong action legend Sammo Hung wrote, directed and starred in this crazy martial arts horror. Sammy plays a hero, comically named Bold Cheung, who is tricked by his unfaithful wife and her rich partner to spend a night in a supposedly haunted temple, for a bet. What he doesn’t know is an evil priest has been hired to unleash a vampire and kill Cheung. Luckily, a rival priest comes to his aid and a supernatural battle is underway, where our Cheung must fight for his life. This classic blend of dynamic action, slapstick comedy, and horror.
Zombie Fight Club (2014)
Yes, that’s right I said Zombie fight club. This one is pretty crazy. Think The Raid meets Dawn of the Dead for the first half then it’s kind of like Fight Club meets Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead. Like most zombie movies it has tons of gore. There’re not tons are martial arts but what there is looks cool, kind of wish there was more of it. It even feels like a parody almost of The Raid with the swat guys sitting in the van ready to go into the tower to take down the drugs barons. Plenty of gore and scantily clad women. Only in Hong Kong.
Versus (2000)
Ok, this is a confusing one and I saw it a while back. An escaped convict, an unknown woman and a group of Yakuza gangsters have unwittingly met in The Forest of Resurrection. It contains the 444th portal to the other side. So basically, anyone killed in this forest comes back as a zombie. Trouble is this is also the dumping /burial ground for the Yakuza many victims, so before we know it all sorts start rising up. There’s also an evil spirit. The movie is very stylish and slick with cool fight scenes.
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Hammer horror join forces with The Shaw brothers to create this classic hammer horror, shaw brothers martial arts fest. Even if you dont like martials arts, if you like hammer horror, this is right up there. Even if you dont like hammer horror but you like The Shaw brothers Kung Fu movies this is right up there. Peter Cushing stars naturally as Van Helsing. An evil priest seeks Dracula’s help to awaken the 7 golden vampires so Dracula possesses the priest, awakens and leads the vampires who then terrorize a mountain village, hypnotizing village girls for sacrifice and feeding. 7 Kung Fu brothers seek Van Helsing’s help to rid their village of the vampires and their undead zombie army. Cue the 7 brothers taking on the zombie army rising from the ground and Kung Fu vampires in classic 80’s Kung Fu movie style. The only thing it’s missing is Jackie Chan. This one is also free to watch on Youtube.
Adam Chaplin (2011)
This is literally one of the craziest movies I’ve ever seen. Think The Crow meets Fist of the North Star. The whole movie is kind of like a live-action old fashion manga movie, where the anima bad guys are ridiculously ugly. Adam Chaplin is investigating his wife’s murder at the hands of a deformed tube pumped mafia boss. He can’t trust the corrupt police so evokes the help of a demon who grants him supernatural powers to brings his wife killers to justice in exchange for his soul. Literally, no one can take him on as he kicks and thousand crack fist of the north star his way through the bad guys. The demon also lives in his shoulder. Absolutely crazy and could be if not the goriest film I ever saw. Not for the faint of hearted.
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
For me Brotherhood of the wolf kind of felt like a take on Hound of the Baskervilles. The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action, surprises, wolf attacks, fierce combats and ground-breaking struggles. In 18th century France, a dashing hero, the Chevalier De Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) and his native American friend Mani (Mark Dacascos) are sent by the King Louis XV to the Gevaudan province to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast. Based on the true story of the Beast of the Gevaudan that terrorized France in the mid-18th century. Once again there are not tons of martial arts but it does have the awesome Mark Dacascos though. Definitely worth a watch.
